Working in group and teams is almost always an inevitable in the working environment, even for those

who prefer to work alone. Therefore, it's helpful for managers to think about how they can improve group
and team performance so as to meet the company objectives.

In this research assignment, we are going to look at how Fidelity Life Assurance is using various types of
groups and teams to improve overall performance of individuals so as meet set objectives; we are also
going to look at ways how the company can improve group and team effectiveness.
The composition of a team is considered by some researchers to be particularly important in
achieving organizational goals and in evoking performance among subordinates. Several reasons
indicate that there should be a relationship between teamwork and performance. Scholars and
practitioners suggest that effective team behaviors can facilitate the improvement of performance
when organizations face new challenges. Understanding the effect of teamwork on performance is
important because teamwork is viewed by some researchers as one of the key driving force for
improving a firm's performance.
Key Terms

A team is a formal group of members who interact at a high level and work together intensely to
achieve a common group goal. When teams are effective, they draw on the abilities and experiences
of their members to accomplish things that could not be achieved by individuals working separately
or by other kinds of work group (Jones et al, 2008). Teams are especially appropriate for conducting
tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks.
A group then is a set of two or more people who interact with each other to achieve certain goals or
meet certain needs. A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team. Teams normally have
members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort which allows
each member to maximize his or her strengths and minimize his or her weaknesses.
The term groups and teams are used interchangeably, with the personal preference of writers and
tradition guiding the choice of word, rather conceptual distinction. For example, the 'how-to-do it'
books aimed at a management audience tend to refer to teams in organizations, while, for historical
reasons, discussions about shop floor working arrangements refer to autonomous work groups.
Hayes (1997) noted that the idea of team must be one of the most widely used metaphors in
organizational life.

Board of Directors

The individuals who are selected to be on the board of directors for FLA have overall responsibility for
the activities of the corporation. The board is not responsible for the day-to-day decision-making; the
daily decisions are made by the corporation's executives and managers. The corporate officers are the
people who head departments, and these executives are responsible for running the business. The board
acts on behalf of the shareholders to make overall policy decisions and provide oversight. The board has a
fiduciary duty with respect to the shareholders; that is, the board has financial and other responsibilities to
keep the corporation running efficiently so the shareholders don't lose money.

Primary Duties of a Corporate Board of Directors

Here are the primary duties of a corporate board:

Fiduciary responsibility
As noted above, corporate board members have a fiduciary responsibility to care for the finances and
legal requirements of the corporation. They must act in good faith and with a reasonable degree of care,
and they must not have any conflicts of interest. That is, the interests of the company must take
precedence over personal interests of individual board members.

Mission and Vision

Board members are responsible for setting the mission of the company and assuring that all actions are
related to and adhere to that mission. The board can change the mission, but only after careful
deliberation. All large corporations have mission statements, and creating a mission statement should be
one of the first things the board of a small business should tackle.

Oversight
Corporate boards of directors do not participate in day-to-day decision-making; instead, they set overall
policy, based on the corporate mission and vision, and they exercise an oversight function, reviewing the
actions of corporate officers and executives.

Annual Meeting
At the annual meeting of the corporation, the board announces the annual dividend, oversees election of
corporate board members, elects or appoints officers and key executives, and amends the bylaws, if
necessary.

Executive Management Committee

The Executive Management Team prepares and guides the development of the Groups processes and
business operations and the Groups common functions. The Management Team handles, in particular, the
company's strategy, budget, major procurements and projects, the Group structure and organization as
well as major policies of administration and the HR policy issues.

The Executive Management Team consists of the parent company's CEO and senior management in
charge of the functions at the Group level.

FLAs Group's Executive Management Team consists of:

The Group- CEO

The Group CFO

Divisional Heads

General Managers

Executive management may guide workers directly or they may direct several supervisors who manage
the workers. The senior manager often supervises the largest or most important group(s) in a company.
Core responsibilities of the senior manager include:

- Providing guidance to direct reports, typically comprised of first-line managers and supervisors.
- Ensuring clarity around priorities and goals for the entire functional area.

- Approving requests for investment to a certain level of authority.

- Managing overall financial budgeting for his/her function.

- Working across functions with peers in other groups to ensure collaboration for shared goals. .

- Working with senior management and other peers for strategy development and execution
planning.

