Effective Strategies For Team Leaders To Improve Performance And Cohesion Of Teams

Importance of Employee Participation in Decision-Making

1. The success of a business organization is entirely dependent on team performance. A particular business organization is able to achieve the peak of success only when the employees like to put their best effort towards the services. This very specific study is based on a particular scenario. After being appointed in the post of a team leader an individual has to play major responsibilities. As opined by Brouer et al. (2013), creating an autocratic form of leadership style at the workplace is not very much effective in getting good performances from the employees. Leaders have to involve the employees while taking an effective decision regarding the business goal.

As already mentioned, employees who are associated with the organization have multi-cultural backgrounds. Their psychology varies while making business decision. In this kind of situation, the team leader intends to make an individual rapport with every single employee. By collecting proper feedback from individual employee, the leader has to make effective strategy on how to motivate that particular performer (Schalock and Verdugo 2012). For an example, if one specific employee has to face communication barrier at the workplace other employee may have to face challenges in handling advanced technology. Therefore, collecting individual feedback from the team members would be effective enough in running the entire team properly.

After making an in-depth evaluating about the importance of employee participation and planning in decision-making, it can be analyzed that employee engagement in teamwork influences the level of performance. Employees get motivated in performing well towards the services if they get enough opportunity in sharing their views and ideas regarding the success of business (Yukl 2012). On the other hand, the team leaders get the opportunity in making collective decision before forming business strategies. As a result, employees tend to show their enthusiastic attitude in providing their best endeavor towards the success of business. Business experts do not have to face difficulties in achieving the profit level.

2. In order to reach the peak of success team has to perform unanimously. Due to the lack of co-ordination, the customers get deprived of receiving the services within proper time. Therefore, team cohesion is one of the most effective factors based on which team leader can keep a constant control over entire process of business (Vella, Oades and Crowe 2013). In order to maintain proper team cohesion an efficient team leader can follow some of the major tactics:  

• Equal priority and response to every individual employee:

Team leader should never show biased attitude to the employees while controlling the performance level of a particular team. Every single employee should be treated with equal respect and dignity. On the other hand, team leader should instruct the employees for not to maintain any gender diversity or cultural diversity at the workplace. As a result, employees would like to maintain team cohesion.

• Maintaining interpersonal communication:

Maintaining Team Cohesion

In order to run a team, leaders should make an effective interpersonal communication at least once in a week. Employees are from various geographical and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, their psychological approaches vary from one person to another. In this kind of situation, employees may not be flexible to share their ideas and thoughts in a group communication (Thompson 2012). As a result, team leaders tend to focus on following interpersonal communication in order to build an individual rapport with each other. On the other hand, the business leader would be able to inform the organizational mission and vision to individual employee separately.

• Conducting session before making strategies:

It has been observed sometimes that autocratic form of leadership style is not very effective for motivating the employees towards reaching the business goal. In addition, in autocratic form of leadership style employees do not have in-depth understanding about the future goal of organization. As a result, employees do not tend to show their enthusiastic attitude in providing proper services to the customers. On the other hand, conducting an effective session by team lead may help the performers in achieving the business goal. In a group discussion session, every single member of a particular team would be able to participate and share their views (Oakland 2014). Employees can get the scope to maintain their own conversation within this group discussion session. As a result, team leader would easily transmit the message to the employee about overall business scenario.   

• Collecting individual feedback from the employees:    

Leader should give equal priority and response to the every single employee. After making a strategic decision, employees should maintain an effective group discussion. In addition, single employees have the right to provide their own feedback regarding the success of business organization. Leaders should give priority and response to the employees so that they can share their views and ideas to each other.

3. If I was appointed as the team leader I could never follow a particular form of leadership style within organization. In order to gain the consensus from the employees I would like to implement democratic form of leadership at the workplace. Participative form of leadership style is applicable for making the employees aware of their job role. Team leaders have to apply autocratic leadership style sometimes for controlling sudden crisis (Smith et al. 2012). While taking any kind of urgent decision at the time of crisis team leaders do not get enough time in communicating with the members.

Implementing Democratic Leadership Style

As a result, employees are not aware of the decision taken by the leaders. In this situation, employees may become disappointed in performing well under the team leader. The efficiency of the team leader lies on how the individual would be able to convince the team members regarding the sudden crisis. After overcoming the challenges team leader should communicate with the employees by making participative form of leadership and explain the entire business situation (Day et al. 2014). As a result, both the team members and the team leader would be able to build an effective relationship with each other.  Employees would have an in-depth overview about the business plan and strategies. Automatically, the team members do not have to struggle in reaching peak of success.  

