Case Study 3c - Preparing a team for action

Having explained to Carol how you would establish and orient a team for a project, the next step is to plan how you would develop processes and methods to support the team for action.

There are a number of factors Carol wants you to consider and discuss with her, to ensure that you have covered the essentials for setting up the team...

She has asked you to consider the way the team will communicate with each other throughout the duration of the project. Firstly, to keep up to date and open lines of communication going. Secondly, it's normal for conflicts or frustrations to arise when working with a team of people who have varied perspectives, ideas, strengths, experience, agendas, etc. For a team to travel together, they need to find consensus, even when they don't always agree. Being prepared for this will ensure that when these arise, the team have a respectful process to follow that maintains and builds on the integrity of interpersonal relationships and trust.

Carol also wants you to explain how you would develop a 4-week strategic plan with the team. It's important in any effective team to have transparency and accountability of what's happening and what's getting in the way, to enable group collaboration to achieve progress and outcomes. Part of this is for each member of the team to reach consensus about which actions are important and must be completed in a set time period for the project to meet its objectives (core drivers, milestones). Many people are not familiar with project management, time management or performance management. It's important that before commencing work, the team have a clear understanding about what is expected as a valued participant of the project.

Benchmark Criteria

Demonstrated knowledge of methods for establishing team activities, including communication processes. Demonstrated knowledge of how to develop performance plans with expected outcomes, key performance indicators and goals for a work team.

Explain how you would work with the team to develop a 4-week strategic project plan, to establish expectations of activities they would be responsible for and engaged in. (bullets points) In your response include the following:

Briefly explain the process you would use to develop a four (4) week strategic plan, which includes key activities and milestones. (HINT: think about the steps in the Design Thinking process and where they might fit in a 4-week timeline. You only have to reach the point of a proposal - therefore no prototyping, implementation, etc., required.) Briefly explain how you would coach the team and get consensus on...

o Core drivers o Milestones

List the processes, methods and/or strategies you would like to set up with the team to ensure open communication, up-to-date information exchange, accountability and regular feedback and give reason/s why you think this would be effective. Describe how you would develop a culture of collaboration and learning within the team (Code of Conduct), which includes agreeing on conflict resolution processes as need arises. Describe how you would like members of the team to raise concerns or issues and explain why this would build cohesion. Describe how you reach a consensus with the team about how you will celebrate and acknowledge the 'wins' throughout the project. Give one (1) example of what you would suggest and explain why you think it would be effective to build team cohesion.