The committee's poor group dynamics and leadership issues
The committee contains qualified members with technical abilities to help the organization reach its objectives, but there is a problem when good results are not obtained. The committee was unable to prioritize its judgments in the first year, and as a result, the company produced mediocre sales output. With only one hour of meeting time in the second year, the committee attempted to avoid making the same error and devised a strategy. But, sales performance was yet another failure. Several reasons, according to Sandoff and Nilsson (2016), hold the group back because the committee has poor group dynamics, which undermines members' involvement and morale, and ultimately the company's success. The central concern is based on poor leadership/ management practices and poor group dynamics. A team with a negative dynamic is easy to spot. Of course, the committee is a group with poor group dynamics; for example members' behavior disrupts the normal functioning of the group. Consequently, the team cannot settle on concrete decision or make wrong decisions since the group members cannot effectively explore better options.
The committee's poor leadership
The committee has poor leadership. In other words, the leaders of the committee do not have good leadership/management practices. Sandoff and Nilsson (2016) revealed that the committee leaders and members contributed to a negative group dynamic. In the committee, there is evidence of weak leadership since the group lacks a strong leader. This has led to a lack of direction or a focus on wrong priorities. Also, committee members behave in a way which disrupts the flow of decision making in the group. Such group members adopt blocking roles e.g. members who frequently disagree with others; members who frequently critical of others' ideas, and also group members who do not participate in the group discussion. The group exists without any concrete goal to be achieved. Kurt Lewin is the change management expert and social psychologist who coined the term "group dynamics" to describe how group members' behavior and roles impact group's activities and performance (Alexander and Van Knippenberg, 2014). In an efficient team, members share strong commitment to achieving goals, experience the high satisfaction of working with and being part of the team, members work effectively together with high appreciation and understanding of each other, and members demonstrate high ability to solve problems and produce high-quality results.
The importance of appropriate leadership for enhancing team dynamics
For the committee to enhance its team dynamics, appropriate leadership is imperative and necessary. Leadership is a shared responsibility depending on the needs of the task at hand rather than a formal-based role or position-based power (Juchem, Cespedes, Marin, and Cunha, 2014). This needs significant flexibility to recognize and allow other team members to exercise real leadership when skills of a member are more appropriate to the team during that time. An imperative leadership function involves utilizing skills to build the team and ensuring that time is allocated adequately for team-building activities. Alexander and Van Knippenberg (2014) explained that the team's overall goals should be identified and defined using terms that enable every member understand the goals. In the recent past, the committee has been working without specific goals in mind. Therefore, the leader has a vital role to play to communicate a clear picture regarding what the company expects from the team. The leadership style that encourages a questioning approach has the capacity to show any members' resistance, misunderstanding or doubts that should be positively managed.
The importance of diverse skills and setting performance standards
For the team to be in a position to work productively, the members must demonstrate various experience, knowledge, and skills including the right "mix" of these for the work being undertaken. What members can contribute is highly valued and they are encouraged to develop. The emphasis is on the positive and strength, not on what members cannot do. A successful team knows what it aims to achieve. It sets performance millstones and targets and creates ways in which the progress of the team towards accomplishing its objectives can be measured (Dyer, Dyer, and Dyer, 2013). Performance targets must be realistic and not demoralizing. Setting the right performance standards is important because it enables team members to direct their energy towards achieving results. Also, team performance needs to be continuously appraised to identify any problem being experienced by members. This is a vital role for the team leader.
Encouraging participation and personal responsibility
Participation and personal responsibility are the order of the day for each member. Responsibility is broadly shared (on rational basis) in the entire team, given the strengths and skills among members. Juchem, Cespedes, Marin, and Cunha (2014) encourage members to take risks, contribute ideas, and openly question the team including its activities without fear of reprimand, disapproval, or censorship, provided that a member's behavior is based on best interest of the group and its performance at the core. Champoux, J. (2016) viewed that the team requires investing efforts and time into building working methods, techniques, ground rules, and procedures to move the team towards its goal in effective ways consistent with the preservation of qualities associates with efficient teams. These include techniques for solving problems, making decisions, and coping with anything that comes on the way of progress.
Learning from mistakes and constructive criticism
Typically, the team and the members learn from their mistakes and experiences. Mistakes made need to be analyzed and addressed as team moves on with its activities. Constructive criticism aiming to enable the team and its members grow in performance is welcomed (Dyer, G., Dyer, and Dyer, 2013). These emphasizes on skills associated with giving feedback and coaching. Such skills are especially important when utilized efficiently by the team leader. An efficient team recognizes the significance of monitoring the team itself and its activities. Champoux (2016) opined that allocating energy and time to manage and understand relationships within the team is a vital investment. Responsibility for monitoring activities is a shared one among all members, but the leader must take the lead. In summary, all conditions highlighted above are factors, which can help building the effectiveness of the committee/team/group to grow, and therefore achieves good results.
References
Alexander, L & Van Knippenberg, D. (2014). Team in pursuit of radical innovation: A goal orientation perspective. Academy of management review, 39(4), 423-438.
Champoux, J. (2016). Organizational behavior: integrating individuals, groups, and organizations. New York: Routledge.
Dyer, G., Dyer, J & Dyer, W. (2013). Team building: proven strategies for improving team performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Juchem, D., Cespedes, E., Marin, F., & Cunha, M. (2014). Team management: a reflection on leadership to achieve success. China-USA business review, 13(2), 105-114.
Sandoff, M & Nilsson, K. (2016). How staff experience teamwork challenges in a new organizational structure. Team performance management, 22(8), 415-427.