4. Team leaders have to face challenges in handling conflicts among the team members. Excess level of team conflict hampers the systematic process of business (Doody and Doody 2012). As a result, team leader has to be answerable to upper management for being unable to run the team properly. However, some of the ways are there based on which team leader can manage the team conflict. Some of the most effective strategies are as follows:

1. Evaluate the emotional response of people:

When an individual employee has to face any kind of unexpected workplace dispute, the role of efficient team leader is to evaluate the issue. The employees involved within the dispute should be treated with equal priority. Team leader should evaluate the workplace dispute from different perspectives and resolve the issue.

1. Maintain professional approach:

Team leader should maintain a professional approach at the workplace for maintaining a personality. Members would like to obey the decision of employees only when they will consider their leader as efficient and capable for handling a team (Testa and Sipe 2012). Therefore, team leader has to focus on maintaining a professional approach being unbiased towards team members.

1. Make in-depth research about the issue:

Before resolving the issue team member should make an in-depth overview about issue. Team members are from various psychological backgrounds and attitudes. Therefore, the role of an efficient team leader is to know the reason of conflict form the root.

1. Build effective rapport with every single team member:

Team leader has to build a relation with every single team member so that members can share their challenges and difficulties at the workplace. Effective team rapport is successful enough in resolving any kind of issues at the workplace.

1. Attend meeting at every weekend:

In order to gather proper feedback from employees team leader has to collect appropriate feedback from every single employee (Holt and Marques 2012). As a result, the team leader would be able to collect appropriate data and information about the workplace issue. A proper session and meeting is successful enough in gathering all team members at a certain point.  

1. Giving proper feedback to the employees:

Effective Conflict Management

If an individual employee has to face difficulties in being accustomed with the work culture of an organization, the employee should inform team leader as soon as possible (Batool 2013). The role of an efficient team lead is to resolve the issue based on the feedback collected from team members.

1. Unbiased decision-making:

People from various psychological backgrounds and attitudes are intimately associated with the business process of an organization. Therefore, the role of a business leader is to show equal gesture and respect to every single team member (Testa and Sipe 2012). Unbiased decision may help the organization in rendering motivation among the employees.  

1. Rendering reward and recognition at the workplace:

In order to resolve internal conflict among the team members, leaders have to implement innovative award policies. If a particular team can reach the business target, the organization would appreciate the effort of this specific team in the form of awards. This kind of recognition policy is very much effective in motivating the employees (Oakland 2014). Employees by maintaining proper team coordination tend to perform well by forgetting internal conflicts and workplace disputes. Therefore, team leaders should render performance pay, quality incentives for members in order to motivate them towards services.  

1. Arranging fun games for relaxing employees amidst over burden:

Employees get puzzled amidst immense pressure and work burden. As a result, misunderstanding among the employees occurs frequently (Doody and Doody 2012). Due to the lack of an effective communication, the employees get involved in unnecessary internal conflict. In order to overcome this kind of issues employees tend to focus on implementing fun games for relaxing employees amidst over burden. The entire team has to perform in this event and games. As a result, employees intend to maintain a proper co-ordination at the workplace. 

Before making the business plan and going with the workflow, the business leaders tend to make effective resolution by involving entire team members (Oakland 2014). The purpose of making such kind of resolution is to maintain an effective team bond while providing services.

In this specific business scenario, it has been observed that total 12 members are appointed in the department of distribution and warehousing. People of various geographical backgrounds and attitudes are appointed in the same department. Some of them are associated with the business process for several years. On the other hand, it has also been observed that some of the members have newly appointed in this business process. The role of an efficient team leader is to provide constant motivation to the employees based on which they would like to achieve the business goal. In the business scenario given in the case study it has been observed that the team is facing some of the major issues within distribution and warehousing department. The issues include:

• Communication gap
• Lack of cooperation
• Lack of communication with other team
• Lack of proper leadership

If I have been appointed as a business leader in the department of distribution and warehousing I would like to follow some of the major strategies for gaining consensus of team members.

Team leaders before taking a decision should communication with the employees properly. With the help of democratic form of leadership style, an efficient team lead should collect the views and thoughts of every single team member (Manning 2012). As a result, team members would like to show their enthusiastic attitude in performing well towards the process of business. On the other hand, while maintaining effective communication the team leader would get to know the personal issues faced by the employees at their workplace. As a result, the leader can get a chance to resolve the issues. Employees get motivated in providing their best effort for services.

Group discussion is one of the most effective ways where a team leader can amalgamate all the employees from various cultural backgrounds and attitudes. In a group discussion session, single employees have to share their thoughts and views regarding the progress of business. Employees get the scope to exchange necessary information happened at the workplace (Siemens, Dawson and Lynch 2013). As a result, the entire communication among the employees becomes smooth and transparent. Team leads in quest of motivating the employees for maintaining co-ordination among team members tend of implement agile workspace on the work floor. Consequently, employees tend to maintain an effective organizational discipline on the floor. 

