Problems Of Team Formation And Functioning In Modern Conditions

Methods for forming teams

Koulogeorge (2018), wrote in his article which has been published in Forbs that we often think of team building as an excuse to get everyone to have fun, but we ignore the team-learning opportunity. The key is to start with a competency the team needs to develop and then plan a group activity that focuses on that competency. Ideally done, you can achieve both team learning and team building at the same time.

A great role in the formation and functioning of teams is played by such methods and approaches as training, support of team work by management of the organization and feedback.

Programs of team building, formation of organizational culture are the most important in the internal training of personnel (ITP). At the same time, the most important principle of the ITP for these programs should become the principle of universality and regularity implying that all staff of the organization, regardless of their position, should be trained on the named programs. This training should not be one-time, it should be conducted on a regular basis, with the use of constantly updated innovative methods and technologies of training.

Specialists in the field of management T. Peters and R. Waterman came to the conclusion that there is a strong relationship between the culture of the organization and the effectiveness of its functioning. This relationship is manifested, first of all, in the results of joint activities of the organization's employees (Peters & Waterman, 2018).

Today, there is no to convince managers of the need to create a continuous ITP system based on a corporate university, they are well aware of all its advantages.Companies can use a variety of models of the corporate university, depending on the using educational technologies and the degree of partnership with other educational organizations: training company, virtual corporate university, the concept of "Blended learning", strategic educational alliances (Sycheva, 2015).

An important problem is the search for resources: financial, personnel, etc.

Team-building trainings, which are aimed at increasing the effectiveness of the work of the staff and the organization as a whole (building a team, increasing the effectiveness of communications, leadership, conflict management), occupy an important place in the system of ITP of organization in modern conditions, along with skill trainings and training of a professional-personal growth.

Creating an effective team is a long and painstaking work to establish joint activities, which requires the use of a special complex of technologies of management consultancy.

Technologies for the formation of teams

There are three methodological approaches to creating teams: team-building, team- design and reteaming.

Team - design and role distribution – team design – is a technology in which attention is focused on the principles of designing a team and distributing roles in it. There are a number of approaches to the allocation of team roles, among which the most interesting approach is approach by Belbin (Belbin, 1996). The characteristics of the members of the group identified by Belbin are presented in Table 01 .

The research, led by Belbin, led to the conclusion that the effectiveness of the group depends on its composition, on the balance of roles. He noted that the group, where there are performers of all nine roles, is ready to perform any task. The composition of the group should reflect the specifics of the task. A complete set of roles is especially important where there are rapid changes in the content of work.

The researches have shown that particularly high indicators were achieved by groups in which there were: a capable leader; strong idea generator; an intellectual stimulating an idea generator; a mathematician who is able to "calculate" the shortcomings of the proposals discussed in time.

One of the most extended technologies for building a successful team is team building.

Team-building is a technology where the emphasis is on the emotional rallying of participants by solving tasks that can not be performed alone. As a result of the implementation of the team-building program, conditions are created for informal communication and maintaining positive relations, for relieving tension and defusing the conflict situation between.

It should be noted that training for team-building is not cheap for companies. However, in the opinion of the company's management, such costs are justified by the achievement of high results.

An interesting technology that allows to create management teams "from scratch" was the author's program "Reteaming" (from English re-teaming - reorganization of teams), developed by Finnish experts Ben Furman and Tapani Ahola (Furman & Ahola, 2009).

Reteaming is an effective program of work with personnel, which allows you to solve range of tasks. It is used:

• to create a management team in a new enterprise;

• when preparing managers for serious organizational changes and implementing special projects in a working company, for example, when restructuring a company;

• in solving problems that require high coherence.

Reteaming is held in the form of training, during which participants learn to move from problems to goals, overcome them in a constructive positive manner, in cooperation with others, increasing personal motivation to achieve the goal, commensurate obstacles and available resources, and take greater personal responsibility for the result.

During the execution of the Reteaming program, participants learn the modern technology of the team form of work by solving problems that are relevant to the group. As a result of joint work, personal and corporate goals are coordinated, a result-oriented approach to managerial problems, is developed participants are rallying to the team, and teamwork skills are formed.

The basis of reteaming is solution-oriented interaction instead of the traditional analysis of the problem. Focusing on the solution is focusing attention on what allows you to move forward, rather than on what creates difficulties. The emphasis is on the future, not on the past, on resources, not on problems, on successes, not on failures, on "what to do", and not "who is to blame."

The program Reteaming has been successfully implemented in some Russian organizations.

Principles of the formation and functioning of management teams

Analysis of management practices of leading domestic and foreign companies, allowed to formulate the principles of the formation and functioning of management teams (Shramchenko, 2008). Let's give a brief description of the main ones.

The principle of complementarity. To perform the various tasks facing the management team, people with different abilities are required. So, for effective top management, according to experts, a combination of the following types of people is required: the man of thought, the person of action, the person who knows people and understands them, the person of the public. However, this combination of abilities is almost never found in one person.

