Editing Team management (section)

==Elements of a healthy and successful team==

===Cohesive leadership===
In any functional team, cohesion amongst team leaders and decision makers is vital. Cohesive leadership means that team leaders act together as a unit and make decisions as a team instead of each branching off into their own work and operating individually. It ensures that the team will be steered in one direction instead of multiple directions due to team leaders not being concise and consistent with their instructions. Cohesive leadership will require team leaders to have strong communication skills.<ref name ="IESE Business School">IESE Business School. 2011. Patrick Lencioni: The Four Traits of Healthy Teams. [Online]. [Accessed 15 October 2014]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KxJop0A0vA</ref> Lastly, motivation fosters a sense of purpose, bringing individuals towards a common goal. When team members are driven by a passion, it creates a cohesive environment. Cohesiveness promotes collaboration support, and synergy which brings motivation and strength that can bond the overall group's cohesiveness.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Medina |first=Christophe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jDpDwAAQBAJ |title=Leadership: How To Be Cohesive And Effective To Be Successful Leader and Excel in Business (How to Ensure Your Employees Are Happy,Healthy, and Productive) |publisher=Christophe Medina |language=en}}</ref>

===Effective communication===
Effective communication is the centerstone of successful team management. Ensuring clear goals and expectations opens opportunities that enables a collaborative environment, allowing team members to share ideas and feedback seamlessly. A well communicated team is better prepared to overcome challenges and make informed decisions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fielding |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Z_vIcp9gaEC |title=Effective Communication in Organisations |date=2006 |publisher=Juta and Company Ltd |isbn=978-0-7021-6650-1 |language=en}}</ref> There must be an effective [[channel of communication]](or [[Organizational communication]]) from the top to the bottom of the [[chain of command]] and vice versa. An effective channel of communication will allow messages to be transferred accurately without delay to the intended recipient, which will speed up [[Decision-making|decision making]] processes and the operations of the team. Furthermore, effective communication will increase the flexibility of an organization and cause it to be less susceptible to changes in the external environment, as a faster decision making process will allow organizations a longer time period to adapt to the changes and execute contingency plans.<ref name="IESE Business School"/> The use of [[social media]] at work positively influences three [[team processes]], specifically the effective [[communication]], [[knowledge sharing]] and coordination.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Examining the Impact of Social Media Use on Project Management Performance: Evidence from Construction Projects in China|url=https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/%28ASCE%29CO.1943-7862.0002009|journal=Journal of Construction Engineering and Management|date=2021 |volume= 147| issue = 3|doi=10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0002009 |last1=Ma |first1=Guofeng |last2=Jia |first2=Jianyao |last3=Ding |first3=Jiyong |last4=Wu |first4=Ming |last5=Wang |first5=Ding |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Common goal===
In a group setting, common goals act as a binding force. Aligning skills and efforts towards a shared objective provides a cohesive setting.  Ensuring everyone is working towards a unified purpose creates common goals that enhance group efficiency, foster teamwork, and contribute to a sense of camaraderie, ultimately leading to success.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-eAWAQAAMAAJ |title=Worklife |date=1979 |publisher=U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. |language=en}}</ref> When team members first come together, they will each bring different ideas; however, the key to a successful team is the alignment of its objectives. It is essential that the team leader sets a common goal the entire team is willing to pursue. This way, all of the team members will put in effort in order to attain the goal. If there is not a common goal, team members who disagree with the objective in hand will feel reluctant to utilize their full effort, leading to failure to achieve the goal. In other cases, team members might divert themselves to other tasks due to a lack of belief or interest in the goal.<ref>Abudi, G. 2011. 5 Elements of Successful Project Teams. [Online]. [Accessed 15 October 2014]. Available from: http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2011/08/05/5-elements-of-successful-project-teams/</ref>

===Defined team roles and responsibilities===
Poorly defined roles are often the biggest obstacle to a successful team.<ref>Traxia Partners, Inc. Discovering Your Team Leadership Style. [Online]. [Accessed 15 October 2014]. Available from:http://www.triaxiapartners.com/corp/team/learning-solutions/discovering-your-team-leadership-style</ref> If team members are unclear what their role is, their contributions will be minimal, therefore it is the team leader's duty to outline the roles and responsibilities of each individual within the team and ensure that they work together as an integral unit.

In a successful team, a leader will first evaluate the team's mission to understand what is needed to accomplish the task. Then, they will identify the strengths and weaknesses of the team members and assign roles accordingly. Lastly, they must ensure that all team members know what each other's responsibilities are to avoid confusion and to create an effective channel of communication.<ref>Human Resource Development Quarterly. 2008. Defining Team Roles and Responsibilities. [Instructor Guide]. Pennsylvania: Human Resource Development Quarterly.</ref>

Individuals in a team can take on different roles that have their own unique responsibilities. A task-oriented role occurs when the individual offers new ideas, coordinates activities, or tries to find new information to share with the team. A social-oriented role occurs when an individual encourages the members of the team to be united. They also encourage participation and communication. An individual role occurs when an individual blocks the team's activities. They tend to call attention to themselves and avoid interaction with others. Another occurrence is [[role conflict]], which is a situation where an individual faces divergent role expectation. This means they are being pulled in various directions and hold different roles simultaneously.