Question – 1

Do you think organizations should rely on teams to enhance productivity?

Describe how it is being carried out in your organisation or an organisation
you are associated with. Briefly describe the organisation you are
referring to.

Answer – 1

Yes, I believe that organization should rely on teams to enhance

productivity. A Team is a collection of people who regularly interact to
pursue common goals. Teamwork is the process of people working
together to accomplish common goals.

The trend towards greater reliance on groups or teams in organizations

has brought drastic changes in local and international socio-economic and
business context. Through technological developments,
internationalization of markets and redistribution of work, worldwide
alignment among actors at the various operational levels in organizations
is necessary. Therefore group processes have again become the focus of
attention of many improvement programs.

Teams are instrumental to organizational effectiveness. Organizations

need teams to:
1. Socialize new members (through shared norms and values)
2. Facilitate sharing of knowledge (through the grape vine)
3. Implement new policies and systems (through project teams)
4. Improve individual performance (through task specialization)
5. Increase operational flexibility (through job rotation)
6. The capabilities of an organized team achieve much more than an
individual could.
7. The new organizational designs and cultures require team work.
8. Teamwork gives us the ability to utilize everyone’s best skills to our
advantage to complete a task.

Team culture in Indian Health Organisation (IHO) Pvt. Ltd.

About the organization:

In health care industry, Indian Health Organization (IHO) with more than
200 employees is engaged in providing health insurance and other
benefits to customers for availing health care facilities in almost all of the
major health care services providers. IHO Health Plans help the customers
& employees get all treatments and checks done at far lower fees &
hence provide huge cost savings for them, also leading to increased
health awareness.

Following are the benefits being offered by IHO Health Plan:

1. Covers pre-hospitalisation expenses, unlike most health insurance
plans
2. No consultation charges
3. Reduced charges on medical treatments
4. Personal Accident Insurance
5. Concessional Health Check Vouchers on enrolment
6. Dental treatments covered, unlike in health insurance
7. No pre-set spending limits - benefits even on expensive treatments or
tests like Braces, Lasik, MRI scans, etc.
8. Pathology & Radiology tests are included
9. Doctors of almost all specializations are part of the panel
10. No lengthy Claim Forms or procedures
11. No age limits
12. No exclusion of pre-existing diseases

IHO relies on teams to enhance productivity:

IHO strongly believes in team culture and hence provides a framework in

which employees work smoothly in teams.

Teams follow the following guidelines in IHO:

1. each member provides task-relevant information even before they are

asked for it

2. team members share the workload without being asked

3. everyone is monitoring the progress of the activity and the

performance of their teammates

4. each person adapts behavior to what they expect the others will do

The ideal culture profile created by IHO indicates that the requirement for
a team style that involves Motivator, Innovator and Networker type roles.
IHO expects such team to inspire others with its enthusiasm, promote the
organization, seek challenging assignments, boost the morale of the team
members, motivate and encourage others to achieve results, bring variety
and change in the functioning of activities.

IHO believes that the reason there should be a team is to accomplish a

common task that all members want to do. Teamwork is the art of getting
this task completed. It would be difficult to finish a process with a team
but no teamwork.

Question – 2

How can group members manage their conflict? How and Why? Describe
how it is being carried out in your organisation or an organisation you are
associated with. Briefly describe the organisation you are referring to.

Answer – 2

As organizations continue to restructure work teams, the need for training

in conflict resolution is growing. Conflict arises from differences, and when
individuals come together in teams, their differences in terms of power,
values, and attitudes contribute to the creation of conflict. To avoid the
negative consequences that can result from disagreements, most
methods of resolving conflict stress the importance of dealing with
disputes quickly and openly.

Group members can talk to each other, exchange ideas, discuss

problems/doubts, share details, etc. and thus they can resolve any
conflict.

Resolving conflicts within groups in Indian Health Organisation

(IHO) Pvt. Ltd.

About the organization:

In health care industry, Indian Health Organization (IHO) with more than
200 employees is engaged in providing health insurance and other
benefits to customers for availing health care facilities in almost all of the
major health care services providers. IHO Health Plans help the customers
& employees get all treatments and checks done at far lower fees &
hence provide huge cost savings for them, also leading to increased
health awareness.

Following are the benefits being offered by IHO Health Plan:

1. Covers pre-hospitalisation expenses, unlike most health insurance
plans
2. No consultation charges
3. Reduced charges on medical treatments
4. Personal Accident Insurance
5. Concessional Health Check Vouchers on enrolment
6. Dental treatments covered, unlike in health insurance
7. No pre-set spending limits - benefits even on expensive treatments or
tests like Braces, Lasik, MRI scans, etc.
8. Pathology & Radiology tests are included
9. Doctors of almost all specializations are part of the panel
10. No lengthy Claim Forms or procedures
11. No age limits
12. No exclusion of pre-existing diseases

Resolving Conflict in Work Teams in IHO

IHO provides following key points to be taken care of while working in

teams and groups in order to avoid conflicts.

