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Team Action Management and the SWOT Analysis

Collaboration and team work makes dream work

Albert S. Humphrey invented the concept of Team Action Management (also known as the SWOT analysis) to enhance the productivity and effectiveness of teams within organisations. Albert was an American business and management consultant who specialised in cultural change and organisation management. During his time at the Stanford Research Institute he developed the SWOT analysis technique. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This strategy is integral for a business’s success as it helps coach individuals on how to work well together in group environments which will ultimately result in a more efficient and effective company. Team Action Management successfully solves the human problems that come from project management work. This system of management helps break down and overcome psychological barriers that block innovation and team work.

Performance within an organisation can only be altered and fixed when they have the ability to recognise the flaws or inefficiencies within their business. Teams are most useful when they are used to solve complex issues within an organisation as they are quite costly to implement and it can be difficult to assess whether a team is going to be effective in addressing the business's issues before hiring them.

History

The SWOT analysis technique was invented by Albert S. Humphrey in the 1960’s whilst he was carrying out a research project at Stanford University. Whilst undergoing this research he was granted access to the data from the United States’ Fortune 500 companies to assess why corporate planning had been failing. It was throughout this research that Humphrey discovered numerous key areas for improvement within group and team organisational settings. Through the use of SWOT analysis, companies are able to identify and review strategy, position and direction of a company. Humphrey used a questionnaire between 1960 and 1969 which saw 1100 organisations interviewed and over 5000 executives interviewed. The questionnaire that Humphreys performed illuminated 7 main findings however, his research was very controversial and thus, it was difficult for Morison M to outline the main findings.

His findings outlined that businesses are often divided into two parts: The base part of the company and the development side of the company. Executives are encouraged to look at their business dynamics and change their methods. Another notable outcome of the findings is the emphasis of employees focusing on the reward/effort ratio. They continually measure what they get from their work and compare it to the efforts that they put in and the efforts that others within their organisation put in. This massively affects the productivity of a business as the employees begin to slow down if they feel they aren't being valued. Moreover, if you were to look at the statistics; of what is possible to be achieved by an organisation and compare it to what is actually achieved there is a gap of about 35%.

Morison M encourages business to focus on the three things that separate companies from excellence to mediocrity. He listed them as follows: "overt attention to purchasing, written departmental plans for short-term improvement and continued education of the senior executive." Morison highlights that in order for business' to be successful it needs to value its employees and really understand how they operate best. This is where Morison's evaluation and Albert's strategy address the usefulness of team action management and depict the benefits of group work.

How to use Team Action Management

The SWOT analysis has been praised for its simplicity and practicality however it is recommended that it be used alongside other tools to ensure its benefits. Through implementing this technique businesses are given the ability to assimilate the information found, sort it and present solutions to enhance the effectiveness within their organisation. However, this is only one mechanism to decipher effectiveness within organisations. Management of a team can be more difficult than it seems. It is important to organise the employees and put them into groups in which they will work best. As discussed in the organising (management) page on Wikipedia. Management has the authoritative ability to organise and encourage employees in performing their tasks in an effective manner.

Working in teams is more beneficial as it helps develop an individual's leadership qualities and encourages a productive work environment.

Marketing

Marketing platforms

In a competitive market it may be beneficial to use a SWOT analysis to assess the competitions strengths and weaknesses which in turn will help address the business develop a better strategy moving forward. It allows businesses to address areas for growth and opportunities for growth. Some strategies to improve the marketing within a company include survey statistics, focus groups and test markets. Creating focus groups is an integral part of coming up with marketing solutions. Focus groups provide an opportunity for individuals to have their voice heard and vote on the best idea or solution for the company's needs, goals or strategies.

Strategy building

Team Action Management and SWOT are used to enhance or create a business' strategy. By using this approach, it highlights the important factors and identifies the relationship between them. It will suggest the cause and effect and the company is able to assess whether the strategy is positive or negative.^[5] Part of any good strategy is the ability to identify who is responsible for what and continuously review the efforts and the results. ^[4]

Group dynamics

The dynamics within a group are very important to the group's success. Whilst forming a group within an organisation can be beneficial if the group doesn't work well together it can be counter initiative and cause a loss for the company. When forming a group, it is important to consider the different personality traits and work ethics of the group members. Some group members may benefit from team discussions and mind maps whereas other members may prefer working alone and then presenting their ideas to the group at a later stage.

