Date Written: March 16, 2015
Written for: GCU - MGT 605
The
West Coast Transit Six: My Team and Our Plan for Success
Assembling
any team is somewhat of an art form. A
manager must carefully piece together a puzzle in order to meld one person’s
jagged edges to another person’s strengths.
The nature of West Coast Transit’s problem is so complex and high
stakes, that the team assembled for this task must be able to meet a deadline
and understand that there are other peoples’ jobs on the line if this task is
not completed to its highest extent.
This team has been chosen in order to properly meld together in a way where one’s strengths play up another’s weaknesses. As the manager, there are some personality conflicts that are foreseeable, but keeping this team’s eye on the prize and outweighing risk versus reward, those conflicts can easily be mitigated and steered in the right direction by those with proven leadership skills amongst the chosen six.
With the focus of this team being balance, some employees who have been part of the company the longest were not chosen. Instead, there are a few newer people who are being given a chance to prove themselves based upon their employee profiles. In the following team proposal and plan, their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their place in the puzzle will be discussed and then applied to the overall management of the project.
This team has been chosen in order to properly meld together in a way where one’s strengths play up another’s weaknesses. As the manager, there are some personality conflicts that are foreseeable, but keeping this team’s eye on the prize and outweighing risk versus reward, those conflicts can easily be mitigated and steered in the right direction by those with proven leadership skills amongst the chosen six.
With the focus of this team being balance, some employees who have been part of the company the longest were not chosen. Instead, there are a few newer people who are being given a chance to prove themselves based upon their employee profiles. In the following team proposal and plan, their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their place in the puzzle will be discussed and then applied to the overall management of the project.
The Dream Team
Elizabeth
Elizabeth was chosen for her leadership abilities and she is proven to be flexible. This will put her in as an effective leader, because those who are also on the team will need someone who can understand their strengths and weaknesses and keep thing moving along. Also, her ability to see the bigger picture of this project and her listening skills will help facilitate the team in a positive manner. While her biggest weakness being in building new skills, she will be able to focus her energy on playing up her strengths.
Michael
Michael is the balance to Elizabeth. He is knowledgeable and his cynicism will hopefully find a worthy adversary in Elizabeth’s positivity. Like Elizabeth, Michael has some strong leadership skills and he tries to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. His strategic planning and tactics will also help to keep the team on task. While he is not detail oriented, Doug will hopefully keep him going with his timeliness and high-quality work.
Doug
Doug is a newer employee compared to others on this team. However, he would be the finisher of the team. He cares about quality and will be able to edit and send out the work in order to keep the team to its deadline. His communication preferences differ from Michael, but if they can find a balance, they will both succeed in keeping to this team’s goals.
Bob
Bob’s length of time with the company will give the team insight into its early successes. Hopefully Elizabeth’s positivity will be able to keep his positive side out instead of allowing for more surliness. He will be the team’s go-to man. While others will have specific functions, his time with the company will give him the ability to take on tasks. His go-and-get it attitude will definitely play this up.
Susan
Susan’s positivity will pair well with Elizabeth’s. Being a team player, she will give the team a needed boost to its work and will understand just what it takes to make this project successful. She will be a great partner to Bob as the team’s go-to woman. This team and its many dimensions don’t allow for members who take advantage of situations and therefore will protect Susan and her drive. One of the best things for Susan on this team is that while she sometimes has trouble with finding motivation, this work is exactly what will keep her going. The work of this project will hopefully make a difference in people’s lives and that is what motivates her. Also, as she looks for approval for her work before submission, having Elizabeth as a leader and Doug as the editor will give strength to her purpose.
William
William also struggles from motivation issues. Like Susan, the immediate value in the job is saving not only his job, but the jobs of others. Challenge does not scare him and the amount of challenge within the project will keep him going. He may be inefficient, but leaders like Elizabeth and Michael should be able to keep him on task.
Elizabeth was chosen for her leadership abilities and she is proven to be flexible. This will put her in as an effective leader, because those who are also on the team will need someone who can understand their strengths and weaknesses and keep thing moving along. Also, her ability to see the bigger picture of this project and her listening skills will help facilitate the team in a positive manner. While her biggest weakness being in building new skills, she will be able to focus her energy on playing up her strengths.
