• Evaluate theories and practices related to leading teams in varying contexts

Scenario

Large Technology Corporation (LTC) recently acquired the company Small Technology Company (STC). You currently work on a team of four members at LTC. But, with the acquisition, your team is expected to expand to 10 members.

The new team members have a diverse demographic makeup as well as varying levels of professional experience, both in their careers and at the company. Since STC was a small company, the employees did not have a great amount of oversight, but were instead primarily responsible for their own actions, rather than accountable to a manager. In addition, the employees were responsible for dividing up tasks among themselves and generally were able to complete the variety of tasks required at the company, allowing them to step into any role necessary.

At LTC, all employees work at the company's headquarters, but STC has three remote employees who will continue to be remote with the acquisition. As LTC does not currently have any remote employees, it will need to develop strategies for effectively collaborating with them.

In a recent meeting, your manager explained the importance of ensuring the teams can blend as seamlessly as possible. To assist with this, your manager has asked that you develop a team management plan detailing how you will lead the newly formed team. It is important to show not only the recommendations, but also the reasoning behind these recommendations.

Directions

Team Management Plan The team management plan that determines how to effectively lead a team that combines employees from LTC and STC. To begin, you will analyze the characteristics of the specific individuals on the team for their potential impact on team dynamics and group behavior and performance. For information about the team and specific individuals, please refer to the scenario and the Employee Personas document, which describes some key characteristics of the team members. Next, you will evaluate organizational communication theories and technologies to determine which theory and which technology will best support the team and its specific needs. In addition, you will provide examples for how the selected theory and technology will be used in various situations.

1. Team Dynamics: Before you can make a plan on how to lead your new team, you must determine how the merger of the two teams might impact group behavior and performance of the larger team. Specifically, you must determine the characteristics that may impact team dynamics and explain how these characteristics might positively and negatively impact group behavior and performance.
2. Organizational Communication Theories: To provide substantial guidance and justify your plan, you should ground your recommendations in theory. You may use the Theories Template to guide you as you choose a theory. As you determine an appropriate theory, be sure to address the following:
   1. Compare the organizational theories to determine how they support your leadership of the team.
   2. Select the theory most appropriate for leading your team and explain how it supports cohesive team dynamics and positively impacts group behavior and performance.
   3. Provide examples of how the selected theory may be used to lead the team in various situations. For example, how might the application of the theory vary in an environment where team efficiency is critical to the company's profitability?
3. Technologies: Select an appropriate technology to facilitate effective teamwork and support the specific team dynamics. Evaluate two technologies of your choice for how they can assist the team. You may use the Technologies Template to guide your evaluation and select the technology that is most appropriate to assist you in leading the team. Be sure to address the following:
   1. Compare technologies for how they support your leadership of the specific team.
   2. Select the technology most appropriate for leading the team, justifying your selection for how it facilitates effective teamwork and positively impacts group behavior and performance.
   3. Provide examples of how the selected technology may be used to lead the team in various situations. For example, how will the technology support a remote workforce?
   4. Explain how the previously selected theory supports the selection of the technology.

