TEAM-BUILDING, TEAM-WORK AND TEAM RELATIONS: A STRONG BASIS OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT

Team relations is one indispensable part in organization's development, which managers could strongly emphasize in their plans. However, themselves must have recognized and trained in much of ever changing team-work dynamics.

Having done so, they would then nurture them in an organization, and later turn their scrutinizing eyes on future staff -during interviews and, as key emphasis in staff workshops. Some of the key workshop ingredients could be learning sessions in conflict resolution, negotiation and stress management.

Otherwise, without health team relations, staff performance can be adversely affected as there might be reduced morale to work in a conflictual work environment, high toll on the mental health dysfunctioning of workers; confusion, disengagement, absenteeism and dismissals of affected staff by their unsuspecting bosses.

In teams, however, conflicts are the most infectious yet inevitable challenges. There can always be strategy-based and content-based disagreements. Regular meetings have been known to be best remedy for organizations and groups marred with conflicts. It can also mean bringing to the table every arising individual-concern for solution-finding to avoid spill-over effect.

Modalities thought to best work for specific interventions must be discussed before executing the tasks in line with them. There are teams that could be “shrewd” enough to come out with suitable structures, forming suitable operations guidelines and systematic steps -with which to successfully implement organization programs, even when their initiatives contradict the organization ones -conceivable “not to be smart” enough; so long as in the end, anticipated organization goals are met. For order ya jjesi, it could be different matter, just as in organizations with overly centralized management systems.

While in the meeting, it is best when each member makes a contribution or suggestion; the most quiet members ought to speak or be encouraged too. For justice assurance, also, equal time for everyone to express strongly held views should be allocated.

At the beginning of meetings agendas can be created basing on key contentious areas in team relations; the causes of arguments, have discussions done around them, followed by agreements and ways forward.

While expecting that at the end of the meeting, conflicting team members re-think their positions and realign themselves with the rest of the team's mainstream one. However, care must be taken to ensure equal platform for everyone to air out his or her views.

In a team, it is all about consulting each other before action, reporting the action to the rest of the members, and involving them in any plan -whose outcome could affect them all. Every member must have either participated in the plans or sought to be furnished with information about it.

Some organizations may have a culture or history of nurturing all staff equally to become leaders -starting from the team situation. However, one wonders how everyone can be leader within a team of five people. What a test! It is usually difficult one, unless all members are given clear roles structures for them to play and achieve through.

In spite of that, there is always a tendency of one member in the team emerging dominant, and later imposing himself or herself on the team as overall decision-maker. Nature must have provided that; for anything to function normally, there must be a leader no matter how that leader comes to exist as one. It is such mysterious circumstances that even make people (spiritualists) think leadership is from God.

It is possible to realize group cohesion, enthusiasm, high commitment, high involvement, high performance, lessened achievement resistance, and easy conflict resolution if the organization presented alternative options (of members) for every team to elect its own leader.

However, set guidelines must be given to the electoral or appointing authority to ensure that a leader chosen suits the organization culture and history, and has its current vision and expected strength to grasp and execute tasks. But the approach could change with well oriented team members; aware of their roles in fulfilling objectives of daily field goals throughout the program time.

Where a team leader option is additionally considered by the organization, he or she should be charismatic enough to generate morale, solidarity and enthusiasm in the team-situation amidst field challenges.

In that regard, presence of a team-leader should not mean passivity for him or other team members, but active role play even when the rest of the team are burnt-out. There can be a tendency of over-functioning members of the team unconsciously lessening work-involvement of other team members. It is therefore a team-leaders' continued efforts that will, time and again, resuscitate the fatigued members' work-spirits; to push on, until the end of the field program.

Each member, as having equal life challenges that may be economic or career-related, must put in equal effort in relation to his or her distinct role. And, of course, the concrete tasks and responsibilities must be those that help the team, exactly, to achieve its set goals -reviewable at all meeting held regularly for enthusiasm raising.

Like in any other purposeful relationships, there must be specific values nurtured to bond members in light with the work they do. These could be; mutual respect, mutual responsibility, cooperation, listening and sharing -a kind of sisterly or brotherly relationship.

Where work conditions are not acceptable, and team pressure is channeled onto one person, very soon, it would cause agony -a feeling of injustice and a constant struggle to realize a comfortable position in the team and states within oneself. But, still, the element of competition can always erupt.

