discussion assignment 75
Please number your responses to correspond with the questions below. Thank you.
1. Exhibit 14.1 has five elements required for excellent teamwork. Reflect back on your work in teams, whether it was at NAU or in sports or in church, it could be anywhere. Have you ever worked in a team situation where any of five or possibly more than one of the five elements were present? If so, describe what the working experience was like. How did the presences of the element improve the performance of the team?
2. Read Section 14.2 The Personal Dilemma of Teamwork and Section 14.4 Virtual Teams. After reading both sections, describe how the dilemma of teamwork vs. individual work can be intensified in a virtual team. Draw on and use examples from both sections.
3. Read Section 14.5b Diversity. Research on team interactions indicates that when people eat lunch at 12-person tables, they are more productive and collaborative than when they eat at 4-person tables, even if they aren’t eating with their own team members. Thinking about what you learned in this chapter and section 14.5b, what do you think would explain this finding?
4. Exhibit 14.4 Five Common Dysfunctions of Teams includes the dysfunction as well as the respective effective team characteristic. Provide an example of a situation you have been in where you have seen the dysfunctional team characteristic and how it impacted the team’s productivity.
5. In Section 14.5c Member Roles, the authors state “For a team to be successful over the long run, it must be structured in a way that both maintains its members’ social well-being and accomplishes its task.†To accomplish this, there are two types of roles that must exist on the team. These roles are the task specialist role and the socioemotional role. Briefly (this can be three-four sentences) describe which role best fits your managerial style and explain why in detail. Jot this down as we will come back to it in Individual Behavior and Leadership. Take the New Manager Self-Test What Team Role Do You Play in the the section to get a feel.
6. Section 14.7d Styles of Handling Conflict discusses ways to manage conflict either on an individual or group basis. Please read the section and answer the following questions:
a. When working in teams in FCB classes, it can be common to resort to the avoiding style when a team member completely disengages. While this may work well for the situation (it is one semester and we don’t have time to deal with the situation) it is not taking advantage of learning how to manage conflict in a non-work environment. What style might you use when a team member has disengaged and why? Think about what we learned about personalities just last week and incorporate that into your analysis.
b. Here is a scenario: The team has met several times and it seems that no one wants to be the leader. You like that type of role but right now is a tough time. You are taking 18 credits because you want to get out of this place, and you are working 30 hours a week because you booted that nutty roommate that didn’t smell so fresh and never did their dishes. You don’t want another roommate because you need peace and quiet to study. What conflict management style would you use now with your team because that jumbo project must get done?