Power of Team Work

1

Team Planning Worksheet

Name

Paget Reid

Part 1: Selection of Team Members

Part 2: Selected Team Member Profiles

Name Current

Department

Reasons for Including the

Functional Area in the

Organizational Team

Role of the Individual in the

Team

Valerie

Smalls

Marketing and

sales, VP of

marketing

Marketing helps the company

understand consumer requirements

and behavior. This information is utilized by the marketing team to

generate sales and improve

customer satisfaction. An executive from marketing is adept at

gathering and analyzing data about

customer requirements and can

help identify the opportunities for improvement in a company. They

can also engage and communicate

with a customer and help build lasting relationships.

Valerie is known to be a

good communicator with an

ability to adapt to changing situations. She will be

responsible for handling

customer communications and will work with customers

to identify alternate means of

solving the problem and

ensure high customer satisfaction.

Benny

Jackson

Information

technology, internal

auditor

As an internal auditor from the

information technology

department, the executive is adept at analyzing large amounts of data

and can provide accurate and

efficient insights that can affect the future of the company. They can

use technology to provide supply

chain managers visibility on production delays, asset

management, and transportation.

Benny is known to be highly

analytical and good at

questioning assumptions. His role in the team will be to

analyze and identify problem

areas in different parts of the company that can be

mitigated with the use of

technology.

2

Name Current

Department

Reasons for Including the

Functional Area in the

Organizational Team

Role of the Individual in the

Team

Gina

Reynolds

Legal and

government affairs,

legal aid manager

Executives from the legal and

government affairs department are

experts in business laws and manage legal issues for the

company. They can provide

accurate legal counsel to executives

from various departments, which could help the company prevent

legal issues. They can also help the

company set up internal governance policies and monitor

compliance with these policies.

Gina is known to be an

inspirational leader. She will

analyze the legal implications of any suggested process

changes to solve existing

problems. She will ensure

process adherence and worker safety. She will also

be involved in building and

maintaining trusting relationships with regulatory

government bodies, which

could benefit the company in

the future.

Jay Colby Operations,

logistics analyst

Executives in logistics can

coordinate with carriers and

facilitate tracking, expediting the delivery, final mile delivery, and

storage of products. They will be

involved directly in implementing

the proposed solution to mitigate the problem.

Jay is known for his ability to

identify problems and see the

big picture. His expertise in logistics and supply chain

management will enable him

to identify core problems and

provide expert solutions. He will oversee the

implementation of the

proposed solutions in the supply chain management

system.

Part 3: The Communication Plan

The success or failure of a project largely depends on the exchange of information between key

stakeholders and team members. Having a culture of open communication enables employees to contribute and engage better, which promotes employee performance, retention, and work satisfaction

(de Vries et al., 2020). A communication strategy can help team members align their activities with the

project goals, ensure structure to the interactions, make sure the right information reaches the right people at the right time, and avoid workflows that are redundant or detrimental to the success of the

project (Williams, n.d.).

The following strategies will be implemented to ensure that communication within the team is

effective and efficient.

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 Set up open lines of communication within and outside the team. Ensure employees can

provide feedback to the management without fearing backlash. This could help employees feel

heard and understood.

 Use tools such as shared team calendars to identify and set up regular times for connecting,

either at the beginning or at the end of the workday. Discuss the goals for each day and identify

the best methods to achieve these goals.

 Use email or other channels such as instant messaging and call applications such as Teams and

Skype for Business to help the team stay connected.

 Use plain language and avoid the use of jargon in emails and other forms of communication to

ensure smoother cross-functional communication.

 Each team member should be briefed clearly about their role within the project to ensure the

smooth functioning of the project.

 Ensure timely and accurate sharing of information with key stakeholders.

 Share relevant information about actions taken and data about expected versus actual measures

that help stakeholders understand the team’s progress toward key project objectives (Richards,

n.d.).

Part 4: Solving the Business Problem and Delegating Tasks

Business Problem The logistics function (warehousing, trucking, and inventory) is having a problem with channels of

distribution. Some customers have recently complained that their orders are delayed 2–3 weeks, while

others have praised the company for delivering the orders in advance. It will require a cross-functional team to study and problem-solve the situation.

4

Step Action Team

Members

List Business Skills

From Their Function

Describe Effective Team

Characteristics and Explain How

Those Characteristics Would Support

a Team Effort

1 Identify

and define

the problem,

and

understand the root

cause of the

delivery problem.

Jay Colby Jay:

 extensive

knowledge of

operations

 understanding of

delivery schedule

problems

 coordination skills

to help coordinate

with logistic

carriers about

tracking,

expediting

deliveries, and

product storage

Jay can spot problem areas in logistical

plans and identify the root cause of the

issue. He is also known to see the big picture, which will enable him to think

of not only the impact on customers but

also factors such as advantages to competitors, technological disruptions,

and social trends that could impact the

company.

2 Develop

solutions to mitigate the

problem.

