TEAM BUILDING AND TEAMWORK IN ORGANIZATIONS: IMPLICATIONS TO MANAGERS AND EMPLOYEES IN WORK PLACES

Abstract

Effective teams in organizations make all the differences in the achievement of corporate value creation, growth, and attainment of the predetermined and emergent goals and objectives of any organization. This paper examines the impact of teambuilding and teamwork in organizations and their implications to managers and employees. The paper notes that team building stimulates organizational productivity, service quality and general positive performances and enhances organizational development and efficiency. It also note that team building encourages continuous growth, open and positive communication, and development of trust and leadership potentials of organizations members. It however pointed out that team building encounter serious challenges in employee resistance, lack of trust, virtual workplace and globalization. The paper concluded that team building promotes effective collaboration of all team members, and also make organizations better places of work. Additionally, the sustainability of the benefits gained from team building depends on the level of support given by management, team member’s commitment, and quality of the team leader. It is recommended among others that, team member’s choosing should be based on individual ability, skills and competencies in order to stimulate team member’s interest to task meant to be accomplished. In addition, team building activities should be planned, designed, executed and monitored in such a way that will enhance open communication, member’s collaboration and flexibility in order to create effective cohesion and synergy to enhance team effectiveness and performance. Management should also train team members to understand their roles and expectations from them as teams. Moreover, choice of team leaders should be based on the skills and experience, and individual ability to handle complexity of team activities.