A team refers to a group of individuals assigned to a specific function or role; its members are interdependent and are easily identifiable by observers and themselves. A larger organization usually have more than one team. Members of the teams do interact as they carry out their duties. Different organizations use these teams for different purposes; some use them to collect important information used in decision making while other embrace teaming to make supervisor’s work easier. Team interaction has several benefits both to the organization and the employees themselves. One is that it helps to solve interpersonal conflicts among members of an organization. Some organizations are currently working on teamwork; this is because most have realized that the success of any organization squarely lies in team interaction (Funnell 29). This particular paper will address the importance of team interaction, how to improve team interaction, challenges facing team interaction among other aspects as discussed in the next section.
Importance of Team Interaction
a) It helps to reduce conflict among employees
Employees working at the same workstation in one way or the other come into conflict with each other. This is always expected in an organizational setting because of the difference in opinion, temperament, and even interests. Team interactions play an important role in solving problems in an organization effectively. Conflict among members of the same team occurs due to inadequate resources, conflict of interests, among other things. If these individuals are given time to interact effectively, they will be in a position to overcome such challenges and misconception making them more productively. This will improve the organization’s general productivity and hence increase its profit margin.
b) It promotes job satisfaction
Unresolved conflict emanates to war hence disrupting workflow. The feelings of dissatisfaction, depression, and unhappiness occur due to poor interpersonal relationship, violence, and aggressive character in an organization. Effective communication ensures that members of a team resolve their difference as soon as possible (West 120). With team interaction, members of a team can establish the cause of the problem and come up with its solutions.
c) Promotes sharing of information
Through interaction, employees in a particular team will have an opportunity to know each other better. As they continue to know each other, these employees will share their expertise and experience, hence promoting productivity in an organization. Newly recruited employees will be able to acquire new and advanced skills from well experienced senior employees in the team (West 120).
d) It makes the work of supervisors easy
Team interaction enables supervisors to identify a problem facing the team he or she is leading and hence solve it immediately. With team interaction, interpersonal difference and misunderstanding do not reach the supervisor; most are solved by the team members themselves this offers the supervisor an opportunity to work on other duties.
Ways of Strengthening Team Interaction
a ) Having regular open meetings
Communication through forms such as text, e-mail, instant message, and other digital media to the team members cannot be effective. This is because it can easily be misunderstood or misconstrued. There is need for team members to have scheduled meetings in which they have a one-on-one interaction as team members (West 123).
b) Valuing team member’s idea
Team members are diverse in ideas, opinions among other aspects. To strengthen team interaction, there is need for every opinion or idea to be welcomed. Ignoring ideas from other members will negatively influence team interaction. All team members should be given a chance to express themselves fully; no one should be forced to do so.
c) Establishing rules and regulation for the team
Having rules to guide the interaction will ensure that there is efficiency and order during meetings. Each of the team members should have an opportunity to contribute to making these rules. Certain rules such as attending meetings on time and allowing team members to provide their suggestions help in improving team interaction.
d) Showing appreciation
It is the responsibility of a team leader to recognize the efforts of the team he or she leads; just appreciating team members makes them have a sense of belonging. Conveying gratitude for minor acts encourages goodwill among the members of the team (Funnell 31). Appreciating team members for keeping time when attending meetings helps improve their interaction. For example, thanking members of a team for having time to listen to a motivation talk encourages the members to continue relating well and in so doing encouraging team interaction.
(e)Encouraging debate
Usually, members of the same team fear to disagree with each other; this might be the reason for blindly making important decisions. This is risky for any team; it can lead to the downfall of the team and interfering with interaction in the team. Debates are healthy in that it promotes creativity and brainstorming important for an effective team (West 121). For free interaction, team members ought to be comfortable with each other; this is possible by engaging in regular debates.
Challenges Associated with Team Interaction
a) Lack of cooperation
For an effective team interaction, all the members of a particular team in an organization should cooperate with each other. In some instances, members of a certain team fail to work together as a team; this makes the interaction difficult (Barner, Robert, and Charlotte 83).
b) Some members withholding information
One important features of interaction is the sharing of skills and ideas that at the end of the day benefits both the members and the organization. During meetings and debates, some members of the team might decide to withhold important information that could have benefited everyone; this will therefore negatively impact team interaction in an organization.
c) Skipping of meetings
Having regular meetings and debates plays an important role in promoting team interaction in an organization, all members must attend these schedule meetings (Barner, Robert and Charlotte 80). In a situation where some members skip these meetings, team interaction will not serve its purpose, and with time it will come to an end. Members will not be reading from the same page; this makes it difficult for team interaction to achieve its set objectives. Those who failed to attend the meeting will make the team lag behind in implementing its decisions hence negatively affecting team interaction.
Conclusion
Team interaction is important for any organization. There are some benefits that an organization gets from such interaction, one is increased productivity and general performance. Apart from the direct benefit to the organization, members of the team also benefit a lot by sharing skills and ideas and even solving interpersonal problems that arise. The ways to strengthen team interaction include having meetings, appreciating team members, establishing rules for the team, and valuing of every idea that comes from the members. Team interaction does have challenges which include members withholding vital information, some skip meetings, and lack of cooperation by some members of the team.
Works Cited
Barner, Robert, and Charlotte P. Barner. Building Better Teams: 70 Tools and Techniques for Strengthening Performance Within and Across Teams. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer, 2012. Print.pp.80-84.
Funnell, Pippa. Team Work. 2015.pp.25-31.
West, Michael A. Effective Teamwork: Practical Lessons from Organizational Research. Chichester: John Wiley " Sons, 2012. Internet resource.pp. 120-125.
