Stages of development
The team has gone through several changes as a result of the new expansion programs, which have led to the recruitment of new employees into the company. First, there was a re-organization of the entire team. This was done to incorporate the new staff members into the team. This would mean that the old employees were to be transferred to other departments of the organization. It was evidenced that only a few members were to remain with the new employees in the new café.
This group of old employees had sufficient knowledge and operations of the company. In essence, this group of the old employees was essential in the team that comprised of the new employees because they were to guide and teach the new employees. In fact, at the initial stages when one has just been hired into the organization, he/she is not yet acquainted with the procedures and the daily operations of the company (Zapeda 2003, p. 63).
Moreover, the re-organization of the team led to the replacement of the employees. This was witnessed when the café bars in both Prahran and St. Kilda were required to replace each of their two employees with other two new ones who have just been recruited into the team. It is important to note that the new employees might interfere with the existing culture of the company, to some extent. This might be seen in the case whereby the new employees might give some cold receptions to the customers (Dobson, Starkey & Richards 2004, p. 51).
It can as well be said that there was a change of attitude towards work. This might have occurred due to demoralization among the team members. They could be demoralized because not all employees embrace the elements of changes, which take place within the organization.
For instance, some employees might be unwilling to move to other areas of the company or business units. Such reluctance to move to the new areas of work might as well de-motivate the team members. Such changes in incidences affect the levels of performance and work output among the team members. It is also possible that the new members of the team cannot find it possible to interact and effectively work with the old employees as a unified team. Such inconsistency in work cohesion could finally lead to poor work performance (Fisher & Fisher 2010, p. 102).
The recruits in the team could also feel that they are being intimidated by the old employees. This could be witnessed in situations whereby the existing staff members of the team sit on the job and make the newly recruited employees do most of the work. This kind of change might adversely affect the productivity of the company because when the recruits, especially the students who have just come from colleges are given tasks to perform alone, they are bound to make a lot of mistakes.
Such mistakes and errors could be attributed to a lack of the necessary skills, competence, and experience. These skills, especially “the experience among the employees, are something that is gained on the job, after working for several years in the organization” (Collins & Porras 2006, p. 96). Therefore, it is important to realize that the old staff members should not leave everything to be done by the recruits since they will be challenged to provide the best quality to the clients of the company. This is because they are still training to know more about the processes and operational procedures of the company (Lipnack & Stamps 2010, p.24).
Improving team performance
In essence, it is important to implement sound strategies and procedures, which are geared towards improving team performance in the organizations. First, motivate the employees to work hard. This can be done through the provision of bonuses based on performance. This will motivate the team members to work hard to earn very attractive bonus pay packages. This might be a form of discouragement to those members of the team who might tend to work lazily on the jobs assigned to them.
Second, introduce competition wards among the team members. The team that performs well can be given a free holiday trip to the recreational sites, and the expenses paid by the company. The outstanding member of the team who has excelled in his/her area of duty can be given some nice trophy to take home, and this will be a source of encouragement to the other team members (Kotter 2007, p 97).
Second, provide some good schemes to the team members who excel in their areas of duty. These schemes can incorporate the use of defined benefit schemes where the employer contributes certain percentages of money towards the employee’s benefit. The winning team can be assigned the highest percentage as a form of encouragement to keep up with the good spirit of outstanding performance (2003, p.57).
Sample of a checklist developed
The following checklist was developed to record the observations of the individual team members who were engaged in performing their daily activities and tasks. This information will be of sound importance during the performance appraisal.
Title: Team Checklist
Preparer: [insert your name] Date submitted for Review: [insert date]
Reviewer: [insert name] Date of Review: [insert date]
Determination of training required
The type of training required can be determined based on the team members’ knowledge, skills, and experience. These elements form the important determinants of what kind of training to adopt and developed since they directly impact the performance of the team and the quality of output derived from the employees. Teams that perform poorly require some thorough training that can involve the hiring of consultancy services of the human resources and management consultants. This group can be taken for some outdoor seminars that may take a longer time than the teams that are showing some good performance (Pettigrew & Whipp 2009, p. 39).
On the other hand, the teams that are already doing well in their areas of work require fewer training programs. They can be trained by the internal human resources department. Besides, they can just be given the human resources manual to go through the company’s work procedures.
Ways for obtaining input and feedback
The following provides the listings of obtaining input and feedback from the team members. First, this can be done through discussions and interview sessions. Second, this can be achieved through weekly meetings, where the team members openly express their views. Finally, questionnaires can be provided for the members to complete, and return to the management of their members.
Scenario analysis
In this scenario, it is advantageous to engage the team members in coming up with viable solutions that are important to the company. It is important to note that there will be less resistance to changes in the work procedures and management from the team members when they are engaged in finding solutions. This is also important for the implementation processes since the team members are going to find it easy to understand and adopt the solutions made (Cohen, S & Cristina 2003, p. 47).