- Communicating financial and goal results and key performance indicators to direct reports.

The Marketing Department

The marketing department has overall responsibility for growing revenue, increasing market share and
contributing to company growth and profitability. In a small business, the marketing department may just
be one person, or it may include a marketing director or manager plus marketing executives responsible
for functions such as advertising, publications or events.

Strategy

The senior member of the marketing department takes responsibility for setting marketing strategy in line
with overall company strategy and objectives. The strategy may be to increase share in a specific market
sector, for example, to enter a new sector, or to open a new channel of distribution, such as the Internet, to
reach a wider geographical market. The marketing department reaches agreement on strategy with the
board or senior management team before planning campaigns in detail.

Market Research

Market research is a key responsibility for the marketing department. Research helps the company
identify market opportunities and gain a better understanding of customer needs. It also helps them
understand competitors strengths and weaknesses so they can take action to protect business with
existing customers or win business from weaker competitors. The department can carry out its own
research by studying industry reports, market data on websites, or by contacting customers and prospects
to survey their needs and attitudes. Alternatively, they can brief a market research firm to carry out the
research.

Product Development

The marketing department works with Internal or external product development teams to develop new
products or improve existing ones. The department analyzes sales of existing products and identifies gaps
in the product range where there may be opportunities for the company. Marketing employees provide
development teams with information on customer needs and preferences to help them identify the features
or improvements to incorporate in new products. Later in the product development process, the marketing
department sets prices and prepares plans to launch the product.

Communications

Marketing departments plan campaigns and develop communications material to promote products and
services to customers and prospects. Depending on their available budgets, they may plan advertising
campaigns, develop e-mail marketing programs, create promotional content for the company website,
write press releases or product publications, such as product leaflets, company brochures, product data
sheets or customer newsletters. They may write and design the promotional material if they have skills
within the department or they may appoint advertising agencies or design firms to produce the work.

Sales Support

Cooperation between the sales and marketing departments can improve sales performance and speed up
business growth. The marketing department can provide sales teams with high-quality leads by running
advertisements that include a reply mechanism, such as a coupon or telephone number, or by encouraging
visitors to the company website to register their details in return for a free newsletter or special report.
Marketing also prepares presentations for the sales team and supplies them with stocks of promotional
material to give to customers and prospects.

Events

In some companies, marketing departments are responsible for organizing events, such as exhibitions,
seminars, sales conferences or customer hospitality events. They plan the logistics of the event, booking
exhibition booths or meeting facilities, for example, and provide event material, such as displays,
presentations or handouts. They also promote external events to customers and prospects to ensure
successful attendance.

A WORKERS committee is an integral component of the management of any organisation serving as

the fulcrum and nerve centre of industrial democracy that bridges the gap between workers and
management. Workers committees are nominated and elected by workers to represent them in discussions
or negotiations with their employer.

FUNCTIONS OF A WORKER`S COMMITTEE

To represent employees in all matters that affects their rights and interests

To negotiate agreements relating to terms and conditions of employment

 To ensure observance of industrial regulations for the industry to the mutual benefit of all
employees and management through co-operation with the established Trade Union

To elect some of its members to represent employees on the Works council (made up of equal
managerial representatives, representing the employer and the workers committee representatives,
representing employees

The company has a Projects Development Committee. This work group comprises of
individuals from different teams like I.T, Asset management, marketing, actuarial services and
finance. It has regular meetings to give updates on customer surveys, responses to products,
operating environment, opportunities for products and creating attractive product packages. This
team is responsible for coming up with product that are tailor made for the Fidelity Life group
customers. Agile product innovation is a continuous process to identify client needs so as to
design products to meet those needs, better products, better service and product repackaging.
Two heads are better than one, and this is especially true in the workplace. This group is better
able to produce more creative, innovative products and practical solutions to problems than
someone working alone. When sharing ideas in a brainstorming session, employees feel more
confident about coming up with unique and more outside-the-box ideas. Better product
innovation will invariably attract more customers that will buy into the products. This boosts
company performance as the companys market share increases. A good example is the property
development product which incorporates the stand with loan protection and funeral policy. This
product brings in revenue for three SBUs whilst introducing new clients and growing the market
share.

