Teamwork Needed to Excel

While expanding in business is usually a good sign, how it’s done can cause problems. Trying to excel in Corporate and Social Responsibility is not always easy, especially if that company is global like Excel. The drilling systems company’s initiative to create the Green Team was one of good faith to be mindful of the environment in which its equipment is used. The initial start went well as its sections around the world were all part of the start up in using digital feeds to participate in meetings around the world.

Problems started developing with different ideas in what should be the first tasks to be accomplished. Poor planning in the initial stages set up headaches down the road. No initial plan from those who founded the Green Team, led to scattered thoughts in process. There were also no team leaders named and that led to a free-for-all in ideas and no organization in initial meetings. Lack of consideration for time differences for other parts of the company caused many issues with meetings; and presented a distorted view of importance of headquarters’ needs over the needs of the other parts of the business outside of Alabama.

Excel could have alleviated a big portion of their downfalls by first starting to plan ahead and set out a clear goal before forming teams. That has to come from the top down in what objectives and goals they want achieved. That way all parties involved have a clear vision of what the finished product should look like. Setting up regional or area chairs over divisions would help as well. One chair could be over Asia and Australia, while another in Europe and Africa, and those groups can meet at a more efficient time. While this may create more meetings, it has less displacement for those not based on a time zone in North America and allows those in North and South America to also meet at an easier time. These chairs can then decide on a meeting time, or even rotate times, to help please all of those parties involved. Executives did eventually define goals, but because the goals came to the table late, their companies outside of the U.S. felt skirted or less cared for.

Inclusion is huge for a global company, and the fact that Excel wanted all of its global companies involved in the Green Team initiative did create a bond with the common goal of improving the environment. An organization with poor social cohesion is recognized by the exclusion and marginalization of certain groups (O’Brien, R. 2008). The lack of cohesion started happening when the individuals from the other companies around the world starting putting their personal wants and needs ahead of the companies goals. This again is caused from the lack of executive’s involvement in the initial process. It took complaining to management before it got involved.

The point system design could go either way. It just depends if the employees buy into the spirit of how it’s designed. Problems could arise in jealousy or perceived notions of self worth. One employee could feel that they are doing more work than they are getting credit for and make claims that some co-workers are just giving each other points in efforts to possibly get awards. The idea in making the points public could be from an accountability standpoint, but could also cause dissention.

Any conflict that can’t be solved quickly between employees needs to have a mediator involved. That mediator can help clear up miscommunication and help each party involved in the conflict see the opposite point of view and come to an agreed conclusion. Effective management keeps the focus on the company’s vision and keeps it’s employees focused on the company and not themselves (Masters, M., & Albright, R. 2002).

In all, the Green Team missed the performance focus. The strongest teams find a common goal established by management and strive for that goal their own personal ideas (Bateman, T. S., Snell, S., & Konopaske, R. 2017). The Green Team did not work for each other or the company and the company didn’t do a great job of supporting the thoughts, ideas, and work of those employees.

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