Team building refers to the process of creating coordination, understanding, and mutual cooperation among organizational members with the aim of achieving desired results. According to Daft and Marcic (2010), conflicts are inevitable in any organization because individuals have varying needs and wishes. Every person would always want to act in a manner he/ she perceives as the best. Hence, a conflict would always arise when there is an antithesis to what other employees believe. Therefore, it is vital for organizations to use team building exercises in order to counter any conflict that would lead to unproductive activities. Organizations will always need a well-defined team building exercise that would bring understanding and mutual working relationships between employees and management.
This essay describes a team-building exercise for conflict resolution within an organization. The paper also gives the explanation on how to realize the practice.
The team building exercise would start with identifying the key areas of a conflict within the organization. It is vital to identify the organizational areas that are prone to conflicts. Finding the source of a conflict would be helpful because this would assist to focus on specific areas. Sengupta and Bhattacharya (2006) assert that it is vital to identify where the conflict emanates from in order to tackle all the issues in a particular pattern that would bring organizational members together.
The exercise would then proceed to review the goals of the organization, and whether they have been achieved or not. The goals and objectives of the organization would be incorporated in the exercise in order to determine the potential of the organization in case all the conflicts are solved. The exercise would determine all the objectives and goals of the organization and bring all the members from different departments together. Some advice pertaining to the achievement of the identified goals would be given. It is necessary to speak to employees in a manner that enables them to see sense in working as a team towards the achievement of the goals. This address would emphasize the fact that one head cannot achieve the organization’s set goals since such an approach can result in making inadequate decisions. Therefore, the identification of the organization’s goals and objectives would help bring togetherness among members as they are advised on why they should work as a unit for the achievement of organizational goals.
The exercise would investigate communication channels within the organization and determine the relationship between the top-level management, lower-level management, supervisors, and employees. Proper communication channels are considered to be effective if they facilitate conflict resolution and reaching of organizational goals. The excise would examine the communication channels in order to identify their role in the existing conflicts within the organization. Through the exercise, the communication channels would be reviewed to establish the ones that would ensure individuals work together as a team. There must be a good nexus between various departments and separate individuals. It aims to provide effective communication which can make the entire organization work as a single unit. Proper communication and coordination among organizational members are of extreme importance.
The exercise would take an analytical approach. It would measure commitment levels of individuals in order to determine what they think about the organization and the rest of the employees. This would be effective in determining the drive of different members of the organization. Walker (2011) points out that analyzing attitudes of individuals would help much in building team work. Members should be urged and motivated to work hand in hand. Attitude determination would help to build effective team work and resolve existing conflict since organizational employees are counselled to put aside their individual believes and work in a coordinated manner. This would also help in the identification of the principal attitudes leading to conflicts within the organization. During the analysis of attitudes, the key areas of focus would be competition among members and the abuse of power among managers. This would be the last step in team building in an organization, surrounded by numerous conflicts.
The exercise would be conducted by means of questionnaires and interviews and through arranging of forums and seminars. Questionnaires and interviews would be effective in the determination of such issues as the key areas of conflict within the organization and personal attitudes of employees. Organizational members would have a chance to give their own opinions relating to the job and the conflicts existing within the organization. They can also express their views about the communication channels, hence aiding in proper team making. The advantage of these means of research is privacy. When people know that they can say what they really want, without worrying about the reaction of certain colleagues, as this can be in case of a staff meeting, they will probably be frank. Dyer and Dyer (2010) point out that forums and seminars would help team builders advise members on why it is so important to work as a team for the achievement of the organization’s goals.
In conclusion, organizational team building is vital because it makes the entire organization work in unison as a unit. It promotes mutual understanding among members. A team building exercise enables individuals to coordinate their efforts by putting their existing differences aside. It would ensure that members of an organization work together and would avert competition for fame among various departments and members. Thus, all organizations must struggle to build team work as this would lead to effective realization of set up goals.