Leading 21st Century Organizations

DQ1: Discuss the impact and significance of teams in a work environment and evaluate the leadership skills that are effective when leading teams.

Berry (2011) believed that teams and teamwork are considered as a ubiquitous part as it involves getting the work done within the organization. The author has defined a team as a group of individuals who tend to interact interdependently and are also brought together so that they can voluntarily achieve particular tasks. The author has highlighted the importance of virtual teams stating that they are being utilized by all the organizations as it gives them the ability to bridge the gap of time as well as space. Besides that, in weekly readings, we have also learned that a team exists in every organization and allows synergy due to the qualities of each team member. Considering that each member has different knowledge, ability, experience, and expertise. Therefore author believes that teams play a crucial and dominating role that impacts the overall performance and efficiency of the organization. Berry (2011) further says that there are certain skill sets required for managing and leading teams, in the case of a virtual team an effective leader must exhibit the ability to communicate, establish clear as well as measurable expectations and should also have the knowledge to allocate resources. Apart from that author also believes that leaders should have the ability to keep their team on task and at the same making sure that team members are getting adequate training and support to become effective. Berry (2011) stated that for the leaders the most important aspect should be creating a sense of the importance and significance of the team for the team members so that they can avoid out of sight, out of mind syndrome.

Brake (2006) have defined a virtual team as a distributed group of individuals who are working together across distances so that they could achieve a common goal via technology. Virtual teams, like any other team, are sociological and social systems, but virtual teams' work processes are intertwined with technology systems, which adds complexity to management in many firms. According to the author's perspective, virtual teams are quite effective compared to the traditional ones considering the new requirement of collaborative work which is more dynamic, uncertain, global, and virtual. However, despite various opportunities author believes that the major challenges that arise during the virtual team are isolation and confusion which might arise when working within the collaborative environment. Thus, there is a need for leaders who can overcome such challenges. According to the author, virtual working may change how people think about cooperation, and if the dangers aren't handled, effectiveness may suffer. The benefits and drawbacks of conventional cooperation can be amplified by virtual teams. On the plus side, properly planned, managed, and deployed virtual teams may tap into talent and knowledge from all over the world to solve problems and perform job assignments on a 24/7 basis.

According to my own professional experience, I believe that virtual teams play a crucial role in providing quality healthcare service to patients. I have been working in the healthcare sector for many years where the environment is quite uncertain in such situations, adopting to changing the policies and decision making involves a lot of virtual team collaboration for achieving the desired results. However, virtual teams can be way more complex than the traditional team due to misinterpretations and miscommunication therefore in such circumstances the leaders play a crucial role. I believe, when dealing with their team, leaders must keep their fears in check. Another aspect of effective high-performance team leadership is to recognize that the team needs assistance and to have faith in that support.

References

Berry, G. (2011). Enhancing Effectiveness on Virtual Teams: Understanding Why Traditional Team Skills Are Insufficient. Journal Of Business Communication, 48(2), 186-206. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021943610397270

Brake, T. (2006). Leading global virtual teams. Industrial And Commercial Training, 38(3), 116-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/00197850610659364