Assignment:
Leading teams
Task 1
Instructions
Effective business leadership requires a mastery of group and team dynamics. In order to meet these needs, individuals must learn strategies for group communication, team building, and leadership to assist organizations in meeting goals. Organizational personnel must learn team strategies and appropriately apply them, as organizations increasingly operate with teams and work groups in both collocated and virtual settings.
In this task, you will write a paper that reviews key concepts related to team development, which will better prepare you for the teamwork required for task 2.
Requirements:
A. Write a paper (suggested length 5 pages) in which you analyze the factors that influence professional team dynamics and group development by doing the following:
1. Discuss at least three factors to consider when creating professional teams or work groups.
2. Discuss three practices that help build trust among team members.
3. Explain how team structure can impact team effectiveness.
4. Discuss at least two strategies for clarifying the purpose of a team.
5. Discuss how individuals in a team can use power or influence to achieve team objectives.
6. Discuss how the strengths of individual team members can be capitalized on to achieve team objectives.
7. Discuss three ways in which technology affects communication in virtual teams.
B. When you use sources, include all in-text citations and references in APA format.
Task 2
Assignment (8 PPT Slides)
This is the outline of the team scenario that happened with the HR department when they were essentially turned into a call center and listed below is the outline of issues. This is what need to be used in order to develop the power point slides. The listed bullet points below are the main points.
• Identification of five best practices of high performing teams
• Proposal of a solution to the teamwork problem
Slides must have speaker notes
Ask HR Solution Center Outline
1. November 2017
a. Some were told they would be moved
b. Positions offered & accepted
c. Compensation Consultant
2. December 2017
a. communications about solutions center
b. Management met with groups affected
c. Open-door policy
d. Asked for ideas to be submitted
3. January 2018
a. Building layout announced
b. Desks assigned
c. Final group meetings to discuss move
d. Positions that were offered to some, were given to others without notification (issues begin to arise)
e. Management encourages staff to apply for lead positions after they move to the solution center
f. Move takes place on Jan 28th
4. Feb 2018
a. Team of 11 introduced to each other
b. Team leads already selected, no interviews held, no opportunity given to others
c. Training begins
d. Initial team
i. Would be divided into subject matter expert groups
ii. Assigned tasks (licensure, employee health, data entry, etc)
e. 4 more team members added (current employees were told the 4 would be brought on just to answer phones)
5. March 2018
a. Phone/staff schedule released.
b. All staff on phones
i. 2 hours per day, then 4 hours per day, then 6 hours (schedule keeps changing)
ii. Team leads have zero scheduled phone time, they are also not responsible for additional work or tasks
c. Phones go live March 4th
i. Staff overwhelmed, high que volumes
ii. Leads constantly telling staff to take calls
iii. Leads are not helping take calls.
iv. Team begins to become discouraged
v. Promises were not kept
vi. Told we are slaves to our phones
vii. Some team members not taking calls during their scheduled phone time and others are forced to pick of slack
d. Team notified all of their personal stats would be posted for everyone to see. Stats include:
i. Length of calls
ii. Time off calls or in between calls
iii. Number of calls taken
iv. Number of breaks taken and length
e. Scheduled tightened even more, flexibility of start and end time lost.
Team members looking for other jobs, some verbally reprimanded for voicing concerns and complaints, morale dropping.
Task 3
Instructions
Write a paper (suggested length of 3- 5 pages) in which you reflect upon your experience with your virtual team by doing the following:
1. Explain what functions each individual performed in his or her team role.
a. Discuss how a strength of one team member affected the team. (The level of organization of this team member was excellent and allowed for the team to stay very organized and on time with each and every task)
b. Discuss how a weakness of one team member affected the team. (not really any weaknesses, so if I had to say anything it was that our strengths outweighed any weakness we might have had.)
i. Discuss how to mitigate the weakness of that team member. (we did not have to mitigate any weaknesses)
2. Evaluate the team's communication practices.
a. Describe how the team solicited individual feedback and communicated among team members. (we used email, texts and conference calls to communicate. Feedback was given openly between the group)
3. Evaluate how the team built collaboration. ( all coloboration was done during our conference calls twice a week and through group texts messages when urgent issues were needed to be addressed.)
4. Evaluate how the team managed or planned to manage conflicts. (if conflict arose we discussed this on the conference calls)
5. Explain the team's decision-making process. (we bring up the topic, issues or task and discussed it collectively with the group and made a consensus decision)
6. Discuss the various stages of team development as it relates to what your team experienced. (our team worked so well together the stages were very short. We brought up the task and completed it quickly and without conflict)
7. Explain how team members used power bases and influence to achieve team objectives.
8. Discuss at least two strengths and at least two weaknesses of your team as a whole.
a. Recommend at least two ways the team could have improved its overall performance.
i. Justify your recommendation of the two ways the team could have improved its overall performance.
D. When you use sources, include all in-text citations and references in APA format.