Due to changes wrought from technology and globalization, organizations have restructured from top-down hierarchies loaded with middle-management to flatter, leaner organizations that have replaced middle management with self-directed work teams or groups that have greater accountability and responsibility for achieving organizational goals. The increasing importance of work groups or teams demands leaders who effectively manage team dynamics to generate high levels of performance. This analysis will provide a discussion of how leaders can develop high-performance teams, focusing on group demographics and cultural diversity. A conclusion will address one proven method for developing highly motivated work teams.
Along with the trend in business of greater reliance on empowered work teams or groups is the trend of an increasingly diverse workforce. Unprecedented numbers of women and minorities now makeup a significant percentage of the American workforce, a trend that is expected to continue unabated over the next half century. Work team members must believe they are respected and treated fairly by the organization to be motivated to perform at high levels. Women have traditionally been treated unfairly, including making less than men for the same work and being confined in advancement by what was known as the "glass ceiling" (Value, 1997, p. 1). However, over the past few decades workplace legislation and policy have created greater equity and opportunities for women. As Business Week reported a decade ago, "We have virtually eliminated the gender gap in turnover, admitted far more women to our partnership, more than doubled the number of women in leadership positions, and now have hundreds of women on flexible work arrangements" (Value, 1997, p. 1).
As with demographic variables like gender, work teams are also impacted by increasing cultural diversity as more minorities than ever before are empl...