----

Employee Personas

& Southern New Hampshire University MGT 200 Employee Personas Current Large Technology Corporation (LTC) Employees Frank: Frank enjoys thinking at a high level and does a great job conceptualizing, but he does not enjoy getting in the weeds and producing at a granular level. While he does a great job generating bigger ideas, he has trouble putting his ideas into action. Frank has 25 years of professional experience in the field and has been with LTC for 12 years. Allyson: Allyson is a collaborative employee who enjoys working with her peers. She thrives on brainstorming with her peers in meetings and can generate creative solutions to problems. She enjoys thinking outside of the box and experimenting with new ideas around processes and products. She becomes excited with opportunities to problem solve and at times has taken over meetings. Her current team has learned how to harness her energy and collaborate with Allyson, but this may be a challenge for her new peers. This is Allyson's first job out of college, and she has been with the company for five years. Jerry: lerry is a motivated and productive employee, and he's highly curious and very energetic. Due to his high energy and constant curiosity, Jerry sometimes struggles with focusing his attention in meetings, and he finds himself needing to multitask on his computer during a meeting in order to pay attention. This behavior is sometimes viewed as offensive by others, but since the small team at LTC has worked together closely for a long time, lerry's peers have learned how to effectively work with his style. lerry has 15 years of professional experience and has been with LTC for eight years. Sarah: Sarah enjoys analyzing data and information and forming conclusions. She focuses on ensuring her recommendations are grounded in facts and thrives when she is able to conduct research before presenting solutions. Sarah is not very comfortable simply brainstorming, as she must understand the parameters and background before developing solutions. Sarah has 20 years of professional experience and has been with LTC for 10 years. & Southern New Hampshire University Employees From Small Technology Corporation (STC) Portia: Portia is a very ambitious employee and hopes to move up in the ranks in the company. She is eager to take on additional tasks and growth opportunities and is constantly involved in the various initiatives at the company. She has had some difficulties growing at STC, asshe isa remote employee, and she has found that the management was hesitant to promote her to a management position or provide her with a pay raise while not in the office. This has discouraged Portia, as she feels as though she is excelling in her role, but she is hopeful that with the acquisition, she will have additional doors opened. Portia has 15 years of professional experience and has been with 5TC for the past two years. Arjun: Arjun is a motivated employee who works best on his own. While he is successful collaborating with his team members, he much prefers to work on his own and complete the tasks, rather than relying on others to complete their designated pieces. He also likes to keep his own schedule, often coming in late and working late or not showing up to work on certain days but working on the weekend instead. With limited oversight from previous management, this has raised eyebrows. Arjun has 10 years of professional experience and has been with STC for almost one year. Violet: Violet completes her daily tasks in an acceptable manner and is happy with the status quo. She is not interested in taking on additional responsibilities or learning new tasks and does not have aspirations for promotion at the company. In the past, when approached about additional professional development opportunities or tasks, Violet has become confrontational and has expressed that her current role is all she can handle. While her previous manager has tried to assist her with time management and tried to create efficiencies in her work, Violet is not interested. Violet has five years of professional experience and has been with the company for her entire professional career. Jerome: Jerome is introverted and has trouble speaking up in meetings. He often feels as though his ideas go unheard and that others dismiss his involvement. He wants to feel valued by the team and needs a safe space to contribute, but this has been difficult for him, as he is a remote employee. This is Jerome's first job out of college, and he has been with the company for just over one year. Jin: lin is outgoing and thrives when interacting with people, though at times her peers have found her confrontational. She is efficient and likes to take on projects, but she becomes easily bored and anxious when more discussion than action occurs. When engaged in a meeting or project, Jin excels and is a model employee. When disengaged, lin tunes out and stops contributing to the team, and instead becomes a distraction. Jin is nearing retirement and has spent the last three years with STC. Carlos: Carlos thrives with set processes in place and has been quite anxious about the amount of change occurring with this merger. Carlos has limited professional experience and has been with the company for less than one year, so he is feeling lost and as though he is not part of a team. This has been increasingly difficult for Carlos, as he is a remote employee and does not always feel the sense of community that those in the office seem to exhibit. At times, the team forgets to include him on updates that others in the office received. h'VIGT 200 Theories Template To complete this template, replace the bracketed text with the relevant information. The template will help guide your evaluation of how specific theories support your leadership of the team. You will select two theories to evaluate and then use your evaluation to select a theory that you find most appropriate. For example, you might evaluate how systems theory and McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y would support your leadership of the team. Theory A Guiding Criteria Strengths Gaps Supports diversity in a team [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Drives a team structure [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes positive work environment [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes positive group behavior [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes positive group performance [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes collaboration within the team | [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes collaboration across teams [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Theory B Guiding Criteria Strengths Gaps Supports diversity in a team [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Drives a team structure [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes positive work environment [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes positive group behavior [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes positive group performance [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes collaboration within the team | [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes collaboration across teams [Insert text.] [Insert text.] MGT 200 Technologies Template To complete this template, replace the bracketed text with the relevant information. The template will help guide your evaluation of how specific technologies assist in facilitating effective teamwork and supporting the specific team dynamics. You will select two technologies to evaluate and then use your evaluation to select a technology that you find most appropriate. For example, you might evaluate how a video conferencing tool would support the team. Technology X Guiding Criteria Strengths Gaps Facilitates effective teamwork [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Supports positive work environment Promotes positive group behavior [Insert text.] [Insert text.] [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes positive group performance [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Supports a remote workforce [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes collaboration across teams [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Guiding Criteria Facilitates effective teamwork [Insert text.] Technology Y Strengths [Insert text.] Gaps Supports positive work environment [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes positive group behavior Promotes positive group performance [Insert text.] [Insert text.] [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Supports a remote workforce [Insert text.] [Insert text.] Promotes collaboration across teams [Insert text.] [Insert text.]