Collaborative assignments at a workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Collaborative assignments at a workplace - Essay Example Working with others can be very satisfying experience which takes off the pressure from individual to deliver solutions by themselves. In order for a team to work in an environment that boosts the morale of the members, synergy among the players must be established. Synergy is a state in which the creation of a whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Schermerhorn, et al. 2003). The people working in a collaborative assignment commit to the project and leave their egos and individualistic agendas home. They are fully committed to the team and their work efforts are based on mutual respect, good communication and common goals. It is important to create a corporate culture that promotes teamwork, collaboration, openness and friendship (Nohria & Groysberg & Lee, 2008). There are different scenarios that can hinder the ability of a team to work effective which ends up lowering employee morale and forming teams that are ineffective. One important consideration is group size. The optimal size of a team is one that is between five and seven members. If a team is too small the members have to take too many responsibilities and can not truly perform team exercises such as brainstorming sessions. Teams that are too large are hard to manage and are susceptible to having many members who slack off and let others do the work. Another important consideration is the way leadership is managed within the team setting. It is not good to foster a work environment in which team member and leaders only interchanged ideas and work tasks based on the assumption that they are doing something in exchange of getting some sort of consideration or specific reward back in exchange for the information (Collaborative Teams, 2008). It is better for the leaders of team to beco me mentors that are there to help out the other members of team without expecting anything in return. Under no circumstance should a team leader or any other