Monitoring progress and performance Monitoring the progress and the performance of a team is very important. As a team may be off track and heading for the wrong direction, a team under close monitoring would make sure this is not happening, It’s the supervisor’s responsibility to monitor and assur  that the team’s performance is up to the best standards. Supervisors tend on passing on that responsibility to Team leaders as they are constantly working with the team members.

Team leaders monitor the progress and performance by using appraisals. This helps to identify each member of the team’s progress. Another way a team is monitored is by using Gantt charts. Team leaders and supervisors can look back to a Gantt chart to make sure they are on track and not falling behind as well as making sure all the tasks are complete. Without the constant monitoring of a team, it is very unlikely that a team would be successful at achieving their objectives and can very quickly head off rails.

Organizational structure and functions The way organisational are organised creates an organisational structure; the type of structure depends a lot on the individual team. Companies that tend to have flat structures are generally quite small. They operate informally, in that everyone will know everyone else and there will be few formal procedures the staff will have to follow. When companies are relatively large they need to have a more complex structure than that of a flat structure; hierarchical organisations or pyramid structures are often what flat structure grow into being. They are taller than flat structures, with the senior employees at the top, and the lowest level of employee at the bottom, it is often that there are more employees at the bottom than at the top, hence the name ‘pyramid structure’.

The final type of structure is the matrix structure; they are neither flat, nor hierarchical. They are generally found in ‘one off’ projects, such as building a bridge or constructing a motorway. A matrix structure allows the project managers to have direct contact and support from the main functions of the business, such as finance, production and human resources. The project teams will work on the project until completion, when the team will be disbanded and a new team will form to work on the next project.

Supervisors and managers A supervisors and a team leader is a strong pillar in to the success of a team. Without them would be like playing football with no ball, “it just wouldn’t work”. They need to be role models of good working practice and show commitment and enthusiasm towards team objectives.
The business being used for this section is Thomas Cook air travel service.

Thomas Cook Group plc is a leading international leisure travel group, created by the merger of My Travel Group plc and Thomas Cook AG in June 2007. It is a successful enterprise with a portfolio of market leading travel brands across Europe and North America. The companies business aims and objectives are stated within its mission statement. All businesses have aims and objectives these are its purpose this tells us why the business exists and what it wants to achieve, these will change over time as some will be achieved and others will not, this is how a business develops.

Aim-A goal a business wants to achieve in the future for example increase market share and to become the world leaders. Objectives-steps the business needs to achieve in order to meet its stated aims for example make a profit this will help the business to develop and expand which could lead to them increasing their overall market share then gradually becoming the world leaders. These can also be found in the businesses mission statement that describes the businesses goals in a shorter and simpler way, so other people can understand them like the public.

Thomas Cook PLC Mission Statement The strategy of Thomas Cook Group plc is to continue to deliver benefits from existing cost saving and margin improvement plans already adopted by MyTravel and Thomas Cook; to grow revenues in existing and new market segments; and to deliver efficiencies from being part of a larger group. Thomas Cook has a range of air travel teams to help them operate effectively. They help provide a pleasant, safe travel service to its customers. The teams consist of small groups with a number of individuals, put together to deliver and carry out different roles. There are two types of teams: Formal teams, these are created for a specific purpose. For example a marketing team is put together to research and obtain specific information for a business e.g. competitive behaviour. They will have set goals with a specific purpose to achieve.

Informal teams, these are less structured and are developed instead of made for a specific purpose. For example, a group of friends decide to do something together, so they are known as a group as they are sharing the workload etc. The teams within the Thomas Cook air travel service include the following: ground floor staff, cabin crew, pilot and other flight crew (stewards). The role of the ground floor staff is to greet passengers once they are landing at the destination; they are there to guide passengers to and from the aeroplane in a safe and orderly manor and to help where needed. In addition, they provide information such as travel, exchange rates, currency etc and other relevant information they may be required to know.

They help Thomas Cook achieve its strategic aims and objectives by providing excellent customer service as they are constantly dealing with the businesses customers and their issues and problems. In addition if customers find their staff approachable and useful then they will want to use their air line service again as they had a good experience with their staff, this would also help the business gain a good and positive reputation as customers will share their experiences with family or friends etc. There is a lot of inter-dependency within this team as they all have mutual responsibilities and share a common set of principles with other.