Team development, Part 7: Its role at the workplace.
In this windup of his series on team development (TD), Francis X. Mahoney, personnel development advisor for Exxon Company, U.S.A., sums up TD's advantages, shows how it can be used to meet organizational objectives, and indicates other ways of applying TD methods. Mahoney maintains that TD is truly "organization development (OD) at the front line" because they share the same objectives. For example, employee involvement and encouragement of initiative are OD goals and, as we have seen, TD gets people involved and encourages even those at the lowest level of the organization to contribute ideas and work together to solve work problems and implement the solutions. Mahoney hopes that this series will encourage internal and external OD experts to apply OD at levels not normally reached during regular assignments. TD activities can provide the basis for continuing activities between or after consultants' visits and after training programs. It can become a tool, particularly for first-time supervisors and middle managers, to improve productivity and teamwork. That, in essence, is what this series is all about--getting people to work together productively, effectively, and cohesively.
D003142:Communication; D004526:Efficiency; D007324:Institutional Management Teams / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007857:Leadership; D009934:Organization and Administration