Type of leadership
Democratic leadership style has been currently adopted in managing the team. This has enabled the team members to freely express their views without any form of fear and intimidation. Though this leadership style has enabled the members of the team to freely interact and participate in the decision making processes, it has some of its disadvantages. The limitation of this style has been witnessed in situations whereby the employees reluctantly take commands from their leaders or even excuse themselves from work at their own will (West 2012, p.68).
The appropriate leadership style
It can be argued that the most appropriate leadership style for this organization is the autocratic one. This is important since the leaders are going to have autonomy over their team members. Though, this might be met with a lot of resistance it would promote effectiveness and productivity among the team members. Besides, the decision-making would be faster, under this leadership style.
Leadership style to embrace in the scenario of the café
The most suitable leadership style for this scenario is the autocratic one since many of its employees seem to be sleeping on the job. This is evidenced by the several complaints made by the customers about the quality of services offered to them. This kind of leadership style will put the employees on their toes to enhance quality performance (Bartlett, C & Ghoshal 2008, p. 73).
The importance of leadership in the organization
Leadership is essential in an organization since it provides direction to the team members on how to execute their tasks appropriately and promptly. This will eliminates wastage of resources of the organizations. Consequently, efficiency in productivity will be enhanced.
Risks of poor leaderships
These can be seen in the mismanagement of the organizations. Such mismanagements are risky because they lead to losses of funds and the resources of the company. Financial losses are risky to the organization because they can lead to bankruptcy and solvency. Many organizations, which are not capable of settling their debts, are put under receivership. In such situations, the investors’ controls in the company are completely interfered with since they might not get back the expected returns on their investments.
Conflict or issues
Several conflicts or issues can emanate from the given situation. This is evidenced when the team members engage in a conflict with their leaders. The conflict could be on the job descriptions since some of the duties might be conflicting as a result of role duplication. Another conflict that can ensue is one that is between the team members themselves since some of them may feel that they are burdened with a lot of work, while the others are just doing some light duties. This scenario is likely to be witnessed between the old and the newly recruited employees.
Conflict resolution
These conflicts can be resolved through open discussions and dialogues. First, the team members will notify their leaders through a written mail. After going through the conflicting issues, the management plans for a meeting, and invites the conflicting parties to engage in open dialogue or discussion. An arbitrator might be invited to listen to the views and arbitrate between the members who have been engaged in the conflict. Finally, a resolution is reached and both the parties who were conflicting are advised to co-exist peacefully (Bartlett, C & Beamish 2011, p. 29).
Summary of key qualities
Effective leadership in the workplace must incorporate the qualities of honesty and competency. Honesty would be crucial since the leaders need to deal with their subjects fairly and honestly. Besides, the qualities of honesty will prevent leaders from stealing the resources of the organization. They can as well embrace honesty to avoid engaging in fraudulent activities that lead to losses of resources.
On the other hand, competency is crucial to be embraced among the leaders of the organization. Leaders who have competent skills are capable of steering the organization to the greatest height. This is achieved when the competent skills and knowledge have been employed in coming up with new and viable products, which are very competitive in the market. This will enable the company to realize the increased sales revenue. Consequently, such competence skills in management can help the company to succeed and grow in the long run.
References List
Bartlett, C & Beamish, P 2011, Transnational Management: Text, Cases & Readings in Cross-Border Management, McGraw-Hill, London.
Bartlett, C & Ghoshal, S 2008, Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution, Random House, New York.
Cohen, S & Cristina B 2003, Virtual Teams that Work, Jossey-Bass Publishers, New York.
Collins, J & Porras, J 2006, Built to Last: Successful habits of visionary companies, Harper Business, New York.
Dobson, P, Starkey, K & Richards, J 2004, Strategic Management: Issues and Cases. Blackwell, London.
Fisher, K & Fisher, M 2010, The Distance Manager: Hands on Guide to Managing Off-Site Employees and Virtual Teams, McGraw-Hill Publishers, London.
Kotter, J 2007, Leading Change: Why transformation efforts fail, Harvard Business Review, Cambridge.
Lipnack, J & Stamps, J 2010, Virtual Teams: People Working Across Boundaries with Technology, Wiley Publishers, Boston.
Mintzberg, H, Lampel, J, Quinn, J & Ghoshal, S, 2003, The Strategy Process: Concepts, Contexts, Cases, Prentice-Hall, New York.
Pettigrew, A & Whipp, R 2009, Managing Change for Competitive Success, Blackwell, New York.
West, M 2012, Effective Teamwork: Practical Lessons from Organizational Research Psychology of Work and Organizations, Wiley-Blackwell, London.
Zapeda, S 2003, Instructional Leadership for School Improvement, Eye on Education Publication, Boston.