Business Studies

Write a paper (1,500-1,750 words) in which you address the following based on the information provided in the “West Coast Transit Case Study” resource.

Define the three criteria for evaluating effective team/group work (as stated in the textbook) and analyze whether the “team” assembled by Bernie Hollis and Pete Denson is effective or not.
Provide a review of each of Tuckman’s five stages of group formation and identify what stage(s) are evident in the case. Explain your answer.
Define Schein’s three behavioral profiles roles during team entry and identify how the profiles are demonstrated in the case. Explain your answer.
Was the communication among the participants in the case effective or not? Justify your answer (this is not just an opinion).
The textbook describes two main types of conflict. Define them and then describe the type (s) of conflict that are evident in the case
Propose how Denson should manage the conflict in this case using one direct conflict management and one indirect conflict management approach? Explain your response.
Identify one specific task leadership activity and one specific maintenance activity that should be encouraged. Identify the most significant disruptive behavior that should be discouraged.
Identify the most obvious individual motivational problems experienced by Jing, Mahonney and Tanney. How should Denson motivate each person (be sure to provide a specific motivational suggestion for each person based on their motivational needs. Ensure that you have at least one suggestion from each of the motivational theory/techniques: content theories, process theories and reinforcement strategies).
Use at least two academic resources as references for this assignment.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

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ANSWER

To most if not all organisations teamwork is vital and determines the difference between successful and unsuccessful projects. However, teamwork requires some special features and skill to be able to achieve these goals. To evaluate whether the team at West Coast Transit is effective, an analysis must be made as to whether it meets its goal and number targets. The three criteria is a system used to assess team effectiveness. The first test involves the product where an analysis is made about the product in question. On this objective, a team must be able to meet the standards set at the beginning of the project. However, most managers evaluate performance on the product criterion alone which does not always reflect the real picture, especially in the long run. The second test involves the services where all activities need analysis to ensure that the process used was proper and involved the entire team. For instance, the work could be done but by only one person in a team of five people. Such a team cannot be considered effective. Similarly, beyond working together, the team must be constantly improving over time in the way it works. It is expected that a team learns from experience and mistake to operate better in the future. Lastly, the decisions made by the team must jointly contribute towards each other and towards the achievement of the major goals. If one team member decision does not consider the others, then that is not an effective team. This was the major problem that made the West Coast Transit team dysfunctional where the ream was stressed, bored, exhausted and frustrated.

In 1965, Tuckman came up with five stages of group formation where he proved that a team is never fully developed but had to constantly evolve in the course of time, learning and adapting to be able to perform operations effectively. The proposed five stages are formation, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. During formation, the team meets for the very first time and the tasks of the team discussed in detail where the challenges at hand are also discussed with possible direction for mitigation. The team comes up with both the general objectives and specific objectives detailing the purpose of the team. The team leader is also expected to come up with a code of conduct while orienting the other team members to the assignment. During storming, the team interacts enabling them to listen to each other’s ideas and opinions towards the achievement of the team’s goals. During this stage, a conflict could arise between members as expected that different members will have different ways to approach different situations. In the third stage, norming, the conflict that came up during storming are addressed and the resolution. Cooperation is improved between members and metrics of conflict resolution outlined for the future towards the building of an enabling environment to all the team members. Beyond this stage, work is expected to flow smoothly. Preforming is the fourth stage which basically involves achieving the objectives of the team with the expectations clearly outlined to everyone as well as individual tasks and able to operate without any supervision. Lastly, adjourning means concluding the project and closing the group. In the West Coast Transit case, the formation is observed but during the second stage of storming, the processes are unceremoniously halted by conflict.

Schein came up with three behavioural profiles on organisational culture. The first behavioural profile is role-based and at the entry stage designed for all members of a team. In this profile, language, technology and many other factors are set up where an assessment can be made on the team’s willingness to cooperate to their leader’s guidance. The second behavioural profile involves the values where Schein supposed that they accord the group members “with a higher level of consciousness” (Schein 2010). Thirdly, opinions are shared where the team leader ensures that each opinion is reflected upon towards reaching an agreement on the best alternative. These values will be used during the entire lifetime of a product to evaluate situations on whether or not they are desirable. Owing to the fact that the West Coast Transit team is dysfunctional, all of these objectives are not met.