Michael
Michael is the balance to Elizabeth. He is knowledgeable and his cynicism will hopefully find a worthy adversary in Elizabeth’s positivity. Like Elizabeth, Michael has some strong leadership skills and he tries to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. His strategic planning and tactics will also help to keep the team on task. While he is not detail oriented, Doug will hopefully keep him going with his timeliness and high-quality work.
Doug
Doug is a newer employee compared to others on this team. However, he would be the finisher of the team. He cares about quality and will be able to edit and send out the work in order to keep the team to its deadline. His communication preferences differ from Michael, but if they can find a balance, they will both succeed in keeping to this team’s goals.
Bob
Bob’s length of time with the company will give the team insight into its early successes. Hopefully Elizabeth’s positivity will be able to keep his positive side out instead of allowing for more surliness. He will be the team’s go-to man. While others will have specific functions, his time with the company will give him the ability to take on tasks. His go-and-get it attitude will definitely play this up.
Susan
Susan’s positivity will pair well with Elizabeth’s. Being a team player, she will give the team a needed boost to its work and will understand just what it takes to make this project successful. She will be a great partner to Bob as the team’s go-to woman. This team and its many dimensions don’t allow for members who take advantage of situations and therefore will protect Susan and her drive. One of the best things for Susan on this team is that while she sometimes has trouble with finding motivation, this work is exactly what will keep her going. The work of this project will hopefully make a difference in people’s lives and that is what motivates her. Also, as she looks for approval for her work before submission, having Elizabeth as a leader and Doug as the editor will give strength to her purpose.
William
William also struggles from motivation issues. Like Susan, the immediate value in the job is saving not only his job, but the jobs of others. Challenge does not scare him and the amount of challenge within the project will keep him going. He may be inefficient, but leaders like Elizabeth and Michael should be able to keep him on task.
The Issues We Face
While
there are a multitude of strengths this team may face, they also have the
ability to work together in a way others would not. Elizabeth and her open-mindedness can’t keep
the team afloat on its own. When
conflict arises, Elizabeth can act as mediator to a certain extent, Susan will
be needed to mediate some cases. The
majority of this team tends to react poorly to conflict, so facilitating this
conflict will take top priority sometimes.
This may cause a set back or two, but if, as managers, we can keep them
on track, issues will keep us from losing sight of the bigger picture.
Motivation seems to mainly work itself out, but management will need to remind the team of the bigger picture. For those who prefer monetary motivation, they will need to be reminded that all monetary compensation in general is at stake.
Motivation seems to mainly work itself out, but management will need to remind the team of the bigger picture. For those who prefer monetary motivation, they will need to be reminded that all monetary compensation in general is at stake.
Theories at Work
This
team will be managed through a compilation of Herzberg’s Motivator Hygiene
Theory and Goal-Setting Theory. Within his study on motivation, Herzberg, “found that hygiene factors, such as job
security, salary, and company policies, were important in reducing job
dissatisfaction but would not necessarily provide job satisfaction” (DeGraaf,
1995). At this point, the entire
company’s security is at risk and in order to protect it, the members of this
team must find the motivation necessary to make it through. The members of this team show little job
dissatisfaction compared to the other possibilities.
In order to stay on track, this team will need to focus on goals. These goals must be comprised of one overarching goal—giving the best effort in keeping the company afloat and individual goals as components of the project together. Goals will be focused on the main goal and the project must stay on task.
In order to stay on track, this team will need to focus on goals. These goals must be comprised of one overarching goal—giving the best effort in keeping the company afloat and individual goals as components of the project together. Goals will be focused on the main goal and the project must stay on task.
While
there are possible issues that may come up, we must strive to keep the team
going. This team seems as if they will
be able to achieve the goal much better than the others available for
selection. Allowing the team to work as
its own separate colony will give them room to thrive and succeed in a way that
this company needs. This “dream team” as I have decided to dub them face many
challenges ahead, but I have the utmost faith in their abilities to make this
project successful.
References
DeGraaf,
D. (1995, January 1). The Key to Unlocking Your Staff's Potential. Camping
Magazine. Retrieved from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=9609201575&site=eds-live&scope=site
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