Benny

Jackson Benny

 expertise in

technology

 ability to utilize or

develop tools to

provide real-time

operational data

Benny can use his analytical skills and

technological expertise to provide managers in the logistics division real-

time data on procurement, planning,

inventory, and manufacturing. With this

information, managers in various stages of the supply chain can plan, adjust, and

manage processes to achieve the desired

results.

3 Handle

problems

that arise in

other areas of the

company.

Gina

Reynolds Gina

 leadership skills

 extensive

knowledge of legal

and policy

implications

 ability to

efficiently manage

enquiries from the

media and public

 ability to plan

targeted press

releases and

publicity

campaigns

Gina will use her leadership and

relationship-building skills to develop a

rapport with the media to ensure

complaints against the company are handled with the utmost care. She will

analyze the media coverage of the

problem, if any, and will be responsible for building media campaigns that help

take the focus off the logistics issue and

focus more on the product and its qualities. She will also be responsible

for ensuring the compliance of the

newly proposed solutions with internal

policies as well as state laws and regulations.

5

Step Action Team

Members

List Business Skills

From Their Function

Describe Effective Team

Characteristics and Explain How

Those Characteristics Would Support

a Team Effort

4 Handle

client

communica tion.

Valerie

Smalls Valerie

 deep

understanding of

customer

expectations

 excellent customer

communication

skills

Valerie will use her extensive

knowledge of client communications to

set up a service desk team to handle customer grievances in a manner that

ensures maximum customer satisfaction.

She will be involved in directly engaging with the customers and

addressing their complaints and will

provide them with reasonable responses.

Part 5: Conflict Resolution

Organizations view employees as the key stakeholders required to achieve organizational goals

and consider them a source of competitive advantage. Only highly motivated and satisfied employees can lead the organization toward its objectives. Job satisfaction usually results from work experience

and could decrease because of conflicts in the team (Petković & Rapajić, 2021). Conflicts in

organizations are unavoidable and are a time-consuming and expensive affair. When conflicts with team members are left unresolved, they can fester and cause resentment toward the organization, which

eventually leads to a decrease in productivity and team morale (“Team Conflict Management Examples

and Tips for the Workplace,” 2021).

Conflict is both healthy and normal. Creating an environment where conflict is handled in a healthy manner and where team members feel safe to disagree with one another helps spark future

success. A common source of conflict seen in teams with people from different functional backgrounds

is differing opinions on how to approach and solve a problem. The interests, needs, and agendas of

employees may also differ. The following strategies can be adopted to decrease and resolve conflicts

within the team:

 promoting a healthy work culture within the team. This involves equal and fair treatment of all

team members, irrespective of their designation and work experience; equal recognition and

praise; and a culture of honesty and openness in the team.

 dealing with conflicts as and when they arise. Acting promptly prevents escalation of the issue

within the team.

 ensuring team members are aware of behavioral expectations such as respecting one another’s

point of view and not interrupting while another person speaks. They will be trained to look at

issues from an objective perspective.

 using an impartial third-party mediator to resolve conflicts when they cannot be resolved

within a team.

 encouraging joint sessions that help communicate team members’ grievances about the

working of the team.

 arriving at mutually accepted resolutions to conflicts and ensuring that they do not have

negative consequences for the team or the organization.

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Part 6: Conclusion

To function effectively, a team should maximize its ability to collaborate and cooperate. Team

members must value and respect one another and trust their commitment toward the company and its

goals. Here, the members selected for the team are leaders in their respective functional areas. Each

team member has extensive knowledge and experience that enables them to collaborate to solve the

problem of late deliveries.

A major factor that contributes to the success of the team is shared goals and vision. The roles

and responsibilities of each team member are well defined. This provides clarity to each team member

and reduces conflict and confusion. Each team member specializes in a specific functional area and

uses their expertise in that area to solve problems. The conflicting priorities of techniques and methods

are therefore reduced. The team prioritizes and collectively focuses on working toward the big picture

such as improved customer satisfaction and sales, which in turn improves team morale and fosters

productivity. Additionally, the communication plan and the conflict resolution strategies will enable the

team to successfully analyze and solve issues within the organization (Duggan, n.d.).

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References

de Vries, M., Rowson, B., & Vasse, X. (2020). The impact of internal communication on

customers’ perception of revenue strategies. Research in Hospitality Management, 10(2),

69–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/22243534.2020.1869458

Duggan, T. (n.d.). Critical success factors in team-based organizations. Houston Chronicle.

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/critical-success-factors-teambased-organizations-

52274.html

Petković, N., & Rapajić, M. (2021). Employees’ satisfaction with communication in the

organization. Ekonomika, 67(3), 39–61. https://doi.org/10.5937/ekonomika2103039p

Richards, L. (n.d.). Business communication strategy examples. Houston Chronicle.

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/business-communication-strategy-examples-4754.html

Team conflict management examples and tips for the workplace. (2021, April 14). Employment

Hero. https://employmenthero.com/blog/team-conflict-management/

Williams, J. T. (n.d.). Team communication strategy. Houston Chronicle.

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/team-communication-strategy-3076.html