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Work Teams And Teamwork Of

Unilever Bangladesh Ltd.

1. INTRODUCTION

Unilever Limited is one of largest multinational business firm in the world. Over the last four decades, Unilever Bangladesh has been constantly bringing new and world-class products for the Bangladeshi people to remove the daily drudgery of life. Over 90% of the country’s households use one or more of their products. It provides sixteen verities brands and try to mitigate all types of human demand by introducing with new innovative products.

Unlike any other successful organizations Unilever also has various teams and collective teamwork to accomplish their target. They create an environment where people with energy, creativity and commitment work together to fulfill ambitious goals.

We are going to describes those Teams, their norms, roles and the efficiency which lead the company as the market leader of Bangladesh.

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2. WORK TEAMSA group whose individual efforts result in a performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs. It is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to information, resources, and skills and who seek to combine their efforts to achieve a common goal.

key Characteristics of teams are:

Members have common goals and positive synergy.

The primary motive of mutual interaction is to perform collectively.

The responsibility and accountability are both individual and mutual in nature.

The leadership is shared among the team members.

The purpose of a team is very specific requiring collective effort.

Effectiveness of performance is measured directly by assessing the collective work product.

In a work team. Discussions. Decisions and real work, all are carried out together.

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4. WHEN SHOULD A TEAM FORM? Lack of initiative Poor communication Lack of trust Increasing productivity, effeciency Employees do not understand or agree Customer complaints with decisions that are made loss of productivity Personnel conflicts Lack of clear goals Confusion about assignments Lack of innovation or risk-taking

3. TEAMS ROLE IN SOLVING ORGANIZATIONAL

PROBLEM

5. VARIOUS TEAMS OF UNILEVER BANGLADESH LTD

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Unilever Bangladesh formed “Quality Circles” teams to ensure productivity, quality, efficiency and the work environment. They work for how inputs converted into outputs effectively. It is a special type of employee involvement team typically composed of 5–12 hourly employees from the same department who met for a few hours each week to discuss-

The ways of improving quality, Efficiency, The work environment and Examine important workplace issues.

Members share ideas or offer suggestions on how work processes and methods can be improved. Rarely are they given the authority to unilaterally implement their suggested actions.

Problem-solving Teams

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Self-managed work teams are groups of employees (typically 10 to 15 in number) who perform highly related or interdependent jobs and take on many of the responsibilities of their former supervisors. Typically, this includes :

Planning and scheduling of work,

Assigning tasks to members,

Collective control over the pace of work,

Making operating decisions,

Taking action on problems, and

Working with suppliers and customers.

Unilever Bangladesh has its “Sales Teams” as Self-Managed Work Teams which is truly autonomous and that could not only solve problems but implement solutions and take full responsibility for outcomes.

Self-Managed Work Teams

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Cross-Functional teams are made up of employees from about the same hierarchical level, but from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task.

Unilever has its “Management Team” and “Committees” consists of executives from different department to improve communication and tracking of work, which would lead to increased productivity and more satisfied consumers. They-

Used to overcome functional silos problem.

Used to solve problems with a positive combination of functional expertise and integrative systems thinking.

Cross-Functional Teams

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Virtual teams use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal.

Members meet at least part of the time electronically and with computer support.

Groupware facilitates virtual meetings and group decision making.

The three primary factors that differentiate virtual teams 

a. The absence of pare verbal and nonverbal cues. These help clarify communication by providing increased meaning, but aren’t available in online interactions.

 b. Limited social context. Virtual teams often suffer from less social rapport and less direct interaction among members.

 c. The ability to overcome time and space constraints. Virtual teams allow people to work together who might otherwise never be able to collaborate.

Virtual Teams

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6. HOW UNILEVER TEAMS CAN BE

EFFECTIVE

Adequate Resources:Need the tools to complete the job.Allocation of resources and supports from the organization.Support includes timely information proper equipment adequate staffing, encouragement, administrative assistance.

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Context: Effective Leadership and Structure:Agreeing to the specifics of work and how the team fits together to integrate individual skillsEven “self-managed” teams need leadersLeadership especially important in multi-team systems.

Climate of Trust:Members must trust each other and the leader.Interpersonal trust among members which facilitates cooperation, reduces the need of monitoring, creates bonds within team members.Trust is the foundation of leadership

Performance and Rewards Systems that Reflect Team Contributions:Cannot just be based on individual effort.Group based appraisals, Profit-sharing, gain sharing, small group incentives need to reinforce team effort and commitment

Unilever Bangladesh ltd provide adequate resources to its team members need to accomplish organization goals. Every team of Unilever has effective leader, proper structure and the significant bonds of trust among its members. Moreover various team members of Unilever receive rewards based on their individual and team performance.

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Abilities to members:Need technical expertise, problem-

solving,decision-making, and good

interpersonal skills To be able to identify problems, Generate alternatives, Evaluate alternatives, And make competent choice.

Composition:

PersonalityConscientiousness, Openness to experience, and Agreeableness all relate to team performance

Allocating roles and Diversity:

Many necessary roles (linker, creator, promoter, assessor, organizer, producer, controller, maintainer, advisor) that must be filled within teams.Diversity can often lead to lower performance

Size of the teams and Member preferences:

The smaller the better: 5-9 is optimalDo the members want to be on teams?

Unilever believes that their teams members of different teams are competent enough to identify problems, finding alternatives and make correct decision. They have conscientiousness, openness and agreeableness to boost their team performance. All the teams consist not more than 10 members who receives roles and rules from the superior authority and prefer teamwork instead of individual.

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Work Design:

Freedom and AutonomyAbility to work independently

Skill Variety Ability to use different skills and talents

Task IdentityAbility to complete a whole and identifiable task or product

Task SignificanceWorking on a task or project that has a substantial impact on others

Team members of Unilever Sales teams have the right to do his task on his own way they never be involved in one definite task but perform various activities needed to fulfillment of its target. From data collection to give comments regarding improving sales, all necessary task are done by the members. They provide significant information and handle the diverse need of various department to implement decisions.

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Commitment to a Common PurposeCreate a common purpose that provides direction.Have reflexivity: willing to adjust plan if necessary.

Establishment of Specific Team GoalsMust be specific, measurable, realistic, and challenging

Team EfficacyTeam believes in its ability to succeed.

Mental ModelsHave an accurate and common mental map of how the work gets done.

A Managed Level of ConflictTask conflicts are helpful; interpersonal conflictsare not.

Minimized Social LoafingTeam holds itself accountable both individually and as a team.

Team Process:

Common purpose of Unilever “Quality Circle” teams is improving quality and efficiency. They control productivity and determine the future operation to ensure the quality and quantity. All the teams are confident and believe they can succeed. They figure the right mental map about how the work gets done.In addition, all the teams of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. claim themselves as effective teams because they possess the right level of conflict and they all are accountable both individually and mutually for their doings.

7. Characteristics of an Effective

Team

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Conclusion

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Any Questions?

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