Purpose of Assessment

This assessment assesses students' ability to apply their skills and knowledge to

- Build work teams, strengthen communications and resolve issues
- Engage with stakeholders and obtain advice from outside the work team, to ensure team is focused and on track

Description of Assessment
- This is a progressive assessment, meaning that you will need to complete the tasks throughout Weeks 8-9
- If you are unable to complete them during class time, you are required to finish them in your own time, before the due date.
- All questions need to be answered in relation to your organisation (the one you work for now), unless otherwise stated.
- You should submit in Moodle before the due date.

Assessment task - Choose any one from the following

1. Read the following scenario, and write a report explaining the steps you would take to develop a competent team

Scenario

You have recently accepted an employment position with a large, high profile furniture company. The organisation imports, manufactures and repairs furniture for distribution to its many stores in all states.

Your position title is ‘Team Leader of Distribution and Warehousing' - a frontline management position. There are 12 team members, from different backgrounds and with differing levels of expertise. Some team members have worked with the organisation, and in this division, for a number of years. Other team members are relatively new, while some have worked in other departments/sections of the organisation before being transferred to your division.

The reason for your appointment is that departmental productivity (outputs) has not been meeting the organisation's expectations.

The senior managers of the organisation have identified some problems in the team:

- communication between team members appears to be strained at times

- levels of cooperation are falling

- communication with the other teams within the organisation is not as good as it should be

- there is no one currently taking on the leadership role

- prioritisation of tasks appears to occur on an ad hoc basis

While each of the team members was selected for their role on the basis of demonstrated skills and expertise, they seem unable to work together effectively.

Your initial role, therefore, is that of trouble shooter, problem solver and team facilitator. You need to bring this group of people together to form a cohesive, effective and productive team.

Your answers should be based on the information contained in the scenario and what you have learnt in this study unit about team dynamics.

Your report should be approximately 2500 words. It may contain an action plan, sample procedures or other types of documents to explain how you will lead this team.

Explain in logical sequence, what methods you would use to develop the working capacity of your team.

Give reason for each of your actions and the expected outcomes.

What are the timeframes that these actions will occur within? What will you do if these measures do not work?

In your report consider:

o team roles and dynamics

o the various stages of team development

o the importance of agreed goals

o skills/ competency analysis

o the need to link team's goals with organisational goals, KPIs and individual performance measures

o strategies to encourage input into planning and decision making

o the need for performance evaluations/ reviews

o providing praise and constructive feedback

o reward and recognition

o diversity

o constructive conflict

o trust, reliability, consistency and relationship building

o the importance of, and appropriate formats for, meetings

o initiative, responsibility, motivation, delegation

o the need to monitor, measure and evaluate the team's development

o up-line communication

o the need to develop efficient networks with other teams in the organisation

o leader as role model

Remember that you are the new team member. How does the introduction of a new member impact on team dynamics?

2. Alternately

you may have already experienced a similar situation in your working life If you have, you may choose to write a report on the methods you used to develop your team and solve both its internal and external problems. How successful were they and why were they successful?

Your report must cover the concepts of team development discussed in this study unit and must also demonstrate understanding and application of the same criteria as those required for the scenario activity. The report you write to demonstrate competence in this unit should, regardless of which activity you choose, be approximately 2500 words.

Include, in your report, any assessment, and evaluation, measuring tools, diagrams or graphs that are relevant.