1. Administrative Procedures: If the team lacks good groundwork for what

it's doing, its members will not be able to coordinate their work.
2. People Resources: If the team does not have enough resources to do
the job, it is inevitable that some will carry too heavy a load.
Resentment, often unexpressed, may build, so it is crucial that team
leaders ensure adequate resources.
3. Cost overruns: Often inevitable, cost overruns become a problem when
proper measures are not taken. The whole team should know early on
when cost becomes a problem so additional funding can be sought by
the team. This way the problem can be resolved before it grows into a
problem for management.
4. Schedules: The schedule is highly consequential to the team's project
and should be highly visible. All members should be willing to work
together to help each other meet their deadlines.
5. Responsibilities: Each team member must know what areas are
assigned and who is accountable for them.
6. Wish Lists: Stick to the project at hand and avoid being sidetracked into
trying to fit other things into it. Wait and do the other things you would
like to do after successful completion of the original project.
7. Perceptions: People associate conflict with negative responses such as
anger, fear, tension, and anxiety. Rarely do we perceive any benefits
from being involved in a dispute. Our negative perceptions impact our
approach in resolving conflict as we strive to eliminate the source of
these negative feelings.
8. Problems: Anyone can be involved in a conflict, and the amount of
time, money, and equipment needed for resolution will vary according
to its complexity.
9. Processes: There are different ways to go about resolving disputes:
Suppress the conflict, give in, fight, litigate, mediate, etc.
10. Principles: We determine the priorities of all resolution processes on
the basis of an analysis of our fundamental values regarding efficiency,
participation, fairness, compliance, etc.
11. Practices: Power, self-interest, and unique situations are all factors
relating to why people resolve disputes the way they do.

Question – 3

How do you resolve conflicts in a small team?

Answer – 3

A major advantage a team has over an individual is its diversity of

resources, knowledge, and ideas. However, diversity also produces
conflict. As more and more organizations restructure to work teams the
need for training in conflict resolution will continue to grow. It is critical
that team members possess skills to resolve conflict among themselves.
Although there are common patterns, there is no one best way to deal
with conflict. Disputes arise for different reasons and every team is
unique.

Following measures can be used to deal with conflicts in small teams at

the workplace.

1. Collaboration (One-on-one): Handle the new problem person-to-person.

Use as many facts as possible and relate the issue to customer, team,
or organizational needs. Be open and honest and conduct the session
in a private setting.
2. Mediation (One-on-one with Mediator): If collaboration did not work or
was inappropriate, handle the problem with a mediator. The mediator
must be trained in conflict resolution, understand policy and ethics, be
trusted by the team, and have the ability to remain neutral.
3. Team Counselling: The conflict is now a definite issue to the team.
Collaboration and/or Mediation could not be done, were not
appropriate, or did not work. Handle the conflict at a team meeting; put
the problem on the next agenda and invite the necessary individuals.
4. Direct Approach: This may be the best approach of all. It concentrates
on the leader confronting the issue head-on. This approach counts on
the techniques of problem-solving and normally leaves everyone with a
sense of resolution, because issues are brought to the surface and
dealt with.
5. Bargaining: This is an excellent technique when both parties have
ideas on a solution yet cannot find common ground. Often a third
party, such as a team leader, is needed to help find the compromise.
Compromise involves give and take on both sides, however, and
usually ends up with both walking away equally dissatisfied.
6. Enforcement of Team Rules: Avoid using this method if possible, it can
bring about hard feelings toward the leader and the team. This
technique is only used when it is obvious that a member does not want
to be a team player and refuses to work with the rest.
7. Retreat: Only use this method when the problem isn't real to begin
with. By simply avoiding it or working around it, a leader can often
delay long enough for the individual to cool off.
8. De-emphasis: This is a form of bargaining where the emphasis is on the
areas of agreement. When parties realize that there are areas where
they are in agreement, they can often begin to move in a new
direction.
9. Gain common ground by putting the conflict in perspective with the
goals and purpose of the team.
10. Remember: Listen for meaning, understanding is not agreeing, seek
clarification before responding, if needed, apply listening skills when
receiving a message, evaluate yourself for how well you listened at the
end of any conversation.

Question – 4

How does the message change when it is conveyed from one person to
another? What are the weaknesses of the message itself hampering
correct transfer? What are the weaknesses of the people transferring the
message? How can we communicate in a better, more effective way?
Comment.

Answer – 4

It is one of the most common problems of communication, when a

message changes when conveyed from one person to another. We
humans consistently distort messages as they are passed verbally from
one person to the next. This is because we suffer from differences in
vocabulary, absentmindedness, difficulty in hearing or understanding, and
a host of other verbal communication barriers.

Weaknesses of the message itself hampering the correct transfer

1. Sometimes the message itself is such that it doesn’t get transferred
correctly. Some messages are complicated to understand as well as to
pass further.

2. Sometimes the language of the message hampers its correct transfer

while sometimes it’s the content that brings difficulties for people to
hear it and convey it further.

3. When a message has more than one interpretation, the problem

occurs.

Weaknesses of the people transferring the message

1. Most problems in verbal communication occur because people are

hearing, but not listening.

2. Sometimes people interpret the message in a different way and pass it

by framing it with that interpretation.

3. Lack of concentration is one of the reasons of hampering the correct

transfer of a message.

Communicating in a better and effective way

1. If we send messages to one another through speaking, then listening is

decoding those messages.

2. A true listener doesn't just hear the words. He or she tries to

understand what the other person means by them, too.

3. The speaker can repeat the message in order to make sure that the
listener person has understood it well.

4. The listener may also repeat the message to make sure that he/she
has interpreted it the way speaker wants him/her to.

5. The listener can get back to the speaker put queries any time if he/she
forget anything about the message.