Communication by the West Coast Transit team was not effective on the formation meeting. The first indicator is that the participants barely give each other room to express themselves and even if they do, they are barely listening before speaking. The case illustrated Mahoney and Tanney interject each other a clear indication of poor communication. The process of communication required allowing a team member to speak fully before offering questions, objections or clarification. Denson is not clear in his address as well which leaves more questions to the team. It is his lack of clarity that leaves the team wondering how exactly they would accomplish the tasks without the time or resources required. It is also lack of clarity that makes Tanney refer to the address as condescending. He refuses to open a platform for members to voice their concerns and feedback. Before the project even begins, there is too much working against it as demonstrated by Tanney’s personal difficulty that could mean that even the process of communication is compromised from the beginning.

It is common for every team to go through conflict. In most instance, the resolution of a conflict means that the team gets even closer and cooperative to each other which is instrumental in the achievement of the objectives. The two types of conflicts are functional and dysfunctional conflicts. Functional conflicts are healthy because the discussions arising from the conflict enable deeper discussion and further analysis of alternatives. In this way, “creative thinking is promoted since ideas are shared amongst those present and key in improving the decision is making process” (Bobot 2011). On the other hand, dysfunctional conflicts do not contribute to the team’s positive performance. These types of conflicts could get personal and even break the team apart permanently. In the case, there are both types of conflicts where in one case the discussion is how to achieve the goals while on the other case, an attack on a team member’s personal life makes her non-cooperative until an apology is issued.

Densen with regards to solving the conflict has to apply both direct and indirect management approach. In the direct approach, he could compromise towards solving the conflict dysfunctional team. He could also promote concessions to appease the angry parties. In the indirect approach, avoidance is also a viable option where he could demand that personal issues are not brought up in official meetings.

Managers are best placed in a team to facilitate and intervene in the different activities that are involved in a project. Therefore, it is paramount that managers use the tools at their disposal to diagnose issues and come up with solutions. This means the one task of leadership is to facilitate for the team and one maintenance activity is to have an overview or progress to intervene in areas that do not work and offer recommendations accordingly. The most significant disruptive behaviour for a leader is micromanaging. As much as intervening is vital, the real goal should be autonomy where a leader has to give all the power to the team members to operate and achieve their goals by themselves.

Jing, Mahoney and Tanney demonstrate a lack of purpose in achieving the company’s objectives. It is obvious they do not feel like the achievement of these tasks feel as if they contribute to them as individuals which is the reason they are pessimistic from the start. The underlying issue, however, is that they are overworked, stressed and pressure which has, in turn, evolved to a complete lack of motivation. With their attitudes, the project is doomed to fail and no progress will be achieved because they are all managers expected to spearhead the project to their individual teams. To improve motivation, Densen should not simply transfer the weight without a plan. He should offer a plan on how these goals can be met while at the same time offering options and recommendations where opinions are raised. Secondly, he needs to act on this as a sales pitch where he sells the idea rather than lays it out without a plan. Selling it means getting the already pressured teams some incentive to work overtime, something he can negotiate with his superiors. The entire objective of the project is that goals are met and therefore resources should be readily available. Using Hertzberg’s two-factor theory, Densen can reach out to Jing because she seems delighted with the project more than the rest (McGrath & Bates, 2017). She can be requested to offer some suggestions and even tasked with managing and delegating the work. Using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Tanney evidently has more pertinent needs in her personal life and this project may not be the best tome for her. As a leader, Densen has to care about the needs of his team. In this instance, offering Tanney a few days off to solve her more pressing matters would have her back and more motivated rather than just pushing more activities in her already stretched schedule. Motivating a team also includes knowing when time is needed to solve problems. Lastly, using the expectancy theory for Mahoney, the project can be delivered to him in small achievable goals rather than the large unachievable ones previously offered by Densen. Small achievements generally contribute to the large success of an entire project which is what Mahoney requires since he feels that the time is too little and the work is too much and the team is already too pressured.

References

Bobot, L. (2011). Functional and dysfunctional conflicts in retailer‐supplier relationships. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.

McGrath, J., & Bates, B. (2017). The Little Book of Big Management Theories: and how to use them. Pearson UK.

Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.