Principle of compatibility. There are two aspects to consider here. First, the psychological, value and worldview compatibility of the team members is important. And, secondly, compatibility with the corporate culture, desire and ability to accept and assimilate it.

The principle of diversity. The effectiveness of the team depends on the objectivity of the vision of the situation, on the number of different solutions to the problem. And this is largely determined by the homogeneity of the composition team. It is necessary to combine specialists of different sex, age, experience, pursuing different, but not diametrically opposed, personal goals, having different opinions, which they are not afraid to state.

Principle of openness of information. All members of the management team must have access to information to make objective and reliable decisions.

The principle of the constant development of teams. The team must develop as a living organism. Here it is necessary to take into account, in our opinion, three components. First, the leader needs to constantly take care of professionalism and personal growth of both his own and his team members. Secondly, disputes and discussions are considered as integral components of teamwork. The leader should create an atmosphere of open discussion of complex problems, while supporting a benevolent environment. Thirdly, the team should be updated, it should include new members who contribute a "fresh stream", can create, offer creative ideas for business development. With what frequency, in what quantity, who specifically these and other aspects of updating the team each manager decides based on the specifics of his work.

Principle of flexibility. Business, its external environment does not stand still, they change, the conditions for the formation and functioning of teams, the goals and tasks facing the team, therefore, the requirements for team members must change, and the principles of their formation (Hackman, 2002).

These principles are applicable to the creation of not only management teams, but also any other teams. In addition, it should be said that the composition of these principles is not final. Practice can put forward new principles for creating teams.

In addition to the principles described above, it is possible to single out such principles as the principle of collective performance of work, the principle of collective responsibility; the principle of a uniform incentive for the team, payment for the final result; the principle of adequate stimulation of the team for the final result; principle of autonomous self-management team; the principle of increased performance discipline, voluntarily accepted by each member of the team; the principle of voluntariness of entering the team (Zinkevich-Evstigneeva, Frolov, & Grabenko, 2011).

Tasks of the leader in the formation of the team

The leader has the main role in the formation of teams. Creation of an efficient and able to work qualified team of professionals is the prerogative and the most important task of the manager. At the same time, this is confirmation of his managerial skills. First of all, before creating a management team, the manager determines the management model in the company, the choice is between two options: a rigid hierarchical or self-organizing model. After that, the corresponding model and strategy of teambuilding is already selected (Shramchenko, 2008).

Management theorists and practices for more than 10 years include the ability to form a team and work in it in the top three most important qualities of managers at all levels.

So, according to experts in modern conditions, the manager should have the following seven skills (Groysberg, 2014) such as:

• Leadership qualities.

• Strategic thinking and leadership.

• Technical and technological skills.

• Ability to build relationships and create a team.

• Ability to submit yourself and communicate.

• Change Management.

• Honesty.

In each of these skills there are components of the ability to work in a team.

To form a team that works effectively to achieve common goals, the manager must solve a number of important tasks.

1. Establish rules for teamwork and interaction between members of team. Rules are necessary for success in any field. If there are no rules, the participants will be in complete chaos. Employees should understand how much work they need to perform together; what consequences may be for non-performance of work on time and what award they will receive for the performance of assigned tasks ahead of schedule.

2. To set an example for imitation in work. He can infect subordinates with his energy, his enthusiasm, his creative approach to business, the company's commitment.

3. Clearly define the goals and objectives of the team and its members. Employees must clearly represent the mission and objectives of the company, the place of their team and its goals in the overall objectives of the company. Unclear goals can lead to unexpected situations that will affect the effectiveness of the team. At the same time, it is expediently to involve team members in determining and adjusting their own goals and team goals with changing conditions of the organization's functioning, which, according to the theory of goal-setting, will stimulate employees to more efficiently and quickly achieve them.

4. Clearly distribute responsibilities between team members. They will work more effectively when everyone understands and performs their duties clearly. This makes it possible to determine who is responsible for what, and what for, allow employees to take a safer attitude to work and not fight for their duties and responsibilities.

When forming a team, the leader can and should partially delegate his powers to the team. At the same time, the higher the level of development of the team, the more authority it can convey (about the benefits of delegating authority, its principles, methods and forms, possible problems, see more (Shramchenko, 2014).

5. Provide team members with the necessary resources to fulfill their tasks. If one member of the team cannot perform the duties assigned to him because of the shortage or untimely provision of his resources (training, providing an equipped workplace, providing the necessary information, allocating the necessary funds, etc.), he can fail the whole team assigned tasks to it will not be performed.

6. Create an incentive system that includes rewards and punishments for the fulfillment of the goals and objectives of the team as a whole and each of its members. Rewards can be tangible or intangible, monetary and non-monetary. Another important thing is that they are obligatory, systemic (application in the system), fairness, importance for the team members, a combination of team reward for the work done by it with the individual reward of each member of the team, depending on his individual contribution to the overall results of the work, the most important and complex. The said will create and strengthen team spirit and staff will work with even greater enthusiasm. The same applies to punishments, which will allow team members to be held responsible for the failure or bad quality performance of the duties assigned to them.

