Understanding the Stages of Team Development for Improved Effectiveness

This article discusses the stages of team development and how they can be used to improve the effectiveness of a new registration process team at a college or university. It explores the importance of team cohesion, collaboration, and clear goals, as well as the role of the team leader in guiding the team through the stages. The article also addresses the difference between trait and behavior theories of leadership and how organizations can select and develop effective leaders. Additionally, it discusses the sources of power available to a leader of a university's student organization and the importance of open communication and conflict management strategies in work groups.

1
Organisation Behaviour

2
Question: Suppose that you are a leader of a team that has just been created to develop
a new registration process at your college or university. How can you use an
understanding of the stages of team development to improve your team's effectiveness?
Team development means the evolving of cohesiveness and collaboration that enables the
individuals to create the effectiveness and synergy that are essential to ensure the successful
outcome. The teamwork between two parties can result into the higher level of production. In
order to ensure the effectiveness in the team, the team members will be said to firstly meet
each other. In this stage, team members will be asked to share their interest, background, and
experience to one another. As a leader, clear goals will also be discussed with the team
members. In the second stage, people will have different opinion, as no one knows each other
(Reyes, Tannenbaum, and Salas, 2018). The guidance of team leader will be therefore
provided to the member in order to avoid the situation of conflict. In this stage, team
members will come close by increasing the acceptance of each other. After this stage, team
members tend to start more effectively as a team. they also respecting each other opinions as
well as start value the differences of each other. Under this stage, team also start agreed on
the rules of each other by resolving the team conflict. They will be developed in such a way
that they start helping each other to work toward some common objective (Lacerenza,
Marlow, Tannenbaum and Salas, 2018).
After this stage, team members will start making decisions more quick due to their better and
clear understanding. Leader in this stage will not involve in any of the problem solving,
decision making as well as other activity related to day-to-day working. However, the
performance of team member will be regularly monitored so that team members achieve the
results. At the end, team members will celebrate the success of the project by capturing or
getting some of the practise for future use. In this way, by using these stages, team
development will be ensured.
Question: What is the difference between trait and behaviour theories of leadership?
are the theories valid?
 Trait theory states that the leader is always born. They usually describes the leader is
terms of the personal characteristic such as driven or charismatic. This theory believes that
leaders possess the some unique virtues when they are born. They have some creative or
unique qualities that tend to differentiate it from the other people (Antonakis and Day, 2017).
As compare to this, behavioural leadership states that leadership can be taught by providing

3
the significant skills that are needed for becoming a strong leader. This theory is against the
inborn leaders by emphasis on the needs of training (Storey, 2016).
The both theories are proved to be valid and are used by some of the organisation in day to
day life. Some organisation search for the right leader and some organisation provide training
to their employees in order to take them to the position of leader.
Question: How can organisations select and develop effective leaders? provide 1
example.
 Organisation can develop the effective leader by following some ways. However, it
requires the discipline, hard work, as well as effective team leadership. It is true that effective
leader is developed through the internal leadership program or they are recruited from
outside. In order to develop the effective leader, a manager is required to measure, plan,
coordinate, monitor, solve as well as fire the several things such as providing the direction for
ensuring the best results, properly allocating the resources to increase the cost efficiency, as
well as establishing the system and processes for making the work easier. In addition to this,
for identifying the effective leader, an organisation can do the behavioural assessment.
By ensuring the effective selection as well as talent management plan, organisation can select
as well as develop the effective leaders. Employees are also required to be encouraged to
share their ideas as well as take risk that are assigned to them.
Question: Suggest the sources of power that would be available to a leader of a university's
student organization/association. What sources of power may not be available? To be
effective, should student leaders keep power to themselves or delegates power to other
students?
Personal power will be available to the leader of students. As leader is selected from the
students group. Due to this, it is easy for the leader to develop strong relationship between
him and his followers. Informational power will also be available to the leader. it will help in
sharing the necessary information to the concerned members. in addition to this, reward
power will be kept so that members will feel motivated. As compare to this, Coercive power
will not be available to the student due to the use of negative action for completing any work.
It is because negative action might affect the working or productivity of the people un group.
In order to be effective, the leader will keep power only. It causes mismanagement when
power is shared between the students.

