Teamwork and Collaboration in Strategic Planning

How to explain Teamwork and Collaboration in Strategic Planning? Company teammates and they existed given to work on the value of strategic planning. Initially, we noticed some of us expressing a complete dislike of the topic and thought it was a difficult one.

Here is the article to explain, Teamwork and Collaboration in Strategic Planning!

Little did we know, the process of working on the topic and what we learned from; turned out to be a blessing to us all, unlike what we first thought. Most importantly, our team was able to achieve our set goals and learned a lot from the assignment. The process involved several activities required for the realization of the seminar. When working in a team, good collaboration is a key element to reaching the desired outcome; which is what we tried to do. It is also vital that each member should commit to doing his or her part of the work.

Definition of Teamwork;

Teamwork is about galvanizing a group of people towards a common objective; while simultaneously addressing the head yet appealing to the heart. Teamwork and collaboration are also about bringing the best out of each individual in the pursuit of a collective goal deemed worthy of being realized.

Therefore, according to Jon Katzenbach (a published author and consultant who is best known for his work on informal organization.); “a team is a small number of people with complementary skills; who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”.

Team collaboration and contribution;

From the moment the assignment stood announced and that groups existed made, we had our first face-to-face meeting; which stood followed by more contacts via emails. We also set up a WhatsApp group chat and had three more face-to-face meetings before the seminar, including one before the presentation itself. It was a great pleasure for me to be part of the team and to work on the topic that; we initially didn’t like but turned out to be a blessing.

As we worked, each member showed appreciation for everyone’s contribution to the preparation of the seminar. As we continued to work together; it seemed to me that some people lacked humility in the way they collaborated in the team. At first, I thought there was a lack of unity in the group; but we quickly resolved the issue and included everyone in the group decision-making process. Some tensions arose during some of the discussions we had as we prepared the seminar; but, numerous efforts were made not to allow conflict or enmity within the teamwork and collaboration.

Strengths and weaknesses;

The teamwork and collaboration stood composed of very knowledgeable people with a diversity of backgrounds. Everyone worked for the success of the team by offering support and guidance where it stood needed.

However, one problem I experienced during this process was that the team’s workload existed not fairly distributed. My impression was that I had to do a lot of work and some did little. This frustrated and also worried me because I thought we would get fewer marks because of that. Although I did not complain to avoid confrontations, it negatively impacted me. But, I continued to work harder so that everyone could benefit from it.

What is the Importance of teamwork in an organization?

A challenging business climate needs to engage by effective teamwork. It provides an opportunity to come together and establish a common ground for the fulfillment of specific objectives. Empathy, appreciation, and encouragement are some of the critical ingredients of effective teamwork and collaboration. The vision must be bold, stir the intellect, and yet move the heart. What is at stake needs to be spelled out.

Alcorn (2006) defines a team from 1886 which defines a team as; “work done by several associates, with each doing a part; but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole”; In a simple context, this means that a team is a collective whole of people that work together so that they are more productive. The key for any organization is to possess a team that can define using Alcorn’s provided definition. A team isn’t a team simply because a company pulls a group of workers together and calls them a team; but, instead of is a result of careful planning, hard work, and constant tweaking of team processes continuously.

In today’s competitive world where every organization is striving to gain the best position in the market; the concept of Group Development and Teamwork is steadily gaining importance. Individual decision-making has taken backstage and paved the way for team management approach for problem-solving and decision making; which has been productive for the organizations. This strategy not only benefits the organisation but also the individual employee, hence it’s been rapidly adopted by businesses.

More to know;

Management Professor Tracy McDonald states that “The teamwork push probably started in business in the late 1970s or early ’80s with the advent of quality circles [employee problem-solving teams],” she says innovation, creativity, and change have been some of the main drivers of team success and since the past 30 years, organizations have embraced this concept with welcoming hands.

