Reference no: EM13276639

Shared Activity Unit 4: Team Development

In 1965, Bruce Tuckman proposed four stages of group development. After his research collaboration with Mary Ann Jensen, Tuckman and Jensen added a fifth stage. According to Tuckman and Jensen (2010), group leaders should be aware of the following stages in order to understand the common changes within the lifecycle of groups.

• Forming Stage - Members get to know each other, learn the tasks of the team and define group rules.
• Storming Stage - Members deal with tensions as they try to define the group tasks.
• Norming Stage - Members begin to work together as they strive to maintain a positive balance.
• Performing Stage - Members' relationships mature and they are now able to manage disagreements and complex tasks successfully. At this stage, the group is referred to as a well-functioning team.
• Adjourning Stage - Members complete the project and celebrate the accomplishment. (Tuckman and Jensen, 2010)

What skills would a manager need to be able lead a team from the forming stage, where team members are just getting to know each other, to the performing stage, where the team members operate as a well-functioning organised team? Within each stage, teams and their leaders will face different challenges and levels of effectiveness. Consider the characteristics that a team would need to possess to reach the performing stage successfully. In this Shared Activity, you will analyse the characteristics and processes of effective teams, as well as the issues related to team development and management.

References
Tuckman, B. W., & M. A. C. Jensen, (2010) 'Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited', Group Facilitation: A Research & Applications Journal, 10 pp. 43-48

To prepare for this Shared Activity:

• Review the Unit Introduction and the Learning Resources.
• Think about your current or most recent employer and a work process or decision-making responsibility around which a team might be formed. What would an ideal team consist of for this purpose?
• Think about ideal characteristics and processes that would make this team effective.
• Consider the issues that may arise during team development and management and the processes teams can use to address them.

To complete this Shared Activity:

• Post an entry from the perspective of an employee describing the ideal team for your current or most recent employer. Address the following points:
• Describe the work processes and responsibilities for which the team was formed.
• Critically discuss the characteristics that the ideal team would need to exhibit and the processes it would need to implement to be effective.
• Research and identify one issue often faced in team development and management within your organisation and provide one process that the ideal team could implement to address that issue.

• Respond to your peers' posts from the perspective of a manager and critique the characteristics and processes identified by your peer. Provide an additional process to address the issue presented in your peer's posts.
• Support your Shared Activity with current academic literature beyond your Learning Resources.

Participate in this Shared Activity only during the period of this unit to ensure that you and your colleagues can keep track of one another's postings and maintain a focused, collaborative discussion. Review the Syllabus and Shared Activities Rubric for information on how your contributions to the Shared Activities will be graded in this module. In each unit, you will receive feedback from your Faculty Member on your participation in the Shared Activities, focusing on your contributions to the learning community. In Unit 6, your Faculty Member will provide final feedback and a final grade on your Shared Activity contribution throughout the module.

Individual Assignment Unit 4: Managing Diverse Virtual Teams

As organisations merge and grow in a global environment, it is more likely that you will encounter a virtual team. The concept of virtual teams varies by organisations, and it can involve a variety of scenarios. All team members may work remotely; there may be several office locations and team members from each location; or it may be a mix of the two. Virtual teams allow organisations to provide longer business hours, reduced employee travel costs and flexible employee work schedules. Yet, performance issues may arise when working in virtual teams (Schermerhorn et al, 2012). Therefore, a manager may need additional strategies to help virtual teams address those issues.

During your consultancy for your scenario organisation, you are concerned with how the upcoming transition may impact employees. During and after the transition, many of the current and future employees may have to work remotely. Although a small percentage of the organisation (generally on the executive level) has participated in virtual teams, most of the employees are used to face-to-face teams. You suggest sending a newsletter to employees about virtual teams to help support a more successful transition. In this Individual Assignment, you will recommend strategies for managing diverse virtual teams.

References
Schermerhorn, Jr., J. R., R. N. Osborn, M. Uhl-Bien, & J. G. Hunt, (2012) Organisation Behavior, 12th edition, New York: John Wiley

To prepare for this Individual Assignment:

• Review the Unit Introduction and the Learning Resources.
• Support your Individual Assignment with current academic literature beyond your Learning Resources.
• Think about your scenario organisation and consider the unique needs of diverse virtual teams.
• Review relevant theories, concepts and research and think about strategies to manage diverse virtual teams effectively.

To complete this Individual Assignment:

• Create a newsletter for current and future employees of your scenario organisation.
•  The purpose of the newsletter would be to alert current and future employees of the upcoming transition, explain the upcoming need to work virtually for either a temporary or an extended period and provide strategies for working effectively in virtual teams.

• Provide two strategies to manage virtual teams effectively drawing from relevant theories, concepts and research in the Learning Resources and current literature. One of your strategies should include how managers in your scenario organisation will develop virtual teams comprised of employees from varying cultures.
• Please use your creativity while developing your Assignment. You may use the template provided for your Assignment, or you may create your own communications approach that addresses individual and team needs.
• Support your Individual Assignment with current academic literature beyond your Learning Resources.

Note:

Be sure to include references to all sources, including your Learning Resources, in Harvard format.

You should fully state and justify any assumptions that you choose to make in relation to your scenario organisation. Please recall any previous assumptions that you made about your organisation so that they will not conflict while preparing your Final Project. You will include information from this Individual Assignment within Section 2 of your HRM Consultancy Report. You will receive feedback on this work from your Faculty Member, and you will be expected to incorporate any suggestions into your Final Project.