N221 Business Management - Hypothetical Assessment Answers

Scenario You have been given the position of Manager of a new team. The new team has been created from two (2) companies merging and becoming one. The team is in the forming stage of Team Development and consists of cross-generational members and employees who have lost colleagues to redundancies. It is your responsibility as the new Manager to identify strategies to manage team performance and move the team towards the conforming stage of team development, and ultimately into the Performing stage. You have done your research and devised this Individual Project Report to provide to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). 

Part A must include an introduction and is required to address the following criteria: 

• Summarise the hypothetical situation that is occurring within the new team.
• Assess the type of conflict that is occurring between team members.
• Analyse the relationship and attitudes between team members, relating them to the conflict roles they are adopting and their individual responses to that conflict. 

Answer:

Introduction

The new team is currently challenged with Poor coordination and communication at various levels, conflict and poor relationships. Lack of proper coordination has hindered the implementation of various goals and objectives that team members are supposed to achieve within the stipulated period (Gratton 2015). The current breakdown in communication and coordination, poor relationships and conflicts have mainly emanated from lack of clear and defined roles, grape vine, missed deadlines and finger pointing among the team members (Wheelan 2010).

Hypothetical situation occurring in the new team

The situation at hand is poor communication and coordination. There is a belief by specific employees that they are more acquitted with what is required of them by the organization compared to the others. The above thinking is common to old employees, therefore they are reluctant to effectively coordinate or take instruction from the new or young employees. This has created a situation of disrespect which has resulted into anarchy within the team members (Gratton 2015). The anarchy is too strong to the extent that the overall productivity of teams in the organization has already been affected. There is evidence of    reduced employee morale, arguments and missed deadlines (Riley 2012). It is important to note that good and strategic coordination entails team engagement and clear role definition to avoid role ambiguity. Most importantly is that the lack of clear role definition has resulted into the Misinterpretation of each other actions which have led to confusion. The team leaders have not effectively defined the responsibilities and roles of various individuals which have resulted into serious coordination and communication challenges especially during the performance of similar tasks (Gratton 2015).

Further, it is also clear the project team has not been provided SMART goals that are supposed to effectively guide them in their day to day activity which has also affected coordination and communication at various levels (Gratton 2015). Further, there exist cases of differences in expectations of the overall activities, costs and what is to be delivered among the team members. This is due to poor listening among specific employees especially the older employees (Gratton 2015). They do posses an element of rigidity and conservatism which is being perpetuated by the old employees within the organization. It is imperative to note that the attitude of the older employees has also been increased by organizational politics where there is a feeling that specific sections of employees should dominate particular positions thus escalating the overall coordination challenges in the organization. There are also cases of where team members get surprised of some of the activities to be undertaken (Riley 2012). The team members are not well and thoroughly about the overall plans and the likey changes being undertaken during the various phrase such formulation, implementation and evaluation of the organizational activities. Team members are not effectively being updates on the overall organizational activities. Therefore such challenges have created confusion and anger within the team. Moreover, the teams are not effectively acquitted with the various organizational expectations. Members are not being explained properly of what is supposed to be done, how and when (Haudan 2014)

Analysis of the kind of conflicting occurring within the new team members

The kind of conflict that is evident among team members due to such confusion is mistrust or uneven communication. Teams do not effectively and honestly discuss with each other about the overall progress of the organizational activities. Further, there are high levels of grapevine which are being registered at all levels of teams (Hoang 2011). Therefore such inconsistencies have negatively affected the overall Trust that members have about each other. It is surprising to note that members working on the same project cannot effectively interact and coordinate with each other to effectively undertake the various tasks (Hoang 2011). The above confusion has crippled the overall capacity of team members while implementing their responsibilities at various levels. There cases where specific members dominate particular activities without informing the others. The upper team members lack clear transparency and accountability while undertaking different strategies and tactics. The lack of transparency is normally evident during the formulation of various programs and activities. It is critically important for all team members to be effectively engaged in each and every undertaking for purposes of creating a sense of belongingness and responsibility to the various tasks which have been set forward to be achieved by the team members (Plotczyk and Murphy 2014).

Relationship and attitude between the new team members

The overall attitudes of particular team members are still questionable as they still pose a given sense of entitlement and enjoyment of particular benefits when compared to the others. There is a believe by some team members that they know very well the organization and what is needed to advance it to the next level (Eikenberry 2011). The above thinking has gone on long heads from other team members who believe that they have proper strategies and tactics which can spur up the organization to achieve its overall objectives (Eikenberry 2011). Therefore the above conflicting thinking has harmed the overall level of harmony and coordination among team members which in one way or the other has threatened the overall capacity of the organization to attain its objectives. Some team members need to be effectively rewarded citing loyalty, experience when compared to the others (Eikenberry 2011). There is a sense of disrespect by some team member who are reluctant to effectively respect the new line of command and authority (DeChurch and  Mesmer-Magnus 2010). Some say that some members who are part of the new team do not possess the necessary capabilities and experience to undertake specific tasks. Therefore there is a belief that some of the former team members who were demoted or laid off during the merging process to be reinstated into their positions if the strategic goals and objectives of the organization are to be achieved in the shortest time possible. It is also evident that some team members are getting longer than expected to be well acquitted with the way how the various systems operate which has affected productivity within the team (DeChurch and  Mesmer-Magnus 2010).

References

DeChurch, L.A.; Mesmer-Magnus, J.R. 2010. "The cognitive underpinnings of effective teamwork: a meta-analysis". Journal of Applied Psychology. 95 (1): 32–53. doi:10.1037/a0017328. PMID 20085405.

Eikenberry, K. 2011. Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 147–148. ISBN 9781118047552.

Gratton, L.2015. The Key: How Corporations Succeed by Solving the World's Toughest Problems (in Dutch). HarperCollins Publishers India. pp. 40–41. ISBN 9789351770220.

Haudan, J. 2014. Peer Accountability - A Powerful Performance Driver.[Online]. []. Available from: https://watercoolernewsletter.com/peer-accountability-a-powerful-performance-driver/#.VEAv0OfzQfF

Hoang, P. 2011. International Baccalaureate Business and Management. Edition 2.IBID Press.

Plotczyk, P.; Murphy, S.2014.  Command and Control is OUT! Create and Engage is IN! [Online].  Available from:https://www.wsa-intl.com/278-this-month-s-articles/command--control-is-out-engage-create-is-in/

Riley, J. 2012. Motivation Theory - Taylor.[Online]. [Accessed 15 October 2014]. Available from:https://www.tutor2u.net/business/people/motivation_theory_taylor.asp

Wheelan, S. 2010. Creating Effective Teams: a team for 5 to 6 naks