Different individuals will want to gather pomp, and searching for all they are best in and testing them on others' ability. This is when the tendency to disrespect, error-searching, and to making endless criticisms ensue, but with strong and focused leadership of one entrusted for the task -be it at team and organization level, all such could be contained. This can help save affected members from feelings of intellectual injustice, work-place insecurities, low work involvement, and negative field outcomes and reports,.

If team's dysfunctionality arises from the organizational structure and turns out to victimize team-members, then cooperation with a leader -who receives and listens to member complaints, keeps confidential information, ensures field-work constraints are included in the final report -along with specific recommendations that addresses them in future, becomes ideal.

In circumstances where the team is multi-racial, certain individual members' actions can be interpreted as offensive so much that those offended opt to grieve silently -wondering if the “offender” really meant it or not. Such confusion created amidst work tasks -supposed to be done, can be very agonizing while ,at the same time, too results into negative end-of-term report.

When ill-feelings are brought to the team leader's attention, he or she expectedly convenes meetings aimed at seeking explanations and clarity of the troublesome statements made or actions done, while ensuring that the offended members understand the cultural gaps or differences.

And such explanations related to culture ought to be made clear; both prior field placement and in daily group reviews of work done. To note is that learning process highly varies sharply; from on that is instant, one-day realization to weeks, months acknowledgment to years. Beyond that; it turns out to be an abnormality.

There, also, can be a time when work pressure is so overwhelming that members lose grip on work, tempers rise easily, and burn-out sets in. While in this situation the focus need to be; compromise, in the best interest of meeting project goals within the set period of time. But, as opportunities arise for friendly or casual discussions, dissatisfactions can be aired out politely, and with respect.

Alternatively, one could buy time until the end of the project so that as the bosses applaud them for the excellent field-work at the end of the year, the team ensures availability of time to air out the other side of the coin missing in the general report summary, though already stated in the detailed one.

It is helpful too to help colleagues adjust, learn or improve, no matter how arrogant they might be. This, as already pointed out, can occur immediately or even very long after the end of the program. Then, perhaps, the kind helper could receive a telephone call, card or nice gifts in appreciation. Of course, anyone would like to be honored.

It is a time when those oppressed in the team will want to get some airtime or breather to speak about what did not go well in the field. They could have chose compromise or to lose at hot arguments in the field, and win later (out of the field).

Calling for individual member reports alongside the main one presented by the team leader, too, could be excellent. This ensures that anomalies are never left to rot -to no reinstatement, but addressed as they arise.

Unfortunately or fortunately, every person nurses specific biases, social stereotypes and certain obsessions. With time, such attitudes lead to caucuses within the team, in which members find comfort -as they move to the field station, and during work breaks.

With time, some can be really nagging, especially when the obsessions -be it in ideology, culture and other behavioral specifics are perennial, where somebody continues saying the same statement every time at the pace of two minutes as though he or she has lost her mind. Anyway, reports say there moments when people are not at their best, and how quick they return to normal is what makes anyone unique.

Others may be sort of intellectual imperialists, who want to selfishly impose their views on a group at all cost and have them work in the team as general rules. Interestingly, they could even “steal” other members' ideas and make them their own -to give the imperialist's impression of a powerful figure that is manifested all the time. Indeed, it is debilitating working with the same person throughout the years yet, already, everyday to the victimized person can be like a year!

But also the group leader could ensure that times are set for group parties, casual-conversational meetings and talking about a wide areas of life, this time round, outside work arena -while constantly encouraging members to open up to such occasions.

The team leader must endure the trouble of appealing to members to share knowledge, rather than compete about who has best strategist. But because the focus, then, is about registering team results, such happy moments could be only ended by reviewing project objectives and setting next days' timeline.

In addition, the team leader could encourage sincere guidance rather than mere criticism, ridicule or sizing up of others in the team, and the same be the case with the parent organization's top management; ensuring that members report ill-feelings as well as physical illnesses that could be misinterpreted by the group as pretense or laziness.

While those with cherished ideas they wish other team members could adopt, gently and patiently explain how good they are since, as noted earlier, it sometimes takes longer time for people to understand, appreciate and adopt something new. And, as part of the team work ethic, mutual consultation ought to be encouraged -to avoid unnecessary criticisms and endless complaints -due to blunders and errors during role execution.


