4.3 Assignment: Case Study 1 – Can This Virtual Team Work?
- Which of the eight characteristics (Table 14.1) of team excellence are lacking in this team?
Jim’s team lacks a collaborative climate, standards of excellence, results-driven structure, principled leadership, unified commitment, and an external support and recognition (Northouse, 2021). The team members seem to work against each other, an indication that it lacks a collaborative climate. As a virtual team in different parts of the world, they are not used to having collaboration due to different time zones and cultures. Regarding a results-driven structure, the team has no core norms to conduct discussions and tasks, thus, each person sends copies of all messages to everyone while others get behind due to travelling (Fehr, 2018). The team members have never worked together on any projects, showing a lack of unified commitment.
The team lacks standards of excellence since Jim has not set any clear expectations for their performance. It is difficult to gauge how well the team is performing. The team also lacks external support and recognition from Jim as their leader. Jim is under pressure to prove that the team can work and offer useful function to the company. He cannot identify the type of support and intervene to secure such support (Northouse, 2021). Jim has not provided the team with principled leadership, he does not provide any active support to the members to help them deal with problems. Communications are not clear and team members complain of work overload.
- Based on this analysis of team effectiveness, should Jim intervene at this time or should he just keep monitoring the team? If you think he should take action, at what level should he intervene (internal or external)? If internal, should his action be task or relational?
Jim should intervene at this time by taking both external and internal action and figuring out how to get the team to focus on the project to get it done. It is important to initiate and encourage his team to form a suitable working structures and norms to get a clear overview of path-goal and what they are supposed to do in collective work. A consensus of performance standard is needed amongst team members to motivate them to improve their performance. Geographic distance challenges present a problem to the team (Northouse, 2021). As such, Jim should initiate bonding and social interaction activities to spur effective communication amongst team members.
Using relational and task actions would help push teams to create concrete and clear norms, structures, and standards to improve interaction (Fehr, 2018). It would be prudent of Jim to find recognition and support from outsiders to the team. External backing would help decrease the amount of pressure the team members are complaining about and increase efficiency and contribution. Jim should also employ principled leadership, involving, affective, motivational, cognitive, and coordination to get his team to solve problems, improve their performance, and reduce stress and fatigue since the group is unproductive and shows early signs of conflict.
- What specific leadership functions/actions should Jim implement to improve the team? Why?
Jim needs to set clear goals, have a structure for results, maintain standards, train team members, and facilitate decision-making. Currently, Jim is dormant in leadership functions and actions as he is just waiting for the team members to figure everything out by themselves (Northouse, 2021). He should focus more on coaching interpersonal skills while working to motivate and satisfy the needs of the members. Information searches and structuring functions would help the team improve drastically. Jim should conduct surveys to get feedback for evaluation and to get an overview of the situation on the ground before he can change structures (Wheelan et al., 2020).
Jim should perform task and maintenance functions to improve internal relations and performance. Good relationships among team members would ensure effectiveness in working while maintaining a positive climate and good relations. It is also important to implement a balance strategy of both external and internal interventions to improve focus among team members.
References
Fehr, L. (2018). Relationships: The key to effective teams. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 49(11), 498-499.
Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). Sage Publications.
Wheelan, S. A., Åkerlund, M., & Jacobsson, C. (2020). Creating effective teams: A guide for members and leaders. Sage Publications.
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