Collective decision-making is highly important for maintaining team coordination. Employees from different cultural backgrounds and attitudes are associated within the organizational services. A team leader has to deal with every single employee with equal respect and dignity. While conducting the group discussion, session team leader tends to provide equal priority on the views of every employee. After that, the business experts have to focus on taking collective decision (Mosadeghrad 2014). Unbiased decision from the organization makes employees happy and energetic towards the services. In addition, collective decision is beneficial for the team leaders as well for reaching the organizational goal.

Team leader should have a professional approach based on which the employees would like to show their interest in performing well towards services. On the other hand, Parkay, Anctil and Hass (2014) stated that over attitude and dominating nature of team leader may hamper the entire coordination within a team. With the help of autocratic form of leadership style, team leaders sometimes intend to impose their own decision on the employees. As a result, the employees do not get any chance of exchanging their thoughts and views regarding the business goal. This kind of autocratic leadership approach de-motivates the employees in performing well.

However, in order to maintain a unity among the team members the team leaders have to make cordial approach to the employees. By making an effective interpersonal communication, the team leader can build a rapport with every member. By resolving the personal issues faced at the workplace, leader should draw the attention of employees (Lewis, Strachan and Smith 2012). In addition, leaders can appreciate the best performances of employees by giving those members rewards or recognition. Consequently, team members would like to follow a proper organizational behavior at the workplace. Business managers do not have to face difficulties in maintaining organizational image and reputation.  

Team leader especially in the department of distribution and warehousing have to implement participative leadership style at the workplace. In participative form of leadership style, the business leaders do not want to impose their own decision on the employees. People from various geographical backgrounds and attitudes should be involved while making managerial strategies (Goetsch and Davis 2014). As a result, the leaders would be able to take collective decision for achieving the business goal. In addition, participative form of decision-making style can render a constant motivation among the employees. While working in distribution and warehousing department the employees need to make transparent communication among the employees for providing effective services. Participative form of decision-making style is very much helpful in keeping a communication transparency between leaders and employees (Kim, Kumar and Kumar 2012). Leaders are successful enough in showing a proper direction to the employees after making an effective collective decision.

In order to encourage the employees for performing well the team leaders wish to implement various rewards and recognition policies at the workplace for motivating team members. Team leaders tend to appreciate the performance of employees for encouraging them towards upper level (Carter et al. 2013). Best performers are awarded within the team so that rest of the employees can be motivated from the best performers. The employees who are unable to perform well need a proper training and guidance. Therefore, reward and recognition policy is one of the most effective ways strategies based on which the team leaders can motivate the employees in performing well towards services. 

Business leaders should have that attitude of appreciating the efforts of employees. If an employee performs well towards service the role of team leader is to provide necessary feedback to that person (Flores et al. 2012). As a result, this specific employee would be able to get an effective feedback that would encourage the person in maintaining the level of performance. Like the same way, team leaders should highlight the employees who are not able to perform at the workplace. Based on the feedback of team leaders, employees get the scope to enhance their level of performance.

The role of an efficient team leader is to make an effective performance evaluation plan so that employee performance level can be enhanced. Enhancing the communication skill and professional approach of employees is one of the most effective ways of rendering the success of business (Blumenthal et al. 2012). The primary purpose of making an effective evaluation plan is to identify the strength and weakness of the employees. Based on the strength and weakness the tea leaders tend to provide effective training and career development plan. As a result, employees do not have to struggle in performing well towards the business services.   

Based on the issue presented in the business scenario the team leader can make an effective action plan for controlling the performance level of team members. The primary reason of making this action plan is to overcome the business issues happened at the department of distribution and warehousing. The action plan for overcoming the issues within a team is as follows:  

Issues	Action to be implemented	Duration
Ø Communication gap	In order to enhance the communication skill an effective training and career progression session would be conducted. This particular training would help the employees in enhancing their communication skill.	45 minutes
Ø Lack of cooperation	Team leader can arrange team huddle in two times in a week. In this huddle, every member should participate. The role of team leader would be convincing the employees why co-operation and support from every team member is very important for rendering business success.	45 minutes
Ø Lack of communication with other team	Every leader from different teams should take the initiative for assembling team members from different teams. Leaders can arrange fun activities so that every member can participate and interact with each other.	45 minutes
Ø Lack of proper leadership	Make an effective group discussion with team members in order to know with which kind of leadership the employees are comfortable. Based on the feedback collected from the employees the leader should decide the appropriate style. In addition, leader should render more personality on gesture so that employees do not show casual approach to the leader.	45 minutes

Table1: Action Plan for developing team cohesion

(Source: Batool 2013)

After making a proper action plan it can be expected that the team leader would be successful in overcoming the issues happened within a team. At the same time, it can also be assumed that only receiving training and development session is not effective enough for developing the team performances. Along with receiving the training, the team leader should implement the skill within workplace for enhancing the performance level of employees. 

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