4
Question: How would you ensure sufficient discussion of contentious issues in a work
group? How can managers bring unspoken conflicts into the open without making them
worse?
 I will always ensure that issues that are causing problem in-group should be
effectively discussed by creating the positive environment where every people properly talk
about the issues. I will always tell the people to discuss their issues in order to make their
group strong. By ensuring this rule in group, we all will assure to complete out goals. It will
also be discussed that the discussion of issues in the group makes the team members to
effectively coordinate with each other. In case of manager also, it will be assured to brought
the issues in open if it is brought in their notice. Besides calling out the people for issues, it
will be assured to address the problem. This will help in keeping the positivity at the
workplace.
As people tend to approach their managers, it is also essential for the managers to keep the
high level of confidence that employees also trust them on the high level. If any of the
conflict arise, it will be easy for the manager to address these issues. In order to ensure the
high motivation and morale between the members, managers are also required to make the
priorities for avoiding any type of conflict.
Question: How can negotiators utilize conflict management strategies to their advantage
so that differences in interests lead not to dysfunctional conflicts but rather to positive
integrative solutions?
 It is beneficial for the negotiators to utilize the conflict management by making that
two parties feel that they both are working hard for reaching to the goal. Besides this,
negotiators can also use such technique that will remove their differences or give focus on the
common interest. In addition to this, they can also use the compromise techniques that will
help both the parties to giving something up (Rhaim, 2017). Integrative bargaining also
proved as the negotiation in order to divide the resources. This tends to build the long term
relationship in the most positive manner. Therefore, this integrative bargaining is such
negotiation that proves to be the win win type of scenario for every party who are involved
(Zartman, 2019).
Question: Can you think of situations in your own life in which silence has worsened a
conflict between parties? What might have been done differently to ensure that open
communication facilitated collaboration instead?

5
Yes, I can think of the situation where silence has made the situation more worsened. I still
remember the situation when one of my friend and I were indulged into a conflict. We both
were not even discussing regarding the problem and stayed silent for long time. As a result,
this situation has turned into the big issue. It becomes more complex issue when people start
talking the ones issue to other people. In order to remove such issues, I think that effective
communication can be done by encouraging the people to discuss regarding the issue rather
than staying silent. It is true that if people will not engage in the issues and continue making
it worse. This will lead to more complex issues. In addition to this, it is also found that being
honest and open to someone close is essential to maintain the positive and healthy
relationships.
Activity 3
Question: Identify three to five sustaining innovations that have affected you over the
past year.
It is true that sustainability innovation do not create the new product or market. Rather than
this, it bring the improvement in performance of the existing technology or product so that
company is able to survive in the huge competition (Adams, Jeanrenaud, Bessant, Denyer and
Overy, 2016). The examples of sustainable innovation that affected us in the past years are
iPhone, Apple, and ipad because these were the improvements in the existing products. Hard
drives, household cleaners are also just performance improvement in comparison to the
existing products. The company therefore uses the improvements as the competitive
advantage in order to survive in such competitive environment (Schaltegger, üdeke-Freund
and Hansen, 2016).
Question: Identify three to five disruptive innovations that have affected you. Did you
welcome these innovations because they were Beneficial’s, or did you have cause to
complain?
Disruptive innovation is one such innovation that leads to the creation of some value or new
market by displacing the currently existing technology and product. This kind of innovation
just adds the comfort in the life of customer by ensuring their availability at the lower price
(Raynor and McDonald, 2015). The examples of disruptive innovation are Wikipedia,
Smartphone, digital electronic devices, LCD, and Ultrasound (King and Baatartogtokh,

6
2015). The customers due to their several benefits welcome all these innovations. It is
because these products make the easy and comfortable life for the customers.

7
References
Adams, R., Jeanrenaud, S., Bessant, J., Denyer, D. and Overy, P., 2016. Sustainability‐
oriented innovation: A systematic review. International Journal of Management
Reviews, 18(2), pp.180-205.
Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. eds., 2017. The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
King, A.A. and Baatartogtokh, B., 2015. How useful is the theory of disruptive
innovation?. MIT Sloan Management Review, 57(1), p.77.
Lacerenza, C.N., Marlow, S.L., Tannenbaum, S.I. and Salas, E., 2018. Team development
interventions: Evidence-based approaches for improving teamwork. American
Psychologist, 73(4), p.517.
Rahim, M.A., 2017. Managing conflict in organizations. United Kingdom: Routledge.
Raynor, M.E. and McDonald, R., 2015. What is disruptive innovation. Harvard Business
Review, 93(12), pp.44-53.
Reyes, D.L., Tannenbaum, S.I. and Salas, E., 2018. Team Development: The Power of
Debriefing. People & Strategy, 41(2), pp.46-52.
Schaltegger, S., Lüdeke-Freund, F. and Hansen, E.G., 2016. Business models for
sustainability: A co-evolutionary analysis of sustainable entrepreneurship, innovation, and
transformation. Organization & Environment, 29(3), pp.264-289 Christensen, C.M.,
Storey, J., 2016. Changing theories of leadership and leadership development. In Leadership
in Organizations (pp. 17-41). Routledge.
Zartman, I.W., 2019. Dynamics and Constraints in Negotiating Internal Conflicts. In I
William Zartman: A Pioneer in Conflict Management and Area Studies (pp. 161-172).
Springer, Cham.

8