Organizational issues and Challenges in implementing 2nd generation GIS
The second element is
individual and team accountability. Each
member has to pull his/her own weight. Individual goals as well as team goals must be
set and measured. An individual needs to know that it is imperative to return the
completed task to the team in order for the team goal to be met. The team needs to know
that the organization relies on them for possible interaction with other teams or the
organization seniors and are thus accountable for their task. As leaders, we need to
provide continued encouragement for participation, timeliness and resource development
for individual and team goals to be met.
The third element is face-to-face
promotive interaction. In our age of
technology, when it is all too convenient to set up a conference call or Internet chat, real
time face-to-face conversation will help open ideas by creating team and sharing of new
resources. It is through this personal interaction that each member becomes personally
committed to the task and thus gains ownership of the final solution.
The forth element is
interpersonal and small group skills . We
have been trained for many years, including our formal education years, to learn things
on our own. When we join the work force, we are given a job and we do it; our job
responsibilities are not our neighbor™s responsibilities. Many organizations do not cross-
train or support other departments, and it is not uncommon for an organization to
establish competition among departments. While competition can be healthy, an
organization that is already suffering low moral, loss of profit and other indicators of a
ifsick environmentls needs to earn trust, improve communications, establish conflict-
management and provide effective leadership. The organization is a team in itself,
comprise of other teams, and in that, social skills that will enhance the needs of the
individual to become a team player must be developed.
The fifth element is
group processing. Each team needs to assess
what methods, resources and ideas work for the team and what does mot. The team
needs to analyze the input of all the members and determine what best help them reach
their goal. It is not one person™s decision, it is the group™s decision, and any ideas used or
unused belong to the group, not the individual. It is imperative that the team maintains
effective working relationships with each individual-no one has all the answers.
Arguments should be academic, not personal. (Nelson 1999) It is important for us to pay
attention to these tips:
- Set an agenda and stick to it; make sure all participants are aware of
the focus of the meeting.
- Only invite those members who must be there for that particular topic.
- Assign roles for each meeting-timekeeper, recorder, process monitor-
and keep to the predetermined schedule.
- Start on time, even if some one is late; they will get the message.
- Go off-site if necessary.
To assist teams building, there are many games and visual organizers that can
provide motivation, increase thing, building trust, increase participation and show
concrete relationships between abstract ideas (1994). A common visual organizer is a
timeline goal. To help motivate thinking, a team may also choose to develop a mind
map-a web network that has the key idea (problem, task, etc.) in the center as a hub;
circling the hub are the next level of subideas; feeding this are the spokes, made up of
supporting ideas. Each person™s idea is input or deleted as the web builds. From this,
team members have developed a visual aid that represents the tasks to resolved and a
concrete display for senior management to review. Similar to this is a spider diagram
focusing also on a central problem, and then layering the effects of the problem. For a
team that is from diverse area of an organization, this tool can enlighten other
departments about other areas of concern. (Johnson, Johnson and Holubec 1985)
There are many team-building exercises available to develop trust, increase
communications, sharpen problem-solving skills and learn to become a contributing
member of a team. An effective leader must also know how to translate these learned
skills into practical applications for the organization. Continued reinforcement of skills,
emphasized positive feedback and clear communication of expectations helps individuals
focus on team qualities.
Summary
Team-building is collaborative exercise between the company and the employee.
By using employee teams to help restructure the culture, management is able to
accomplish two key problems: 1) stimulating employee moral, and 2) resolving
immediate organizational problems. Employees are energized because they feel like they
have made an important contribution to the success to the company and have become part
of the solution. Employers can realize answers to problems more quickly.
When teams members know the common goals, their roles and responsibilities,
agreed-upon methods for communication and have incentive to perform them, and
management has created an environment in which the teams can develop, success is
inevitable. Successful companies understand the importance of a team environment.