Yuki Funo the Chairman and CEO of Toyota motor, states that the “Toyota way is the way to number 1”. One of the principles of the Toyota way is to ‘add value to the organization by developing your people and people can develop by molding them into exceptional individuals and teams to work within the corporate philosophy.

Nippard B. creator of a Facebook group (teamwork ladder) on teamwork states that; “more than 80% of fortune 500 companies subscribe to teamwork and collaboration. Teamwork brings success no matter how you define victory”; Groups and Teams facilitate the organization to achieve a competitive advantage; because groups increase responsiveness to the organization’s customers, employee motivation, increase creativity; and they have also been capable of helping the members of the organization to enhance task performance and experience more satisfaction with their work.

Team Responsiveness to Customers:

It has been a priority for organizations to be elastic and readily responsible for the continuously changing needs, behavior, and desires of customers. Being reactive to customers often requires different levels of the hierarchy departments to combine their skills and knowledge. For example, at the lower hierarchy the employees such as sales representatives of a car company, are the people; who are closest to the customers and are aware of the customer needs.

But their job in the organization is to just make sales of the cars and they cannot instill the desired changes into the car; which is in the field of the research and development department. Making the change a higher level of the hierarchy requires such as research and development experts; and other members who can come together and create a group or a cross-functional team with diverse skills and capabilities that will enhance the responsiveness to customer needs.

Managers need to understand the need and set up the appropriate cross-functional team that will carefully determine what type of expertise and capabilities exist required to be responsive to the customers. This information is very vital for forming teams. A cross-functional team is the best solution that’s aligned to any business needs can help you improve your efficiency and respond to customers more quickly. The needs of a customer stand focused on forming such cross-functional teams and a satisfied customer is always an asset for any organization.

Employee Motivation:

Kreitner R. has defined motivation as “the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction”. Groups and teams exist formed to increase the productivity and efficiency of an organization. To do so Managers have learned that increasing employee motivation and satisfying team members are the best way to achieve an organization’s strategic objectives. It is also about the motivation of members of the group to stick with each other and oppose leaving it.

Being motivating to the team members and giving them the experience of working with other creative members in the organization is very inspiring and leads the team members to be more creative in their work and helps them to be more productive and increases their work effort.

All the ideas generated exist directly contributed to the final result and in the success of the organizational goals; and, hence the members of the team feel personally responsible for the outcomes or results of their work. This satisfies the statement by Dwight D. Eisenhower that; ”Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.”

What do we have to know?

I learned what strategic planning is and how it differs from traditional business planning. A lot of importance existed given to the value of strategic planning within a secular world, the church, the Bible with some theological perspective. For me, the most significant finding was that, in the secular world, the strategic planning process first started with Goodstein et al. They suggested a nine-stage sequential process; which, although initially designed for the corporate world, has had a significant impact on the Christian world.

I felt delighted after finding those who first wrote about; strategic planning and how their work changed the business world we know today. Subsequently, I also learned how strategic planning helps organizations become proactive in how they address unexpected or unpleasant situations. Instead of waiting for problems to arise and thinking of solutions to them, organizations can anticipate and have contingency plans before implementing their strategic plan.

Hence, it helps organizations move from being reactive to being proactive. In the Christian context, it all started with the first work on strategic planning in a Christian perspective by Malphurs. Like for the secular world, he suggests a nine-step strategic model that helps churches develop and implement a modern-day church strategy for the benefit of God’s Kingdom.

Conclusion;

As done by many organizations in the secular world, churches also adopted a similar approach to strategic planning that suits their needs in this ever-changing world. One may ask if this concept is even Biblical? Should the church be adopting such a strategic approach? The answer is that, yes, the church can use this concept. However, the way churches implement strategic planning mustn’t be incompatible with the Scriptures and God’s mission and commission for his people.

Through this assignment, I have significantly developed my skills in working with others and improving as a person. During the seminar, we used a polling tool to interactively and effectively engage with the class. I did my best to work hard and produce quality work for the seminar.