The Best Approaches When Engaged in Team Building

Management Roles -- Social Worker The three roles I have chosen regarding what a human resource manager must be able to do effectively and consistently are: Team builder leader; advocate; policy practitioner; goal attainment; management of people; and proficiency and efficiency. In this paper I will delve deeply into how and why an HR manager must become very effective at these six roles.

Team builder-leader: in Chapter 1 of the Handbook of Human Services the role of Team builder-leader relates to the person that organizes committees and coalitions, and organized work groups "both in and out of the agency"; and the team builder-leader also is expected to show the leadership to get the most out of group involvement and is expected to accomplish positive things with each task. Meanwhile, in the peer-reviewed Records Management Quarterly, the author (Fraser, 1993) goes into detail regarding the "Total Quality Management" (TQM) philosophy.

The cliche used in the article ("You can't get good help these days") is appropriate because many managers fall back on old concepts and avoid developing systems and teams that transcend those used in the past.

When a manager begins a team-building project, how to best communicate the instructions and background to the project? Is the hand-written memo appropriate and timely? Does it say what is needed to be said? Should the manager simply bring the team together and talk about what his vision is for a stronger team? Fraser suggests using the best method available, but this writer suggests using both a written communication, and following the distribution of that missive, a meeting with the team so that questions can be asked and answered in-depth.

"The production of a team will always be considerably more than the sum total of individual 'best efforts'" (Fraser, p. 4). Studies have shown that up to 80% of problems in an organization are not caused by individuals but rather are caused by "the system"; the root cause of the problems could be poor communication, lack of resources, or other dynamics, which points to the importance of building strong teams (Fraser, p. 4).

Glenn Llopis writes in Forbes that a team builder must have "a keen understanding of people, their strengths and what gets them excited to work with others" (Llopis, 2012). A team builder who leads must be able to "manage egos and their constant demand for attention and recognition," and to know "how to best utilize their competencies rightly at all times" (Llopis, p. 4). Advocate: The Chapter 1 definition of advocate includes the " ..

fostering" of an "awareness of emerging problems and unmet needs"; also an advocate helps organize the community to "present grievances or press for change." Anne Marie McLaughlin writes that advocacy is an avenue for social workers to " .. connect their practice with the profession's aim of social justice" (McLaughlin, 2009). In fact, according to McLaughlin, one of the key duties of a social worker is to " .. advocate for fair and equitable access to public services .. and to advocate for equal treatment and protection under the law" (McLaughlin).

Policy practitioner: The Chapter 1 definition of policy practitioner is a person that looks closely at government policies and regulations that relate to agency operations, and gives "feedback on the efficacy of policy," and goes into providing influence vis-a-vis policy decision makers. In Fresno County, California, a social work practitioner provides assessment, develops long or short-term case plans, is a consultant to clients, staff, community agencies and interprets and applies " .. laws, policies, procedures, rules and regulations" that have to do with social service programs (Fresno County).

Goal Attainment: When (and unless) a goal is "specified," an "efficient service technology can be chosen to meet them." The Chapter 3 author explains that the technology will be put into action via an "internal division of labor," which is a "rational" approach because the use of service technology is the most "efficient way" to meet organizational goals.

To obtain any goal in a social work genre first there must be: a) a "vision for the future" which is based on a strategy as to how to get to the future with the goal in mind; b) the work that must be accomplished to attain the goal must be "structured" and well "coordinated"; c) the people needed to achieve the goal have to be "mobilized"; d) they must also be motivated with the necessary skills; e) what financial resources are needed must be laid out at the outset of the goal's strategy; f) progress toward the goal should be tracked; and g) the accomplishments must be juxtaposed with the standards that were set in the planning stages.

Management of People: When it comes to a social worker attempting to manage an older person, books by Denise Tanner and Ann McDonald suggest that "older people are the experts in their own lives"; the theme in these books is "sustaining the self"; "keeping going"; "staying me" and the "slippery slope" (Park, 2011). Managing the lives of older people should focus on care planning, monitoring and review of services; and moreover, trying to manage (in a social work context) an older person requires understanding " ..

the cultural context under which older people are embedded," and an understanding that older people may.