Effective Leadership and Management

Only a highly skilled leader can successfully build and lead an effective and productive team. Based on the role they play and their responsibilities, leaders and managers are different. Leaders are inspirational to their teams, develop new ideas and concepts, they choose what is good for the growth of the organization, are innovative and find new ways of doing things. Managers work towards doing things correctly, administering the teams, maintaining status quo and following the laid down procedures. They do not do things differently. They control team members without seeking their opinion on matters that affect them and the organization (Forssell, 2008, p. 56).

In establishing effective team work, both the leader and team members should play their roles well. The leader should set goals for the team to achieve that may include both long term and short term goals (Forssell, 2008, p.76). In decision making, the leader should involve the team members. This dispels any sense of alienation and distancing. As such, the leader should involve members in the processes of hiring, solving problems and planning the team’s activities. This further improves their relationship and motivates them by inculcating a feeling of worth. To better lead the team, a leader should be well trained and should possess the necessary skills. These skills include: ability to motivate and solve the team’s problems, ability to establish good relationships by improving communication among the team members, intelligence, ability to innovate, responsibility and knowledge on how to deal with conflicts (Mabey and Tim, 2007, p.66).These skills are important because if properly applied, they boost cooperation among team members and create an indispensable team spirit and work ethic. To improve the efficiency of the members, the leader should ensure timely solving of problems and provide the best solutions that are favorable to all team members. The leader should know the preferences of each team member and should always reward and recognize them for their excellent work. This serves to improve their efficiency and confidence that translates to higher productivity (Mabey and Tim, 2007, p.66).To improve relationship between members, the leader should hold regular meetings in which the progress of the team is discussed. All team members should be allowed to express their views and ideas.

The leader should be innovative and flexible because each management principle suits different situations and different individuals. The leader should choose the appropriate principles for his team to avoid compromising their effectiveness and productivity. This is why he should seek and integrate their opinions in establishing the goals of the team (Forssell, 2008, p.82). He should also regularly assess the performance of the members and give constructive feedback to avoid instances of rebellion and resistance from any member. This forms the basis for any successful problem resolution without affecting any member negatively. The leader should know how to give and receive both negative and positive feedback. He should avoid being judgmental or rude. He should rely on facts and avoid gossip (Mabey and Tim, 2007, p.86). All members should know how to deal with group problems by avoiding personal confrontations and taking the problem as a group problem and not personal.

Establishment of Collaborative Work Teams

An effective and collaborative team possesses several characteristics that define its success and productivity. It brings about success through members’ commitment and adherence to their schedule (Mabey and Tim, 2007, p.196). Such a team understands its common goal, works towards achieving good results, has each member fully committed to the team’s objectives and boasts of good relationships and cooperation between the members. A good work team is formed and maintained through good structuring and execution of policies in an organization. Though it would take great effort to establish a good inter-team culture in an organization, its effect would result in an increase in productivity and effectiveness. For such collaboration, developing rules and regulations would be necessary. This would serve to guide and control the different members and teams in their interactions in the workplace (Forssell, 2008, p.76).

A team charter would encourage the teams to work towards a common goal that is in line with the objectives of the organization (Forssell, 2008, p.96). Failure to comply would bring consequences that may include job termination. Such procedures as performance assessment foster team collaboration because rewards and other incentives are linked to performance. When team activities and tasks are well coordinated, all teams work efficaciously because there are no conflicts of interest and members work to ensure the success of their team. They accomplish this by thinking collectively and ensuring that individual success is built on the success of the team and by maintaining good behavior (Adair, 2005, p.105).The maturity of the members ensure that they all work towards the goals of the team and their decisions are made together. This also fosters cooperation because each member is free to express his or her feelings. They discuss conflicts openly and solve them with the opinions of all members under consideration. All members are enthusiastic and work with energy while maintaining a high level of interaction and cooperation by sharing ideas and feelings on several issues. This creates a high level of trust among the members as they are free to seek help from each other (Forssell, 2008, p.96).

References

  1. Adair, J., Eric. (2005).How to Grow Leaders: The Seven Key Principles of Effective Leadership Development.Pentonvile: Kogan Page publishers.
  2. Forssell, D. (2008).Management and Leadership: Insight for Effective Practice. California: Living Control Systems Publishing
  3. Mabey, C., & Tim, F. (2007).Management and Leadership Development. California: Sage Publishers.
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