As a manager for one of the leading confectionery and snackfood companies in the world, I have found motivation one of the keys to ensuring that employees are committed to the success and growth of the Mars organization. The secret to becoming an effective team in today's work environment is motivation and cooperation.Mars promotes self directed teams to enhance the motivation of the employees within the teams. Managers within the organization are trained to develop associates to take ownership of the areas in which they are assigned. The reason for promoting such teams is to develop motivated and engaged employees within the organization to ensure that each employee is committed to ...view middle of the document...
"The term teamwork is often used in general reference to improve cooperation between departments or other areas within a company. Although the departments are working more or less together, presumably toward the good of the organization, this does not constitute a formal team. A work team is much more than a collection of individuals (Seamons and Winum)". In the workplace teams consist of employees working towards the success of the organization. As noted on page four of the text Understanding Motivation and Emotion "Within any one individual, motivation varies over time. Behavior almost always varies in its intensity, such as showing high or low effort, persistence, intensity, promptness or liveliness" (Reeve, 2001)Commitment may come immediate for some team members, and it may take some time for others. It is important for all members to understand that a team's is success is driven off of the work ethic, cooperation and initiative of the team members who are willing to make a real difference in their organization. While teams can be a key factor in the success of any large organization, just putting employees into teams is no guarantee that any effective work will occur.Effective teams do not just happen; they require specific group-process skills. Teams are more productive when they are able to operate within an organization that provides resources that support their efforts. An effective team develops ways to share leadership roles and ways to share accountability for their work products, shifting the emphasis from the individual to several individuals within the team. A team also develops a specific team purpose and concrete work products that the members produce together. Establishing shared expectations, identifying and organizing resources, and creating a clear sense of how the team goes about doing its work allows team members to focus their efforts on achieving the team's goal.Effective teams in the workplace are created and perform to due an effective means of communication and the ability to put personal preferences aside to work on a common goal. In December of 2001 the Mars Vice President of the Supply chain contacted each manager in the corporation by email. The email was addressed to all of the managers in...