Jacob Waiswa
Situation Health Analysis
www.situationhealthanalysis.blogspot.com

ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH: ISSUES IN MONITORING AND EVALUATION

BY

JACOB WAISWA

Monitoring and evaluation are important ingredients in project planning and management that involve gathering information about set targets and regularly checking for successes to strengthen and challenges to address and accordingly protect the set goal, objectives and activities. This helps preserve a health working relationship between the funding institution and the beneficiaries. In doing so, critical observation and record keeping are fundamental engagements.

In attempting to implement work plan, a team must be in place to do so. It must have people ready to work and ensure success basing on organizational ethics. Within the group mutual respect, responsibility, cooperation, effective communication and mutual help would be important qualities for a good and solid team ready to go.

But importantly, team and work ethics must be outlined clearly and demanded by the organization, followed by disciplinary actions (as consequences for misbehavior) to avoid bogus set-backs. Issues like data duplication, inconsistencies due to concoctions must not be tolerated and regular checks could be considered every time and again.

To some organizations, working as a team could mean no one takes leadership of the team. Instead, equity for them might be the norm. However, given the different motives of team members, some could chose to be lax and only pretend as though have been working when a supervisor pops in. There are people, who perform in presence of only their bosses rather than a mere colleague like maize weevils which not until the boiler heats up that it would be reminded to come out.

Remember also that other team members could find it difficult to report a problem team member for fear of creating bad blood, yet at the same time struggling with the entire load of work, and fishing same rewards (remuneration) at the end of the day. Indeed it could be a nail in the feet of most active members and as though some form of injustice.

Some members of the team may choose to display negative qualities like refusal to accept suggestions and advice, parasiting and only wait for rewards, forgeries and playing about with figures to avoid field work, in-fighting that could force others out of work, digressing from organizational core values that might potentially fail implementation process. These are true features of anarchy common in societies without leadership as much as those with weak leaders. How possible would it be for a trailer to roll without a driver? What a joke!

Create a good working relationship with the local population. This could yield progressive results like volunteering to participate in surveys, providing security and at times; logistics. However, so many organizations have set different trends that up to now have damaged the liberal element for participatory decision making.

Almost wherever one could go, money must be carried as fuel to sort of motivate desired participants take on roles in research. And because they are sure of monetary rewards, in many instances, make more unnecessary exaggerations and mistakes than genuine responses, since focus then would be just money and excitement in return.

Understanding community behavior could have its own benefits. To note is that people would have different life styles and cultures they express. For example in most areas outside town, so-called lunch time could be actually an on-going garden work, while real lunch time sets in later at about 3pm. This would then mean about 1 hour of letting the food settle or body to complete digestion process before they could think of attending any community meeting.

Besides, field worker might be tempted to impose his or her own values as regards to meeting time and of organizing of community activities. Such would only fail organizational programmes and lead to misfiring for every selected-to-do task.

One of the most hectic times could be active data collection along side activities undertaken. It would be a time when no excuses of headache, illness and hunger mean anything to a “true” field officer. This is so because such data would be the basis of final reporting phase shared out with stakeholders. Therefore, accuracy at primary data collection would be pertinent.

During the course of collecting data to assess impact, targeted population as expected must be involved in the review process and approvals -moreover, taken in writing by way of commenting, while ensuring that important features like gender, age, professional, location, status are keenly considered as organizational focus may demand. This would not only help give grassroots’ much desired response, but also could help build donor and stake-holder confidence.

Certain activities like sports, drama, and music could be encouraged to reinforce participation rather than money. Money-culture is failing sincerity of research results, reports and later, policy. Inadequate resources like limited allowances for the team that could lead to de-motivation too could be reviewed and immediately addressed. In doing so, level inflation in a country must be put in perspective.

In addition, regular meetings could be organized to streamline team activities and solve problems as they arise. Whilst at meetings, members must never forget to write down minutes for every meeting. This could serve as evidence whenever needed in case of an exceedingly troublesome member, and as a basis of disciplinary action. Experience has shown that with effective communication wounds could be healed between people through well organized, well-intentioned and moderated meetings.

On the part of the organization or employers, regular and at times unplanned visits could be made to check progress and records of what might have so far been achieved. In fact, there could be a big-brother phenomenon to ensure desired order and pace of events as set by the firm.