The first rule of team building is an obvious one: to lead a team effectively, you must first
establish your leadership with each team member. Remember that the most effective team
leaders build their relationships of trust and loyalty, rather than fear or the power of their
positions.
Consider each employee's ideas as valuable. Remember that there is no such
thing as a stupid idea.
Be aware of employees' unspoken feelings. Set an example to team members by
being open with employees and sensitive to their moods and feelings.

Act as a harmonizing influence. Look for chances to mediate and resolve minor
disputes; point continually toward the team's higher goals.
 Be clear when communicating. Be careful to clarify directives.

Encourage trust and cooperation among employees on your team. Remember

that the relationships team members establish among themselves are every bit as
important as those you establish with them. As the team begins to take shape, pay
close attention to the ways in which team members work together and take steps to
improve communication, cooperation, trust, and respect in those relationships.

Encourage team members to share information. Emphasize the importance of

each team member's contribution and demonstrate how all of their jobs operate
together to move the entire team closer to its goal.

Delegate problem-solving tasks to the team. Let the team work on creative
solutions together.

Facilitate communication. Remember that communication is the single most

important factor in successful teamwork. Facilitating communication does not mean
holding meetings all the time. Instead it means setting an example by remaining
open to suggestions and concerns, by asking questions and offering help, and by
doing everything you can to avoid confusion in your own communication.

Establish team values and goals; evaluate team performance. Be sure to talk
with members about the progress they are making toward established goals so that
employees get a sense both of their success and of the challenges that lie ahead.
Address teamwork in performance standards. Discuss with your team:

o What do we really care about in performing our job?

o What does the word success mean to this team?

o What actions can we take to live up to our stated values?

Make sure that you have a clear idea of what you need to accomplish; that you
know what your standards for success are going to be; that you have established
clear time frames; and that team members understand their responsibilities.

Use consensus. Set objectives, solve problems, and plan for action. While it takes
much longer to establish consensus, this method ultimately provides better decisions
and greater productivity because it secures every employee's commitment to all
phases of the work.

Set ground rules for the team. These are the norms that you and the team
establish to ensure efficiency and success. They can be simple directives (Team
members are to be punctual for meetings) or general guidelines (Every team
member has the right to offer ideas and suggestions), but you should make sure that
the team creates these ground rules by consensus and commits to them, both as a
group and as individuals.

Establish a method for arriving at a consensus. You may want to conduct open
debate about the pros and cons of proposals, or establish research committees to
investigate issues and deliver reports.
 Encourage listening and brainstorming. As supervisor, your first priority in
creating consensus is to stimulate debate. Remember that employees are often
afraid to disagree with one another and that this fear can lead your team to make
mediocre decisions. When you encourage debate you inspire creativity and that's
how you'll spur your team on to better results.

Establish the parameters of consensus-building sessions. Be sensitive to the

frustration that can mount when the team is not achieving consensus. At the outset
of your meeting, establish time limits, and work with the team to achieve consensus
within those parameters. Watch out for false consensus; if an agreement is struck
too quickly, be careful to probe individual team members to discover their real
feelings about the proposed solution.

Tips On Enhancing Team Effectiveness

Very simply put, a team is nothing but a system of getting people in a company to work together
effectively. The idea is that a group of people working together can achieve much more than if the
individuals of the team were working on their own. In a team, we bring together people who have
different skills that somehow complement each other, agree on a common code of conduct, assign
different roles in a group setting, create interest in the company objectives, help increase productivity and
help the team solve conflicts without compromising work flow.

For world-class results in a corporate environment, a company needs to have teams that can face all
challenges. Joint efforts always attain and generate the best results. Winning teams harness their
members talents and energy to ensure that 1 plus 1 equal 3 or more. In short, when a team is working
well, the total is far greater than the sum of its parts.

Being a member of a team not about being efficient individuals. The team must be singularly focused on
the companys objectives and goals. In a team-oriented atmosphere, an individual contributes to the
overall success of the company by working with other team members to attain these objectives.
Individuals are assigned specific tasks within particular departments, but they have to unite with team
members from different departments to achieve the overall targets.
Once one has ones teams in place, one must focus on creating enhanced teams to achieve the companys
targets. Team enhancement actions must match set targets if they dont, team leaders must question
themselves to find out what is lacking.

