Activity Instructions: Team Essay
Identify a team in which you have had many opportunities to participate, observe, and interact. This team does not necessarily need to be from industry; however, please review the concepts below that you will be required to discuss prior to selecting the team you wish to cover. The list of concepts may help you select or eliminate certain teams. The team you choose should have been in existence over a reasonable period in order for you to discuss team development and to have specific examples to support your conclusions.
If you have never personally participated in a team suited for this activity, you may select a team in which you were not a member and interview two or more team members. In your interviews, you should focus on each of the concepts below that will then be developed into an essay. You should not simply ask, "What type of team is this?" because many people are not familiar with the terms you have learned in this assignment. Rather, you should ask more general questions such as, "Are each of the team members in the same department, or are they in different departments? Are all members in one location? Do team members meet in person, or is their communication only via e-mail, voicemail, or teleconferencing?"
After identifying a team, write an essay describing that team with the concepts presented in Chapter 10 of the text. The objective of your essay is to demonstrate that you understand the concepts and that you can apply them to a real-world situation; therefore, you should discuss/explain each of the following five concepts and then relate your team to each concept using examples. Provide three examples for each concept.
Type of Team: functional team, cross-functional team, self-directed team, virtual team, or global team
Description of Interdependence: interdependence, pooled interdependence, sequential interdependence, or reciprocal interdependence
Stages of Team Development: forming, storming, norming, performing
Cohesiveness
Conflict
Your Activity responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the Activity itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (150 points) (A 5-page response is required for the combination of Parts A, B, and C.)