Group decision making is the activity in which a group has to choose on the decision from the alternatives. It is becoming a joint activity in human civilization across the globe. Issues of business are progressive including interactivity that needs combined energy and thorough information pooled by a group of people working together. Teamwork in an organization refers to the work to be completed by a group of people who are collaborating to achieve a common objective of the organization. In the contemporary competitive business environment, working in a team is a crucial thing that is to be given priority by the organizations to thrive for an extensive period. Teamwork is indeed more effective than a work done by a person as it comprises the mutual energies and aptitude of diverse people (Kerns, 2019).
However, in the case titled "The Team That Wasn't", there were many problems and issues associated with group decision making in a team due to a negative member named Randy. In this case study, it has been mentioned that Fire Art is an organization dealing with a regional glass manufacturer. Eric was the newly appointed strategy director of the company. He was trying to make his new team of 7 members consisting of top-level managers. All the members of the team were extremely determined to bring the success of the company, however, only one member, Randy, was only determined to interrupt the process. Randy did not take interest in the teamwork and the decision making that could reach consensus. He was of the view that brilliant ideas never come out from a team, rather it comes from brilliant individuals who then encourage others in the company to integrate them.
Teams and its decision making were going wrong in an organizational context in the following manner and there are mentioned dysfunctions below:
Eric was lagging in establishing mutual commitments to a working method: He has not set the proper strategic alignment for the teamwork due to which his team failed to put the effort in achieving the objectives of the company. A proper commitment by the strategy director to his members gives the team a robust emphasis on attainment and indicates the steps essential to flourish.
There were unclear "rules of the road": To boost the productivity of the team members, there must be clear rules set for the teamwork by the leader. Moreover, the "rules of the road" in the teamwork must entail the accurate roles and responsibilities for each member of the team so that the members could be able to manage their team and nonteam work. In Eric's team, the members did not know how to contribute, how meetings are to be conducted, how to manage their work, and more.
The experience of the consultant team of Eric was confusing: The consultant working group is indeed different from a team. Eric, in his previous profession working in a consultant working group in New York, worked in the way that individuals in a group take their own decisions rather than relying on one another to fulfill the assignments. However, the present team of Eric could not be operated in that fashion although he advised his members to operate in that fashion only.
Eric’s group focused more on emotion and past understandings rather than on the assignment at hand: Randy was the member who was not helpful and cooperative to the point where guarding feelings become more important than attaining something.
His group pursues harmony rather than achievement: Due to lack of leadership from Eris's side, his team members were not much focused on the achievement rather was focused on ensuring the harmony and consensus in the group. However, this is wrong as there must be a string objective set for team achievement (Wetlaufer, 1994).
The five-point recommendation plans that can avoid the above dysfunctions and lead to the success of the team are as follows:
To avoid the dysfunction in teamwork occurred due to randy, it is suggested that Eric must challenge randy with realism. It means that Eric must discuss with randy that his input is much needed in recommending the new direction to the company. Moreover, he must advice to randy to contribute actively in the teamwork and play his full role. He must aware of Randy about his roles and responsibilities in the group so that he can take interest in the assignments.
It is recommended that Eric must hold the team to recognize the definite work "products" that need numerous associates to work together. The worth of these produces should be important concerning the complete performance of the group. This will lead to developing faith and esteem by functioning together to those finishes, irrespective of personal interactions, and previous experiences.
It is suggested that team associates to define how to grasp themselves commonly responsible for realizing their objectives. Along with individual responsibility, team associates need joint accountability.
It is recommended that leaders propose a more well-ordered operational method that imposes team fundamentals. There must be common rules and guidelines for all the members of the group.
It is recommended that Eric must monitor the progress of the teamwork daily. He must ensure that team is functioning well together and the project is on the track. He must write the outcomes of each meeting conducted for the discussion about the strategic direction.
References for Group Decision Making
Kerns, C. D. (2019). Managing teamwork: A key leadership practice. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 16(1), 40-53.
Wetlaufer, S. (1994). The team that wasn't. Harvard Business Review, 72(6), 22.