Guidelines On Enhancing Team Effectiveness:

The leader should convey a clear message to the team members regarding the companys expectations. He
or she must ensure that the team members understand what the team has been created for and
continuously underline these objectives via internal communications.

Team members must acknowledge their comprehension of and participation in the achievement of the
companys objectives. They must know how the team is supposed to help the company to achieve its
targets.

The team leader must establish how many of his team members are actually interested in participating in
teamwork, and how many tend to be lone wolves who do not operate well in a team setting.

The team leader must ensure that all performing team members perceive their service as valuable to the
organization. He or she must find out what it takes to keep the team motivated, and establish workable
means of fulfilling reasonable expectations.

The team leader must ensure that the team members are sufficiently knowledgeable, skilled and capable
to face the issues for which the team has been created.

The team leader must ensure that the team has appropriate resources, initiatives and support required to
attain its goals. The organization must, in turn, empower the team with sufficient authority to accomplish
its charter. However, team members must also understand their limitations clearly.

Sometimes, team members may do or say things that seem out of synch with the teams overall mission
and goals. This can result in resentment, confusion and lack of communication. If this happens, the team
leader must establish how these words or actions were meant to add to the teams ability to fulfill its set
objectives. If the reasons are not immediately apparent, he or she should ask for clarifications to avoid
clashes.
Team leaders must also have patience. Not all teams perform at 100% efficiency once they have been
presented with their targets and objectives. Also, some individual team members may not move as fast as
others, even though they do not lack capability or motivation. The team leader must take on the role of a
mentor and ensure that such members have sufficient breathing space, nevertheless keeping them
focussed on the deadline.

The team leader must plan team meetings meticulously. Meetings consume time and money as well as
physical and mental energy. The team leader must optimize returns on that investment via clear objectives
and meeting plans and by copying all concerned on the agenda of the meeting in advance.

All team members should feel free to ask for help on a specific decision or task. There is no place for
egoism when help is offered. Such an attitude creates better relationships and helps the team succeed
faster. In this spirit, the team leader must also assign the right people within the team to make decisions,
and the appropriate people to comply with those decisions.

Team members must share views, ideas, experiences and thoughts with other team members. Sharing is
significant to team development, since a team is a compilation of uniquely thinking individuals. After
accomplishment of a task or goal, team members must share the success as a unit.

There is no place for the blame-game in a cutting edge team. Problems will arise and must be seen as
means to evaluate progress and obtain knowledge. Setbacks should never been seen as opportunities to
accuse others.

Every team occasionally requires external expertise and help to move further. There must be no delay in
doing so.

To achieve a common goal of success, importance has to be given to increasing the skills of team
members, so training plays a large role in enhancing the effectiveness of a team.
COACHING, INDUSTRIAL & ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, LEADERSHIP, TEAMS,TRAINING
& DEVELOPMENT

EIGHT COMMON PROBLEMS TEAMS

ENCOUNTER
2010 DECEMBER 17 STEVE NGUYEN, PH.D.
Harvard Business Reviews Answer Exchange lists EIGHT problems that
teams encounter:
1. Absence of team identity. Members may not feel mutually
accountable to one another for the teams objectives. There may be a lack
of commitment and effort, conflict between team goals and members
personal goals, or poor collaboration.
2. Difficulty making decisions. Team members may be rigidly adhering
to their positions during decision making or making repeated arguments
rather than introducing new information.
3. Poor communication. Team members may interrupt or talk over one
another. There may be consistent silence from some members during
meetings, allusions to problems but failure to formally address them, or
false consensus (everyone nods in agreement without truly agreeing).
4. Inability to resolve conflicts. Conflicts can not be resolved when
there are heightened tensions and team members make personal attacks
or aggressive gestures.
5. Lack of participation. Team members fail to complete assignments.
There may be poor attendance at team meetings or low energy during
meetings.
6. Lack of creativity. The team is unable to generate fresh ideas and
perspectives and doesnt turn unexpected events into opportunities.
7. Groupthink. The team is unwilling or unable to consider alternative
ideas or approaches. There is a lack of critical thinking and debate over
ideas. This often happens when the team overemphasizes team
agreement and unity.
8. Ineffective leadership. Leaders can fail teams by not defining a
compelling vision for the team, not delegating, or not representing
multiple constituencies.