Team-Based Structure at Sunflower Foods: Motivation and Morale

This report analyzes the pros and cons of using teams as a strategy to improve motivation and morale at Sunflower Foods, a medium-sized manufacturing plant. It discusses how the company should approach staff motivation, referencing Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the Hawthorne effect, to improve employee engagement. The report further identifies key elements associated with driving effective strategic change related to implementing teamwork, including addressing potential conflicts, promoting open communication, and fostering trust among team members. The analysis considers the company's current blue-collar workforce and limited leadership experience among supervisors, aiming to provide actionable recommendations for the CEO to enhance productivity through a team-based structure. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and resources for students.

Running head: TEAM WORK AND MOTIVATION
Team Work and Motivation
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9

2TEAM WORK AND MOTIVATION
Introduction
Working as a team has its own advantages and disadvantages. When the teams are
successful they result in improved productivity, employee engagement, creativity and job
security but when they are at their worst, they are frustrating and at the same time are
unproductive as well. They would then waste everyone’s time. This paper is going to elaborate
on a brief discussion about some of the pros and cons of working as a team in the workplace and
would recommend the use of team as a potential strategy to improve the organisational
production and progress. Furthermore, this paper would also elaborate on discussing about how
the company (Sunflower Foods) should approach the staff motivation in order to improve
engagement and morale of the staffs working there. Lastly, it shall shed light on the key elements
that are associated with driving the effective strategic change that is associated with the strategy
of team work.
Discussion
1. The pros and cons of using teams and your recommendations of it as a potential strategy
As in everything, there are several advantages and disadvantages of working as a team or
a group. Not all the situations could work in favour and this is particularly true if a team consists
of individuals belonging from different cultural backgrounds and possess different knowledge
and skill levels. Even people on the same wavelength could sometimes find something to debate
and argue about. There are many people who find themselves preferring to work individually
rather than working as a group as because of the feelings of lost productivity. Other risks that are
can be associated with team work are that of the feeling of people being competitive instead of

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being cooperative. At that time, a person might be left with no choice but to work in a team.
Team work is a part of every business environment and it is considered to be an approach that
the companies make use of in order to attain their goals and to compete with certain products in
the market or with certain projects. It becomes very difficult to convince different personalities
to share a common goal.
To begin with the cons of team work at first, it is to state that in a team, there is almost
always someone who rarely does anything but still reaps equal accomplishments and advantages
that are earned by the entire group. As no one like such free riders, in some cases, this may result
in conflicts and arguments among the group members. Actively gaining the reward for absolutely
no efforts could result in a task that would not complete on right time. Furthermore, free riding is
somewhat different from the issue of social loafing that refers to the reduced effort of an
employee as his potential and abilities are not being taken into consideration and are neglected
and overlooked. It is easier to remedy the issue of social loafing than the free riding. The
members who have something to share but still are not sharing could be motivated and
encouraged in order to take part through making it clear that all the opinions of their would be
valued and everyone would get the chance to make their contribution in the task. Moreover, one
of the other cons of teamwork includes that of the loss of resources. It might seem a bit
contradictory with the benefits of more ideas that are being shared but there are some cases when
a team spend more time in planning and organising the whole thing without really getting
anywhere. In order to avoid such situation to take place, it is very important that the team
members introduce themselves as well as their strengths to the entire team. It would make it
easier to make a decision on the sub-tasks and jobs that would be allocated. While the process of
brainstorming, each and everyone must be given with an opportunity for speaking and making

