By Fin Baker
Team Development
In this extract, I will be discussing and evaluating roles and dynamics of effective team that are
currently functioning within Tesco’s, utilising the knowledge of theorists to strengthen my analysis.
Team-building Techniques
Within a team, they obtain certain roles that ensures they operate effectively and coherently to
solve a group goal set by lines of authoity. When formulating a team, they should be required to
have an actionable understanding of the rquired technical and role-based skills to achieve their
purpose in their job sector.
Within Tesco’s they adopted the hierarchical business structure. This has proved to have been
beneficial for the company because clear lines of authority has been established through a variety of
varied skilled workers from managers, to customer assistants, to shelf stackers. Ensuring they can
recompense, reprimand behaviour, allocate resources, give orders and praise to employees. A
common goal is esential for a successful team to emerge, this is so they can project al;l; their
motivation and efforts to one group end product. This vision is agreed upon by all members in a
team to provide a collaborative amoshphere to increase morale, all leading to amore efficient team
and successful business. Tescos has clearly defined job rolesaand what they need to fdo to achieve
it, offereing a fairly rigid, with some roomfor improvisation, plan to ensure the job is completedtoo
the highest standard possible.
A method that emphasises team buidling in a company would be the mthod of offering rewards.
Providing incentives for hard work that has been completed. An example of this, is edible product
and Colleague Clubcard’s giving you 15% off after every pay day for a four-day period and 10% the
rest of the month on most Tesco purchases. You can also join their 'Buy as you Earn' and 'Save As
You Earn' share schemes. Once you get your first payslip, you can also access their Colleague Deals &
Discounts site. This helps to build stronger team relations increasing their job satisfaction and
efficiency to achieve the goals set out by the company. Another way to counteract the loss of
motivation and slowed work, would be regular positive and supportive feedback. This ensures that
members of a business feel valued and the work they are doing day-to-day is essential. This can also
be achieved through acknowledgment and recognition of talent, where, if an individual does
something well and is praised for it, they may be likely to do it again in the future, which positively
reflects onto the company in both log and short term.
Without communication a business would quickly witness its demise. This is because if there is not
responses and feedback and questions bounced back and forth inside a company then a huge
reduction in ability to function effectively will occur. Some of the features of a company that
communicated to a high standard would include:
- Objectives and targets are shared among the team so that the team know what they are
aiming to accomplish.
- Work proceeds smoothly and efficiently
- Cooperation among team members is enhanced.
- Feedback is encouraged, resulting in work that has a higher chance to match requirements.
- Openness and trust are promoted.
- Good work ethics and mutual respect are established.
- Team is led by example.
- Members are encouraged to deal with challenges without complaining.
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, By Fin Baker
- Members support and respect each other.
Tescos’s wouldve had to ensure that their team operated to the highest degree to reach the level of
market dominance that they have seen to date. Employee engagement is a key tool for
employers that want to attract and retain staff, this was proven to be difficult especially as Tesco has
the UK’s largest private sector workforce – 295,000 employees, each with their own individual needs
and expectations as to their work and further their career. Employees were invited to send in their
thoughts by text or email, which meant a low barrier to participation. Leaders responded through
texts, voicemails, the intranet, blogs and in-store communications. All responses were
anonymous and as a result helped over 40,000 people.
Theories of Development
Belbins Nine Team Roles
The British researcher and management consultant, Dr Meredith Belbin, is known for his theory of
how a team role is one of nine clusters of behavioural attributes. His research discovered that the
most successful teams were made up of a diverse mix of behaviours. The nine roles are:
- Resource Investigator
- Team worker
- Co-ordinator
- Plant
- Monitor Evaluator
- Specialist
- Shaper
- Implementer
- Completer Finisher
Resource investigators utilises their inquisitive nature to find ideas to contribute to the team. Their
strengths rely in them exploring opportunities and developing contacts. Being Extroverted and
enthusiastic are common personality traits of these sorts of members in these roles. However, they
have an allowable weakness in their ability to be over-optimistic and lose interest once the initial
enthusiasm has passed, this may require additional attention by the company to help them regain
focus to ensure that task is achieved and they continue to operate effectively within a team
A team worker helps their team develop their chemistry, using their versatility to identify the work
required and complete it on behalf of the team. They are usually co-operative, perceptive and
diplomatic. Their downfall tends to be that they can be indecisive in crunch situations and tend to
avoid confrontation. As a result, they may operate better in more passive roles that have a balance
in what they are doing, it is to ensure they remain happy within the workplace and don’t receive an
overload of stress.
A co-ordinator is needed to focus on the team’s objectives, draw out team members and delegate
work appropriately. They are usually mature and confident and have the ability to identify talent and
clarify goals. Their allowable weakness is that they may be seen as manipulative and might offload
their own share of the work to others. This must be monitored by a good leader and recognised
otherwise conflicts may occur in the workplace. This reduces the opportunity of an effective and
successful team and there is a breakdown in team relationships, therefore reduced communication.
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