Works teams are part of every organization’s operations. When organizations are interested in undertaking a complex task, they engage a team of experts to get the best out of the tasks. Work teams are the choice of most of the organizations in accomplishing organizational objectives. Teams are found at every level of an organization from the low level to the executive level.  Teams can be formed to provide professional services or to solve an existing challenge in an organization. Work teams can be permanent or temporary depending on the organizational nature and operations.

Characteristics and Structure of Successful Teams

A successful team has a team leader. The probability of success in teamwork is affected by the activities that occur before the team is formed. Before a work team meets for the first time, someone behind the scenes has already made credible decisions concerning the team. This includes the purpose of the team, resources allocated, and the people to comprise the team. These are very crucial structural factors for a successful team. A good example is adding or removing team members along the way, which affects the team.

Good planning should be done before the team is launched. A major characteristic of a successful team is strong leadership (Tröster, Mehra, & van Knippenberg, 2014). The team leader should be skilled to be able to lead the other team members. In addition, a team should have a common goal for success (Polzer, 2016). If a work team cannot agree on a common and effective goal, then it cannot be focused on achieving its purpose. An effective goal is measurable, relevant, specific, attainable, and time-bound. Another characteristic of an effective team is diversity. Based on the work the team is to perform, there is the need for diversity in the team. Diversity, in this case, includes work experience, education background, and functional expertise.

Factors Considered When Leading Various Levels Teams

When leading a team at various levels in an organization, there are several factors to consider.  In any team, communication is very significant in ensuring the teams succeed. Communication within the team should be effective. Another factor to consider is team environment. Teams are known to achieve greater success in a free environment. A team requires various types of support and resources to be able to operate effectively. Another factor to consider is the responsibility of the members and the leaders. Planning on who is responsible for what is very vital.

Factors to Consider When Leading an Executive Team

When leading an executive team, some factors are important to consider. One of the factors is the external demands. An executive team is influenced by other external forces such as Board of directors and shareholders (Remington, 2016). In addition, the complexity of the mandate granted to an executive team is significant for consideration. The fundamental nature of an executive team is power. In such a scenario, the team leader can expect politics to be frequently pronounced in the team.

Essential Aspects in Identifying Appropriate Team Members

Before launching a team, the team leader must identify the team members beforehand. This process is important in that it ensures that the team is successfully launched. One aspect that is essential to this process is the team size. The number of members required in a team will affect who is selected to join the team. Another aspect is the complexity of the task. The complexity of the task ahead will determine the kind of skills and expertise the team requires. Diversity is key in ensuring that members draw from different functional expertise, work experiences, and educational backgrounds (Fernandes & Polzer, 2015). The diversity of the team members is determined by the task to be undertaken by the team.

Factors Important To Dynamics of an Ongoing Team

Once a team is launched, it is significant for the team leader to assess the work process and the interaction patterns in light of achieving the goal. Even the best teams face challenges and obstacles. An important factor is new team processes diagnosis. Teams have a tendency to shape their interaction. However, in most cases, these tendencies move towards a dysfunctional behavior that interferes with the work of the team (Polzer, 2016). It is important to understand such tendencies and anticipate them to enable their nipping before they occur. In addition, it is common for information to be shared among subgroups rather than the whole team. The team leader has to assess if enough information is being shared to ensure that members integrate their work with the rest of the team’s work. Another factor is collaborative behavior. A team leader has to assess if the members are collaborating in the achievement of the team goals. A team cannot succeed without cooperation.

Compassion

Compassion is defined as putting the needs of others before one’s needs. A team leader can empower team members by use of compassion to honor diversity and support equality through several ways. One way is by leading by example (McCaffrey & McConnell, 2015). If the team leader honors diversity and treats the members equally, then team members will follow suit. Another way is to ensure there is open communication between the team leader and the members. Members want to feel that the team leader considers them equally important as members of the team

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