Business Management – Top Manager Skills Memo – Due Fri 12/3

Running head: GUIDED IMAGERY AND PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION

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Week 2 Brainstorming Discussion

Kyami Clarke

University of Maryland Global Campus

BMGT 485 7381 Leadership for the 21st Century

Professor Elizabeth Ball

November 5, 2021

From: Kyami Clarke

To: Dwight Rickenbacker

CC: Ike Omar

Date: October 27, 2021

Subject: Ways to Sort Out the Challenges within the Team

Dear Mr. Rickenbacker,

I have assessed the challenges in the department and made the following observations. The team recognizes and acknowledges that Josh has excellent ideas and is good at implementing methods. The team cannot do without him; however, Josh appears to be more idealistic and has challenges in executing the ideas. He is also a poor communicator and does not provide enough details for proper work execution. He is poor in planning and forgets that he has already allocated work and allocates it again, leading to confusion, duplication of efforts, and time wastage.

Suggestions to Solve the Problems

Brainstorming Sessions: I suggest that the team have regular robust brainstorming sessions where Josh discusses the ideas with the team members and gets the chance to ask questions and clarifications. This will help the team to understand the ideas fully.

Create a Flatter Structure: A team member better at execution and follow-up can be appointed as a supervisor to allocate and supervise the team. However, each team member should learn how to lead and be responsible for their work. The supervisor will be responsible for explaining the general project requirement to the team, and emailing each member their work requirements, and responding to team members’ questions and concerns. They will also liaise with Josh on the design ideas if the need arises. However, this role can rotate among the team members to train them to take charge.

Set Limits in Design Change and Product Delivery: The problem was partly caused by the client changing the design after the work had commenced. A new idea to solve this problem would be to set a time limit for clients to change their order design and the expected time of product delivery. This will help in avoiding rework and allow the team to complete work on time.

Communication Issues Causing Problems in the Team

Lack of Explanation: The team has complained that Josh answers emails with one word, which means they do not get the explanation they need on issues. They have also complained that he does not edit his emails, which means they do not understand them.

Lack of communication: There is a lack of communication on both sides in that Josh fails to respond to emails which leave the team members confused. The team also does not respond to Josh's inquiries on whether they understand their responsibilities, indicating a lack of understanding.

Six Techniques to Improve Communication within the Team

Active Listening: I would promote active listening, which involves listening to (Westerfield, 2020) and not to formulate a response. Understanding involves asking questions and clarifications.

Good Posture and Body Language: Engage the team in practicing good posture and body language to promote confidence.

Humor: Encourage the team to use humor in their engagements to lighten the mood and open up to casual conversation.

Communicate Effectively: Promote effective communication by using the 7C's, which are concise, clear, concrete, complete, coherent, courteous, and correct. Correct means both factually and audience appropriate.

Emotional Intelligence: Encourage the team to have good non-verbal and listening skills as well as apathy (Amini, Amini, Nabiee, & Delavari, 2018).

Assertiveness: I would encourage the team to be confident but not arrogant or confrontational.

How I would communicate to the Team Members

I would hold an open meeting (Dutta, 2018) with the team and communicate my observed issues. I would also follow up the meeting with emails to each team member on the issues discussed in the meeting. I will also hold a one-on-one meeting if there is a need to do so.

Sincerely,

Kyami Clarke

References Amini, M., Amini, M., Nabiee, P., & Delavari, S. (2018, September 16). The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills in Healthcare Staf. Shiraz E-Medical Journal, 20(4). doi:10.5812/semj.80275 Dutta, M. J. (2018, April 6). Culture-centered Approach in Addressing Health Disparities: Communication Infrastructures for Subaltern Voices. Communication Methods and Measures, 12(4), 239-259. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2018.1453057 Westerfield, S. (2020). Improving Family-Professional Partnerships through Active Listening Training. University of Pittsburgh, Department of Education. Pittsburgh: ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://www.proquest.com/openview/c45af3b8c27a1e030f933d453bdf1275/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y