7.Set a reasonable time frame. The timing of tasks can often vary depending on the needs. Time is the most important criterion for realizing the tasks. Time can also serve as a form of reward for team members, especially if they worked extra hours to accomplish goals and tasks on time.

8. Provide feedback. Each member of the team must receive the necessary feedback, which will help him feel more secure and ready to work together. Effective feedback should have a number of characteristics, such as: focus, concreteness and constructiveness, the descriptive (rather than evaluative) character, usefulness, timeliness, willingness and readiness of employees to perceive feedback, clarity, definition of expression, understandability for everyone who receives it, safety and reliability.

9. Organize regular meetings, which is the best way to understand employees and track the effectiveness of teamwork. These meetings will help to avoid the problems associated with working together, to establish and monitor all the ongoing processes. The frequency of such meetings depends on the complexity of the tasks assigned, the time allotted for their implementation, the adopted control system, and other factors.

The role of the organization's management in the formation of the team

The effectiveness of teamwork is greatly influenced by the management of the organization, which can support it, or can prevent it, contributing to the individualization of work. Accordingly, the effectiveness of teamwork may increase or decrease.

The most important task of management is the formation and maintenance of a new value system in an organization where command management in the organization as a whole, in the work of each of its subdivisions is the most important value reference, which in turn requires the creation of an atmosphere of trust in the team.

If employees are not trusted, management constantly tries to prove that the staff is not able to work effectively, and instead of a system of positive motivation and openness, employees are in the zone of total control and subjected to reprisals, this atmosphere in the team does not contribute to the formation of effective team work and its development.

Trust is increasingly recognized as an essential asset to break down silos, foster collaboration, deepen teamwork, drive engagement, and manage the never-ending process of change. When trust is present, people step forward and do their best work, together, efficiently. They align around a common purpose, take risks, think out of the box, have each other’s backs, and communicate openly and honestly. When trust is absent, people jockey for position, hoard information, play it safe, and talk about—rather than to—one another (Reina, Reina, & Hudnut, 2017).

Trust is a concept that shows itself not only at the organizational level, but also at the interorganizational level. The trust formed in the relations between individuals, increases the information transparency of their interaction and contributes to the creation of strong social ties. At the interorganizational level, trust is an important source of creating a sustainable competitive advantage and a factor that contributes to the improvement of performance. Thus, trust is not only a social category, but also an economic category. "The economy of trust" has been most fully explored by Covey (Jr.), who showed that the intangible matter of trust is not really tangible and measurable, but is created and transformed into a tangible asset, and thus has a profound effect on relationships in business and society. The level of trust can directly influence the decrease of costs, the improvement of the quality of work of personnel, the growth of the sharing of corporate culture. On the contrary, high trust is a kind of dividend. "When trust is high, "Covey writes, "the dividends you receive are similar to an efficiency multiplier that develops and improves all dimensions of your organization and your life. High trust acts like yeast in the test, lifting everything around you. In the organization, high trust significantly affects communications, cooperation, execution, innovation, strategy, interest, partnership and relationships with all stakeholders " (Covey & Merrill, 2008, p.39).

The role of management in providing advice in the process of forming and operating teams is very important. Consultations are necessary in determining the mission and goals of teamwork, and their adjustment. They help team members to perceive, understand and react constructively to current behavioral events, which in turn helps to increase the effectiveness of teamwork.

The introduction of command compensation by the management, also, in the opinion of many domestic and foreign specialists, stimulates the deepening of cooperation between team members and the high results of its work. At the same time, team reward should be combined with an adequate assessment of the contribution of each employee to the overall results of teamwork and its corresponding motivation. Otherwise, this can lead to a number of problems, such as social idleness, the refusal to work together with highly qualified employees, etc.

The effectiveness of teamwork is enhanced not only by the belief in management in the ability of employees to work together, but also by creating the conditions for the formation and development of necessary skills. Management can and should organize and conduct the necessary trainings for these purposes, pay for the participation of its employees in them, as well as in other various forms of professional development.

The most important condition for the effective work of the teams is management assistance in allocating time and place for joint work, providing the information necessary for the teams, developing a communication system that will improve interaction between employees in the course of their daily activities, and ultimately – increase the productivity and cohesion of the team.

Development of the team approach in the work of the organization will also contribute to the application of project management. The implementation of any project begins with the fact that the project manager is appointed, and he, in turn, gather a project team that will serve him faithfully in the development and realization of the project to effectively achieve the project objectives. The composition of the team and the functions of the project team members are formed by the characteristics (scopes, complexity, etc.) of the project. However, in any case, the composition of the team must ensure a high professional level of all the duties assigned to it.

Typical composition of the project team consists of:

• Project manager;

• Human resources manager;

• Manager of Finance;

• Quality manager;

• Contract manager;

• Purchasing manager;

• Manager of public relations;

• Production manager;

• Project office manager.

We should not forget that the main importance is the personal resources of the team leader, such as time, health, experience and intuition, professional skills, the ability to model business processes, rhetoric, psychological abilities, etc.