Team management in the 21st century: A human relations theory angle

Abstract

Team management is a system of managing performance through the total   involvement of every employee working toward aligned, measurable and  performance  goals. It involves working together with a group of people to attain a certain goal. Team management like every other sphere of life or organization has been affected by the 21st century dispensation. Its impact on teamwork and team management is positive and also negative just like its impact on the organization or society at large. The 21st century is characterized by the advent of technology.  Today teamwork and even its management has gone virtual because of the advent of technology. Virtual  team management is the ability to organise, and coordinate with effectiveness a group whose members are not in the same location or time zone, and may not even work for the same organization. An important aspect of successfully managing a team is about understanding human relation, that is, the manager understanding the team members on an individual basis and also the team members understanding each other. Also the paper reveals that virtual team management has helped increase the number of experts in team membership and it has also helped disprove the statement that teamwork is localised. Although, it is inevitable that the virtual teamwork will not bring its challenges, but the researcher also gave  recommendations that can help team managers. The problem ranges from  membership isolation to lack of communication and poor network, among others.

Keywords: Teamwork, Team Management, Virtual Team Management, Human  Relation theory