The importance of the team having a common sense of purpose that supports the overall vision and strategy of the organization
As integral parts of every organization, vision and strategy help people to determine future goals and operational tactics that should be taken into consideration to ensure that the company moves forward at the moment. For instance, Robert Gordon University is an institution that has a well-developed vision based on the views of its products, markets, customers, and itself. The representatives of this university state that the vision of this organization is to transform individuals and various population groups by providing demand-led teaching and research (“Our Strategy Map,” 2018). In turn, this vision is expected to result in major contributions to the economic, social, and cultural life of the global population. When it comes to the strategy used to achieve this goal, it is essential to focus on the advantages of the Robert Gordon University.
In fact, this institution is widely known due to its human resources, infrastructure, partnerships, and sustainability. First, Robert Gordon University invests in the field of research, including industrial biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and pharmacy practice. Second, students from low-income families have the opportunity to get higher education there. Third, the university is tremendously popular due to its activities in developing a course portfolio and digital infrastructure. Today, all organizations and projects need a vision, mission, and strategy, as these elements ensure that people are working towards a single goal by aligning everyone with the organization. At the same time, it is important for the team to have a common sense of purpose that links to the vision and strategy. Nowadays, it encourages employees to feel committed to the specific company and motivates them to use all the available resources to achieve the goal in a short time.
The role that communication plays in establishing a common sense of purpose
Organizational communication can be defined as a form of communication between the members of a particular working environment, which helps achieve common goals. Moreover, it plays a prominent role in conveying the overall mission of the organization to its stakeholders who have an interest in the company. Organizations should select appropriate methods of communication. For example, it can be face-to-face communication, broadcast media, mobile channels, electronic communication, or written communication. In addition, it is important to choose effective times and places to communicate with the team and individuals. It is recommended to communicate clearly and accurately during conferences. To ensure the communication is effective, it is essential to require feedback.
Also, communication is a component that is frequently used in order to increase the level of employee satisfaction. For example, lower-level employees need permanent communication with senior leaders to understand that they have common goals. Furthermore, the communication between heads of the departments and their subordinates is used for allocating specific tasks, improving previous mistakes in the work, and creating plans for future activities. Thus, ineffective communication can damage a common sense of purpose, thereby resulting in disengagement, frustration, and stress among the employees.
The effectiveness of own communication skills on the basis of the above
All communication skills are usually divided into 4 main groups, such as verbal, nonverbal, written, and visual communication. When it comes to listening, I have always been perceived as an excellent listener. One of the team members once commented that it was tremendously nice to discuss new ideas with me, as I never interrupted other individuals. At the same time, it is important to note that the lack of self-confidence makes me feel nervous during presentations. In fact, I experience difficulties in making eye contact with the audience and expressing my ideas in a slow manner.
Therefore, this type of communication in the area of my future improvement. In turn, visuals in presentations can be considered my advantage, as I prefer to complement slides with interesting diagrams and illustrations rather than tons of words. Accordingly, my colleagues highlight that creative presentation of information should become the focus of my work in the future.
The main motivational factors in a work context and how these may apply to different situations, teams and individuals
Motivation can be described as the reason for people’s actions, which is based on social or biological forces. It is important for individuals to be committed and motivated in order to create an effective team, as the lack of appropriate motivation can result in the loss of time, financial resources, as well as a low level of job satisfaction among employees. Nowadays, Herzberg’s two-factor model is one of the primary motivation models used to determine job factors that contribute to either satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The group of positive factors includes achievement, recognition, and growth, whereas the group of negative factors may include unreasonable supervision and poor working conditions (Rožman, Treven and ÄanÄer, 2017).
Simultaneously, extrinsic motivation factors have an enormous effect on the work of employees. They combine personal enjoyment, flexibility, recognition, and impact. Today, this mix of motivation factors can be applied to different situations, teams, and individuals with the help of various activities. My working experience is based on a variety of examples related to motivation. In order to encourage the employees to build trust, my team leader used to organize team bonding activities, such as painting classes, kayaking, and cooking classes. In turn, I have experience in motivating the team with the aid of volunteering.
The importance of a leader being able to motivate teams and individuals and gain their commitment to objectives
The leader plays an essential role in motivating the entire team and each individual to share a sense of purpose. For example, the whole team can be motivated by cash or non-cash bonuses as incentives, while the individual can be motivated either by recognition or advancement. As the level of commitment to the organization, employee engagement should be considered by team leaders to enhance the quality of employees’ work and outperform the competition. In fact, this indicator is frequently associated with games and events, although it covers a vast scope of other activities. To increase the level of employee engagement, the team leader should develop a strategy that combines encouragement of flexibility, clarification of goals, maintenance of a positive working environment, and promotion of taking breaks. At the same time, my working experience demonstrates that consequences associated with poor employee engagement are a decrease in employee output and productivity.
The role that a leader plays in supporting and developing the team and its members and give practical examples of when this will be necessary
The leaderās role encompasses a variety of functions, such as developing a timeline for the project, delegating the tasks within the team, communicating company goals, assessing the performance of employees, and encouraging employee engagement. Moreover, Tuckmanās model is based on the idea that the leaderās role is strongly associated with leadership styles. Therefore, the author of this theory recommends leaders to begin with a directing style, move through coaching, participate, and finish delegating (Jones, 2019).
To provide support and guidance, each leader should consider factors, such as commitment, accountability, and empowerment. Additionally, communication and feedback are key elements of the support and development of the team, as they help organizations to be productive and operate effectively. Furthermore, continuous development offers people the opportunity to improve their income and professional skills throughout their careers. For example, this process has helped my colleague to start his career as a customer service representative and achieve the position of executive manager in 4 years.
Reference List
Jones, A. (2019) āThe Tuckmanās model implementation, effect, and analysis & the new development of Jones LSI model on a small groupā, Journal of Management, 6(4), pp.23-28.
Our strategy map. (2018) Web.
Rožman, M., Treven, S. and ÄanÄer, V. (2017) āMotivation and satisfaction of employees in the workplaceā, Business Systems Research Journal, 8(2), pp. 14-25.