Extrinsic Motivations

A lot of individuals work better in team environments as they feel supported, beneficial and have a common desire to achieve the goal. Research has been suggesting this since 1920 when Floyd Allport found that "the mere presence of other people engaged in the same task as us can boost our motivation." ^[5] Floyd's finding became known as the social facilitation effect and was the beginning of lots or research to come on the productiveness and effort of individuals in group settings.

Operational Control

Extrinsically motivated employees usually require closer supervision to ensure they are on the right path. Therefore, it is beneficial for the company to employ a team leader to ensure the moral and productiveness within the team is kept up.

Personal Limits

Using team incentives can optimise the team's performance. These may come in the form of financial incentive or promotions. These incentives help individuals to beat personal bests and goals as well as reaching new levels of productivity and performance.

Internal and External Factors

When a business is trying to identify an objective, they want to achieve they use both internal and external factors.

Internal factors identify the strengths and the weaknesses that affect a business from the inside or 'internally'.

External factors are the opportunities and threats that affect a business from the outside or 'external' environment.

Both internal and external factors are important to consider when forming a group within an organisation. There may be issues that will hinder the employee's performance and thus have a negative effect on the performance of a team.

The benefits of Team Action Management?

Applying Team Action Management within business' has many benefits and will also help organisations address key issues. Team action management incorporates people working together within groups; it further allows connections to be made and relationships to be formed. Research suggests that people perform better in team environments and therefore, it is important to situate people into the right groups.

The main benefits of team action management:

1. Effective team building

Focusing on employee's personality traits and educational background is an advantage when creating a team within an organisation. Different people have unique skills and knowledge that enable maximum efficiency within a team. Employees obtain different skills and when used in the correct combination they complement each other and enable the team leader to delegate different segments of the project to the best suited employee. Thus, allowing the team to work together effectively to complete the job.

2.  Productivity booster

Effective use of team work

By working in a team, it increases the employee's productivity levels. As each employee's job is delegated it allows for a higher quality of work to be performed and for it to be performed in a timelier fashion. This allows employees to better focus on their assigned task and utilise their skills that are better aligned to their specialisation and level of interest.

3. Promotes learning

It enables the employees to learn new skills and adopt them to their project. This further enables the knowledge to be passed down from long-term employees to new employees which will help them effectively complete their job. Within all business' it presents the opportunities to work together and come up with creative new ideas also enabling a smooth completion of the project or task at hand.

4. Employee satisfaction

Working in teams improves employee satisfaction as they work together to solve problems and tasks. It also enables them to form relationships and friendships which will further improve employee satisfaction. This bond helps to create a positive work environment and allows them to rely on each other to perform tasks. Organisations can improve their team's productivity and effectiveness by implementing team bonding strategies to enhance their overall psychological well being within the workplace.

5. Increased performance

For obvious reasons implementing a team to complete a job is much more effective than someone doing it alone. It enables individuals to meet targets and deadlines as well as help their co-workers thrive within the team setting. This strategy also implements a healthy level of competition among staff and allows for friendly rivalry within the workforce. This level of competition allows the team to become better and more effective over time.

Limitations of Team Action Management

Team Action Management is a useful way to address issues within an organisation it may be better to use team action management in conjunction with other strategies or further analyse and perfect the strategy itself.

One of the most difficult things in terms of team action management is the ability to select and motivate the right group of people to become a productive and effective team. The main limitations include:

1. Teams don't always get on

Sometimes there is a clash with the team members in terms of work ethic or different personality traits. This decreases the effectiveness of the team due to conflict which will not allow for the adequate delegation of tasks in order to complete the job.

2. Time-consuming considerations

Team meetings can become time consuming as the employees try to vote in order to decide on how they will progress with their task. To avoid this delay, selecting a team leader is a good idea to ensure the pace is maintained and that decisions are made in a timely matter.

3. Team members not pulling their weight

When working in a team environment it allows some employees to slack off and not complete the required work set by the team leader. This in turn may create extra work for other employees and hinder the group's overall performance.

4. Resistance to leadership

Some employees don't respond well to authoritative personnel, this may create instability within the team and cause there to be disruption as some employees don't want to follow orders or complete the delegated tasks from their leaders. It is important to ensure that members are on the same page and know what the outcome of their contributed work will be.