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suggestions. However, in order to avoid the delays, a timeline and an agenda should be
developed. With the same, as because of the fact that there are different personalities in a team,
conflicts are likely to take place. With varied personalities clashing along with ineffective
communication, conflicts are compelled to take place. Contrasting the personal styles could clash
and sometimes result in members finding difficulties in accepting the ideas which differ from
the ideas of their own (McCleskey 2014). The pressure from the peers could also result in a team
members going against the expected results. When the team members no longer feel happy to
work as a group, they would be unable to concentrate on the tasks that are at the hand. In order to
avoid such situation from happening, it is very important that all the team members respect the
ideas of each others’. In case if someone disagrees, it should be voiced out respectfully and
politely. Each and everyone should be willingly compromising and negotiating as well. If any
situation seems to be getting out of the hand, the group must take a break and discuss about
diffusing the situation.
In context to the pros of team work, when any team is put together for handling certain
tasks and managing special projects, people would always find a method to follow a common
diverse. It is natural that there will be clashes and arguments as there would be different beliefs
and ideas in a team but once every member is on the same track, they would be then able to find
a very similar ground and direction to follow. Furthermore, such a varied amount of ideas,
creativity and beliefs results in more sharing of ideas among the team members. It is one of the
many advantages of a team work. The potential to share the ideas could further lead to more
successful project (Freeman 2016). Everyone could share different perspectives and view-points
and contribute to the pros and cons and finally find methods to attain their goals. It is the fact that
the group or the team members could bounce around the ideas make the entire team work very

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beneficial. It is also to note that team work could increase the efficiency of the team. With more
than one people thinking, searching and working for the ideas, the things are likely to be getting
done faster than the ones that are done individually by a single person. When people work as a
team, creativity thrives there. The process of brainstorming the ideas as a team prevents the stale
viewpoints which are often come out of the working individually. Combination of the unique and
innovative perspectives and ideas from each member fosters more effective selling solutions
(Wang et al. 2015). Furthermore, collaborating on a single project developed an enthusiasm for
the learning process which solitary or individual work usually lacks in. When the team members
are able to share the discoveries with the rest of the members of the team really excites the
employees and fosters both the team and individual knowledge. It is also to mention under this
section that team work builds trust. Relying on the other members builds trust and strong
relationships with the team mates. Despite of the occurrence of occasional disagreements, a team
that is effective in nature enjoys working together and also shares a strong and powerful bond.
Trusting the teammates also results in a feeling of safety which further allows the ideas to
emerge. It assists the employees to feel free to open up and motive each other that result in open
communication among the team. Open communication has always been considered to be a key
while working on a team and it produces effective solution in the difficult most group projects.
In absence of trust, a team gets crumbled and it cannot succeed on the assigned projects. Also,
as it is described earlier that working in a team often leads to conflicts and clashes among the
team members but it is also to note that team work also teaches the skills of conflict resolution.
While varied cultural differences and ideas lead to most successful works, they often generate
resentment which quickly turns into conflict. So, when such situations takes place, the team
members are bound to resolve that and this makes them learn how to resolve the conflicts

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themselves instead of turning the whole thing to the management. Learning the conflict
resolution firsthand is considered to be a skill that the employees could make use in order to
become more efficient managers down the road. It is also to note that team work promotes a
much wider sense of ownership and encourages healthy risk taking as well.
2. How the company Sunflower Foods should approach staff motivation to improve engagement
and morale
According to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the individual needs of the people must be
met before they become motivated in order to attain higher level needs (Robertson 2016). The
five levels of this hierarchy are psychological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualisation. Until
and unless an individual is met with all these basic needs of his, he is unlikely to work
effectively in the work place. Employee morale refers to the overall outlook, satisfaction, attitude
and the confidence that the employees fee at their work place. When employees feel positive and
constructive regarding their working environment and they tend to believe that they have the
potential in them to meet their vocational needs and expected career, their morale is then high
and positive. Here, motivation plays a very vital role to play. It has been also described by the
Hawthorne effect that in order to get the most out the team, one must support and motivate the
team members in all the aspects of their lives outside the work as well (Hawthorne et al. 2015). It
is a fact that each and every human being needs motivation in order to achieve certain goal and
objective and the same is in the case of employees as well. Recognition programs and incentives
could support the organisation to motivate its employees to do more productive work. It has been
stated by Pfeffer (2014), that rewards and recognitions play the chief role in making the
employees happier. Hence, this could aid in the overall organisational performance to a great
extent. As a leader, one of the most important things to think about is how to recognise the

