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Managing Effective Teams

Part of being a manager for a company is the managing of teams. These teams can be put together for many different reasons and can have just as many different goals set in front of them. The company wants managers that are capable of putting together a good team that can effectively fulfill the goals set out for them. The four different types of work teams found in organizations are: problem-solving, self-managed, cross-functional, and virtual. By completing the simulation assigned for this course I will be mainly using a cross-functional work team as basis for my analysis of effective team management.
There are four contextual factors that can make an effective team. These factors are context, composition, work design and process. Within these factors are components that a manager can utilize to make sure that his team is effective. The components also help a manager better understand his team and how he can help them reach their goals when they get off-track (Robbins, 2005, p278).
"'In general, there must be a very clear sense of what the team is trying to accomplish and a timeframe to accomplish it in,' advises Michael E. McGrath, a principal at Pittiglio Rabin Todd & Mc-Grath (PRTM) in Weston, MA (Craft, 1995)." In the simulation for the course on effective teams there is a timeline set and a specific goal. This goal is to come up with innovative ideas that will put the auto company Luxurion ahead of its competition. This work team will be a cross-functional one because once the goal is accomplished each member will go back to working in their designated areas within the company.
The first part of the simulation is choosing your members of the team. You are given seven individuals to choose from for a team of five. The simulation obviously has its idea of what the ‘best team' is and that will be covered later on. However, for now, I will discuss the members that I chose during my first run of the simulation.
I chose Petra for the...