Working in Teams: Cross- Functional Dysfunction Essay Example

arrogant in his answers as well as clearly frustrated.

In this team scenario, he is a team member but also a leader, therefore, he needs to help guide the team to ensure successful completion of the project. He would have been a better team member and leader if he had provided more guidance in his initial email to the team. He should have given more background on why the company wants to invest the time to this issue, why this particular group was chosen, what they should accomplish in the first meeting and then he could have provided the agenda.

In addition, it would have been an added benefit if he had let the team discuss and agree on the core task that needed to be accomplished. If he had done this, he would have created more investment by the team members in accomplishing the project. By the end of the meeting, Joe had divided the task up between the team members, but there was no cohesion and trust in the group; therefore no development of the team. Team cohesion is associated with team development because; team members develop a team identity as part of the team development process. Steps that Joe should take moving forward

Joe needs to start from the beginning. While he is eager to move things along quickly and make quick impact and progress, he will not be able to move forward at all, if he does not have an effective team in place. “A team is effective when it benefits the organization, its members, and its own survival. ” There is a well-known process for team development;

forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. This model “shows teams moving systematically from one stage to the next. ” Joe jumped straight to norming and performing before he gave the team a chance to form and storm.

Forming is the first stage of team development and it is a period of testing and orientation where team members learn about each other. In the norming stage, “the team develops its first real sense of cohesion as roles are established and a consensus forms around group objectives and a common or complementary team-based mental model. ” If following this model, the team would have been able to establish roles during the norming stage; however, the team did not go through these two stages to build the foundation.

The only true role that had been established on the team was Joe’s role of initiator. The initiator role “identifies goals for the meeting, including way to work on those goals. ” The other three team members did not have specific roles that were defined or discussed. It would behoove Joe to start from the beginning; bring the team together, discuss the objectives of the team, establish roles and responsibilities and agree on how to approach the project collectively. Joe has his work cut out for him in order to get his team in line, productive and moving forward in a collective manner.

As suggested, it is my opinion that he needs to take a step back and truly form the team creating a foundation to build from. The team needs to work together to establish roles and responsibilities as well as to agree on the project

objectives and deliverables. If Joe moves forward in this manner, the team would have more sense of ownership and be able to hold each other accountable. Research shows that team collaboration improves when the roles of individual team members are clearly defined and well understood- when individuals feel they can do a significant portion of their work independently.