Organizational Psychology According to Stephen

Organizational Psychology

According to Stephen Schoonover (2002), today's business environment is subject to increasingly rapid innovation, development and change. There are few businesses of significant size who can effectively function without teams. Today's concept of teamwork has also developed to encompass much more than the traditional, close-working team with a team leader. Instead, teams take many forms, shapes, and sizes. Some teams function on a global scale, with team members communicating from remote locations. These are the elements that must be taken into consideration when creating a favorable environment for sustainable innovation and teamwork within a business.

The Lafleur Trading Company is relatively typical in terms of the business world today. The company operates on a global scale, supplying foods and wines to a wide variety of clients. In order to remain competitive within this environment, the company needs to create a climate in which teams can thrive and offer the best of their collective abilities. In order to accomplish this, managers should also ensure that individual employees understand their place and function within the larger business (Heathfield, 2010).

According to Susan Heathfield (2010), to function as part of an effective team is to understand one's position as part of something larger than oneself. This understanding then gives an individual a sense of meaning within the workplace, and also functions as a powerful motivator. Motivated individuals in turn form motivated teams that can function to continually assess their path towards meeting the needs and reaching the goals of the company as a whole.

For Lafleur Trading Company, it is particularly important to communicate the mission and objectives of the company to each individual. Because the company is quite large and functions on a global scale, it could be easy for individuals to feel lost amid the many functions of the company. Creating an effective network of communication is therefore vitally important. The head office should for example be in contact with employees by email. Other options are to create a company Website that employees can access for all news and updates regarding the company's goals, objectives, innovations, and so on.

According to Andrew E. Schwartz (2010), participation is an important element of team work, where the goal includes meeting the objectives of the company. Teams and individuals should participate in collective decision-making processes that affect that company as a whole. This will provide teams and employees with a sense of belonging and of being truly part of an effective team that makes a difference in the company and to clients.

Schwartz (2010) also notes the importance of a pleasant, good work environment in order to extract the best work from employees. Employees who enjoy their work environment will function better than those who find their circumstances unpleasant. In order to create such a work environment, the company's managers need to consider issues such as work hours, stress levels, health and safety.