Team Building and Delegation. Using

¶ … team building and delegation. Using a sign manufacturer, Daktronics, as a basis of comparison to theory, how the organization conforms to the theories concerning team building and delegation will be presented. The differences between theory and practice will also be discussed; and the reasons for these differences will be explored. Relevant recommendations for change and further development will be given for each of the two concepts. Lastly, an overview of the organization and the author's position in the company is presented in the appendix.

How Daktronics Conforms to Theory in Regards to the Use of Team Building:

According to Sharma, Roychowdhury, and Verma (2009) through teamwork, organizations build camaraderie and trust amongst their members. An organization's performance is improved through teamwork. In addition, it can boost employee well-being, enhance the interest and motivation of employees, reduce employee performance fluctuations, improve work morale, and minimize stress levels, allowing employees to come up with new ideas and performance improvement. It is through the collaborative and coordinated efforts of a team that an organization is formed. The organization itself, in general, operates as a single team, with all members working towards the objectives and goals set forth by the organization. For these reasons, the concept of team building is critical to an organization's success.

As cited by Edison (2008), Tuckman's seminal 1965 research established the traditional model of team development. The five phases of team building are: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Forming occurs at the beginning of team building. Processes are often ignored and members test tolerance of the system, during this phase. During the storming phase, members vie for position within the team and power struggles ensue. The norming stage sees agreement and consensus beginning to occur, as facilitated by the leader, with roles within the team clear and accepted. Performing occurs once the team understands clearly their goals and has a shared focus (English). Lastly, adjourning occurs when the goals of the team have been reached and the team is dissolved.

Daktronics team building conforms to this traditional model of the five-phases of team development. Teams, both those developed virtually and face-to-face, at Daktronics transition through all of the phases of development to some degree or another. Leaders assigned to each team help the team work through each of these stages to maximize efficiency.

How Daktronics Conforms in Regards to Theory Regarding Delegation:

Lupia (2001) describes delegation as the occurrence of individuals requesting others perform tasks on their behalf. Delegation is useful in overcoming personal limits. The time, energy and talents of others can be harnessed to accomplish an increased number of tasks. In agency theory, the principal in the principal-agent relationship represents the individual who delegates, with the agent being the individual to whom authority is delegated. This relationship is maximized when two things occur. First, the principal and agent must desire the same outcomes. Second, "the principal is knowledgeable about the consequences of the agent's activities" (p. 4).

Daktronics conforms to this theory in the use of delegation on a regular basis. Each individual employee has a unique skill set that managers can utilize through the delegation process. Managers strive to make sure the two important factors to success, according to Lupia (2001), are met.

Differences Between Practice and Theory for Team Building and Delegation:

There are a few differences between theory and practice, at Daktronics, in regards to team building and delegation. In team building, although, for the most part, Daktronics' teams evolve through the theoretical five phases of development, two of the phases are not as large of players as may be found in other organizations. The forming and storming stage of team building can be incredibly dramatic, for a team. At Daktronics, both of these stages are minimized by clear instructions and hierarchy prior to formation. Not only are the goals for the team outlined, but each team member's duties within the team are spelled out as well. The vying for power that often occurs in the storming stage is minimal at worst.

Delegation at Daktronics also has a slight difference between theory and practice. Although managers try to make certain they understand the consequences of the activities of those to whom they delegate tasks, this is not always the case. The globalized nature of Daktronics, with manufacturing, sales, and service facilities located around the world, means that delegated tasks are often difficult to monitor completely, especially those delegated to individuals located in different geographic regions. It would be expected, theoretically, that a manager would be well aware of not only the consequences of the actions of the agent they had delegated too, but also the actions themselves. However, at Daktronics, this is not always the case.

Recommendations for Daktronics Regarding Change and Further Development:

In regards to team building, Daktronics may wish to allow their teams to fully experience the traditional, theoretical team development process. Currently, as discussed, teams being established by the organization are giving firm guidelines and team members are given specific roles and responsibilities prior to the formation of the team. This minimizes the time spent in the forming and storming stage of team development. However, there are some advantages to these two phases that perhaps Daktronics is not gaining the benefit by avoiding them.

In the forming stage, the leader really establishes their role, not by directive by the company -- as is the case with Daktronics' teams -- but by answering team members' questions regarding the teams purpose and their position within the company. This helps build credibility in the leader, encouraging team members to more readily follow the leader through this process, rather than simply because they were told to do so.

The testing of limits of the system by team members can also be beneficial to the team building process. Team members who have not tested the limits of the system may hold that in the back of their minds during the rest of the team functioning. In addition, by testing the system limits, a more robust system can be developed, further improving the processes used to facilitate teamwork. Without this activity, Daktronics' systems do not have that opportunity to learn from this testing and to grow in the process.

Just as Daktronics' direction prior to team formation minimizes the forming stage in theoretical team development, the storming stage is also minimized, if not non-existent. Although this too is not a productive phase, in the traditional sense of output, for the group, there is value in the storming phase that Daktronics may be missing out on. While vying for position within a team, during the storming stage, team members demonstrate their unique skills, in an effort to secure a better position within the group. This process can help leaders identify those who are stronger in some areas than others, so that those skills can be best utilized, to facilitate the goals of the team. By skipping this stage of team building, Daktronics' team leaders may not recognize a skill set in a team member that would be helpful in achieving the team's goals.

In regards to delegation, it is recommended that Daktronics has a more comprehensive method of reporting of delegated tasks in order to ensure the principal delegating the task is aware of not only the consequences of the task they are delegating, but also the progress of which that task is being completed. The challenges of such a globalized organization make delegation not only a powerful tool, but also a liability if not utilized efficiently and effectively. To best use the resources offered by their employees, delegation is necessary. However, managers must be able to follow up on their delegated power and tasks, to ensure its success and currently there is no formalized reporting procedure in place to facilitate this need.

By establishing a formalized reporting procedure, Daktronics would be able to avoid managers from slipping into the downfalls of the other side of the challenge of delegation -- micromanagement. As Weyand (1996) described micromanagement, micromanagement is not only telling someone why a delegated task needs to be done (explaining the vision) and what is to be done (the mission of the task), but also the how, when, where, and who. This type of micromanagement negates many of the positive benefits of delegating a task. Delegation allows a manager to benefit from other individual's unique skills and talents. By limiting the individual, through the process of micromanagement, the individual is not allowed to complete the delegated task in a manner in which is most effective and efficient for their skill set. Opportunities for learning from the individual's unique viewpoint are lost. A formalized reporting procedure would allow critical information to be available to the principal in the relationship, without the fear of micromanaging. This type of micromanagement of delegated tasks actually sees a crossover in Daktronics' team building.