Teamwork in the Workplace
Interview No.1: Terry Young, Head of Business School
Q.1 How much do you value teams in this organization?
A: Teams? Well, I think teams are absolutely essential.
Q.2 In a college such as Sligo IT, are there many advantages to using teams over individuals?
A: I suppose it depends on the tasks, but in developing course such as curriculum development you automatically need teams because it requires team effort.
Q.3 What are the strategies that are used in selecting team members in Sligo IT?
A: O.K. (Pauses for a few seconds) If it is course development, you need strategy. If it is a team for other purposes then basically strategy derives from tasks. You need to look at what your team has to do and then put together team members. Nobody is excluded at all.
Q.4 What qualities do you look for when selecting members to work as team members?
A: Variety. It's all about variety. There's absolutely no point in having a team when all the members of that team can perform the same tasks. You don't have a team of the same people.
Q.5 Do many individuals in the organization resist working within teams and if so, how does the organization help overcome this resistance?
A: (Laughs) Very few to tell you the truth. I suppose there will always be some but there are really no individuals that come to mind who would not agree to work in teams and work on their own. I suppose there is the odd loner that would want to work on his or her own (starts to laugh softly)
Q.6 In your opinion ...