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employees for a performance which has an exceeded expectations, goals and objectives. Every
people want to do more work just like the machines but it is only possible when they are
recognised by the other and they are appreciated for their efforts. There are several ways through
which companies could support and encourage motivation in the workplace. Some among these
includes involving the employees in the process of decision making and providing them
constructive feedback. Also, keeping the employees informed about all times also makes them
feel important. Employees enjoy being a part of any decision or situation in the workplace. In the
workplace, it is very important to hear the ideas and thought of the other employees so that to
have a better outcome. Each and everyone like to have their thoughts and ideas appreciated and
heard and if the management implement those thoughts in the decision making than it could act
as a great motivator for the person. Furthermore, employees become happier when they find that
they are been awarded fairly for the works that they do. Hence, it is very important for the
organisations to always acknowledge the responsibilities of the employees and the efforts that
they put on along with the tasks in which they have done well. According to Burris, Rockmann
and Kimmons (2017), recognition is very advantageous from time to time for the employees in
order to hear from their superiors and seniors how well they are doing. After all, it does not cost
anything to add a personal touch and a job that is done well indeed deserves a pat on the back or
called recognition, either in front of their team mates or alone. With the same, it is also very
important to encourage the leader of the groups to acknowledge independent or individual
achievements at the time of group meeting and complementing the entire team for achieving the
team goals. In this way, a company could approach staff motivation in order to improve the
engagement and morale of the employees.

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3. The key elements associated with driving effective strategic change associated with your
strategy.
The key elements associated with driving effective strategic change associated with team
work are trust among the team members, preparing for engagement in debate around the ideas;
focusing on achieving collective results and learning to commit to the decisions and plans of
action.
1. Trust among the team members- Building trust among the group takes much time. If in
case trust is lacking in the team, it is the responsibility of the team leaders to focus first
on developing and fostering trust within the team before doing anything (De Jong, Dirks
and Gillespie 2015). He must encourage open communication among the team members
and expose their fears and weaknesses to each other so that one could help the other to
overcome those though helping him. He can also make use of team building exercise if
needed. It is the most important element as of the fact that until and unless each and
everyone are willing to trust one another in a team, the progress of the team towards the
team success would be limited.
2. Preparing for engagement in debate around the ideas- Disagreement could lead to clashes
and conflicts within the team members but sometimes, conflict is good. This is because,
if ideas are not debated and presented, the team would miss the chance of finding the best
solutions to the problems. Healthy debate would develop respect for the ideas and
thoughts of the other members of the team which is very important for the team work
(Carmeli, Dutton and Hardin 2015).
3. Focusing on achieving collective results- The mission and vision of the team should be
accepted and taken into consideration by all the team members and the critical goals are

9TEAM WORK AND MOTIVATION
viewed as the collaborative responsibility of a team. If the return to profitability is a vital
goal of an executive team, time commitments and priorities should be pulled from
elsewhere. Hence, focusing on the outcomes in a manner does not support the crucial
goals of the team would result in failure of the entire team.
4. Learning to commit to the decisions and plans of action- The results of the team would
only come as an outcome of the team commitment to the decisions made by the team
(Stout and Blair 2017). This includes agreeing on the specific action plans of the team. If
some of the team members are not consistent enough with their commitment, this would
further lead to failure as well.
Conclusion
Hence, from the above discussion it is clear that employees are the heart of an
organisation and it is very important for the companies to keep their employees motivated in
order to attain a successful result and productive production. It has been also concluded that a
good team work is very essential for ensuring high performance in the business or any non-profit
organisation. There are certain cons of team work that they are not that apt to consider the entire
process of team work to be disadvantageous. In fact, working as team increases the ability to
focus on a particular matter and increases overall efficiency as well as members in a team could
also overcome their fears and weaknesses by the support of other team mates.

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