Are organizations more effective when employees work in teams or alone?

[Name of the Professor]

Abstract

The paper will define the concepts of teamwork and workers working alone. It will explore teamwork theories and will give examples of teamwork at their best. The paper will give the benefits and drawbacks of both the methodology and in final will demonstrate why teamwork is a better option for improving organizational productivity and effectiveness

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION4

DISCUSSION4

Teamwork4

Team5

Team Building5

Advantages of teamwork for organizations6

Disadvantages of teams7

When a team is required7

Essential qualities of an effective team9

Benefits of working alone9

Keys to Team Building10

Team Building Theories11

Unconscious Incompetence to Unconscious Competence11

Maslow's Theory11

Drawbacks of working alone12

Managerial Implications12

CONCLUSION14

REFERENCES15

Are organizations more effective when employees work in teams or alone?

Introduction

There exists a great debate that whether workers working alone will contribute more towards organizational productivity as opposed to the teamwork based model of management. We will look at both of these in detail and will find out the benefits and drawbacks of each of these methodologies. By the end of the paper we will prove that effective teamwork will help organizations to achieve more in terms of productivity and profitability.

Discussion

Teamwork

The concept of teamwork could be traced back to the 1940's. The Manhattan project which was led by J. Robert Oppenheimer showed the world how teamwork could revolutionize the world. A diverse based of scientist were working on this critical project to build the first ever atomic bomb and it is their team work that made the impossible turned into possible. The concept of teamwork can best be seen in sports, where an average team with outstanding teamwork can outclass a bunch of outstanding players in the opposing team and come out on top. It has been proven scientifically and through sports that teamwork can achieve wonderful results which can't be possible through individual brilliance (Bemowski, K, 1994).

Individuals who have worked in an outstanding team will turn out to be great leaders. This in essence provides them a great stepping stone towards building future teams. A great leader not only relies on self brilliance but knows how to get the most out of his team. When applied on organization wide level, this can help firms to stay on top and achieve greater results and productivity(Kanter, R. M, 1983).

Team

The team is widely referred to as a group of people working towards the attainment of a common goal. It is this shared vision and goal which brings the people to work towards working for a common goal. It is to be noted that for teams to succeed all the team members need to provide their valuable inputs for the firm's success. Teams have an objective and a shared vision, which makes the team to aspire and work for achieving the common goal. When we talk about teamwork we refer to individuals who are committed towards ignoring their own goals for the sake of achieving the team's goals(Egan, G, 1988).

Team Building

For building an effective team, first a specific mission needs to be defined and then a team can be built ...