This paper examines the role of development teams as central building blocks of organizational strategy across private, non-profit, and government sectors. It outlines how aligned development teams foster shared vision, improve decision-making, and enhance worker participation. The paper then classifies and analyzes four common forms of development teams: problem-solving, cross-functional, self-managed, and virtual. For each type, the paper describes its composition, how it obtains and manages resources, and its key advantages and disadvantages. The conclusion emphasizes that regardless of team type, well-structured development teams consistently deliver benefits such as increased productivity, knowledge sharing, employee empowerment, and organizational effectiveness.
Development teams are usually the main building blocks of the strategy of any successful organization. The focus of an organization may be on service, cost, speed, performance, efficiency, and value, among other goals (Moller & Tollestrup, 2012). Nevertheless, development teams always remain the central methodology within organizations, whether private, non-profit, or governmental.
When development teams become more aligned, a commonality of direction emerges (Moller & Tollestrup, 2012). This leads to the harmonization of individual energies, a shared vision among team members, and a proper understanding of how to complement each other's efforts. Once an individual understands the type of development team he or she belongs to, it helps in planning work and clarifying what is expected.
The decision-making process of development teams assists organizations in solving day-to-day problems. The advantages of development team decision-making include problem definition, data collection, developing alternatives, evaluating and selecting alternatives, and implementing solutions (Moller & Tollestrup, 2012).
The role of the development team in an organization should not be underestimated. Development teams provide a framework that increases workers' ability to participate in the development of a product or service (Development team, 2009). Increased worker participation in development teams promotes a better understanding of decisions, greater contribution to problem-solving, and more meaningful involvement in decision-making.
In order for development teams to achieve their intended objective of enhancing organizational effectiveness, it is critical that they develop into working units focused on their goals and missions (Development team, 2009).
The creation of development teams should be given careful consideration by any organization. Development teams are generally classified according to their objectives within the organization (Development team, 2009). There are four common forms of development teams: problem-solving development teams, cross-functional development teams, self-managed development teams, and virtual development teams (Moller & Tollestrup, 2012).
A problem-solving development team consists of a small number of members from the same department (Development team, 2009). Members typically meet for several hours each week to discuss various ways of improving efficiency, the development environment, and quality (Moller & Tollestrup, 2012). Many organizations now rely heavily on problem-solving development teams to address various organizational challenges related to development.
In problem-solving development teams, members share ideas and offer suggestions on how the organization's services or products can be improved. However, they are not given authority to implement any of the suggestions they make (Development team, 2009). The team obtains resources from the organization, and the team leader is responsible for ensuring those resources are used effectively.
One of the main advantages of problem-solving development teams is that they are easy to create. Because members come from the same department, decisions can be reached more readily. However, a key disadvantage is the lack of diversity of ideas, since all members share the same departmental background (Schilling, 2006).
"Cross-department teams coordinating complex projects"
"Member-selected teams with supervisory autonomy"
"Geographically dispersed teams using digital technology"
In order to build an effective development team, the team leader must establish an organizational environment where members can reflect on and analyze their projects. Regardless of the type of development team formed, the benefits are numerous — including increased skills, productivity, knowledge, commitment, and organizational effectiveness. Additional benefits include employee empowerment, improved quality, and greater job satisfaction.
You’re 51% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 3 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.