Leadership Models - Question 3
The famous leader chosen is “Martin Luther King” whom I admire the most. He was one of the successful leaders on this Earth and has been inspiring millions of people and other leaders to thrive in a successful life. I am going to analyze Martin Luther using the six domains of leadership model. Leadership can be defined as the guidance and the inducement offered and directed by the manager or leaders to the people in the business or others. It concentrates on the formation of organizations; brings efficient changes to their structures, and supporting them in case of any external and internal obstacles. The six domains of leadership model entail the six aspects of the leadership namely ethical leadership, supportive leadership, contextual leadership, relational leadership, personal leadership, and inspirational leadership. All these aspects of leadership are interrelated with each other. The three domains namely relational, contextual, and personal are much involved in the successful execution of the other three. While the two of the remaining three namely supportive and inspirational, are built on the foundational domains to offer additional aspects of leadership. Besides, the sixth domain named ethical is built on all the other domains (Lind & Sitkin, 2015). These domains are described and analyzed concerning Martin Luther as follows:
Personal leadership: It starts with the own personality of the leaders. These are those leaders who are capable enough to lead personally and dedicated to the team. Authenticity is a major area of personal leadership. It is a fact that effective personal leadership results in reliability. It is further concerned with how honest a leader is supposed as being. Authentic leaders are those who have the traits namely self-discipline, reliability, values, empathy, and purpose. Martin Luther was the transformational leader who had all these traits to show authenticity. He was the leader who liked to remain calm or non-violent in all the situations including thrilling cruelty against him (Abeyagoonasekera, 2018).
Relational leadership: This aspect of leadership focuses on the significance of building robust associations with others in the team. This element ensures that all the members are being respected, get fair treatment, and to be concerned by the leaders. Respect is the most crucial aspect of relational leadership. Martin Luther was a leader who always listened to the concerns of individuals and involved in the mentorship. He believed that relationships could be built on the trust between the leader and his follower. His ability to realize change stemmed from his routine access and involvement in community and churches. He was known to be one of the renowned leaders in terms of modern humanity. Effective relational leadership indeed results in more trust.
Contextual: There exist two aspects of contextual leadership. The first part is building team individuality by offering sense and intellect of individuality and significance to the team that is being directed. Another aspect entails the leader as an interpreter, planner, and implementer of novel ways of completing the task. Coherence is the main element of this type of leadership. Martin Luther through his transformational leadership convinced individuals that it is valuable to reconsider their pre-convinced ideas about communal equality, morals, and race. He promoted equality and coherence in his leadership to his followers.
Inspirational: These leaders lead the team by always encouraging the team members to take on challenges. These are charismatic leaders who encourage innovation to enable people to find novel ways of doing things. They are charismatic in the sense that they produce better ambitions among others. Effective inspirational leadership results in high aspirations. Martin Luther was a famous inspirational leader who conveyed motivational communications to the people that encouraged them and hold his exceptional and optimistic vision for the prospect. He encouraged individuals across the globe with the communication of nonviolent confrontation and ethnic equality. He brought inspiration to people for bringing changes and encouraged them to explore novel ways of doing tasks. He encouraged people’s differing thinking and pioneering strategies and resolutions (Zeller, 2019).
Supportive: This leadership entails making others conscious of persistent business problems and making them protected in their capacity to understand the problem. This aspect of leadership consists of the elements namely safety, effectiveness, and liability control. The security is provided by the leaders so that members or followers can be made capable to take smart risks and endure to develop in their roles. Effective supportive leadership results in the initiative. To his followers, Martin Luther conveyed his dream to inspire and support them in initiating the action required.
Ethical/ Responsible: The ethical leadership domain entails matching of opposing interest, and exemplifying the team. Moreover, it includes making decisions that stabilize the numerous interests exaggerated by the team, taking accountability for moral conduct, and taking in the communal role of leadership. Effective responsible or ethical leadership results in more stewardship. Martin Luther had a high ethical standing and created faith and devotion among his followers. He has robust beliefs and ethical courage in stimulating the status quo that was coordinated by a value system of declining material symbols of success. Since he was a transformational leader, he pursued the traits of self-actualization and advanced levels of ethics in respect of appreciated results.
References for Leadership Models
Zeller, A. (2019). The authentic transformational leadership of Martin Luther King jr. Retrieved from https://sites.psu.edu/leaderfoundationsdobbs/2019/02/09/martin-luther-king-jr-an-authentic-transformational-leader/
Abeyagoonasekera, A. (2018). Authentic leadership of martin Luther king Jr. Retrieved from http://southasiajournal.net/authentic-leadership-of-martin-luther-king-jr/
Lind, E. A., & Sitkin, S. B. (2015). The six domains of leadership. Detroit, MI: Learning with Leaders.
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