You are getting ready for your first project staff team meeting. The first charge to this group from the Directors is to come up with a plan for the opening of the new plant. Your group will be working on; how to advertise openings for existing employees to apply for the new plant, a multi-disciplinary communication to all employees keeping them informed on the progress of the construction of the plant, identifying the departments to move and how to manage the communications between plants for organizational consistency.

Your project team will need to cooperate to prioritize your tasks, establish a project plan and define deliverables and milestones.

This team will need to be very productive within its first 3 months. You want to help, not hinder, the team's progress, so you decide to do some research upfront. You bring your research to your team to review.

Answer the questions and complete the following:

- How would you classify the project staff team: Is it a task force, friendship group, command group or other type of group? Support your choice with theory.

- In forming the project staff team, what are the characteristics of this specific team (based on type of team and purpose) that are likely to contribute to the goal of group effectiveness within the next 3 months?

- What are some sources of barriers to group effectiveness (potential process losses) that this group may face in trying to meet its goals?

- What recommendations do you have for your other team members on how to maximize your working together on this project?

- Identify elements of group effectiveness that you may be able to influence.

- Think about how you would increase the probability of process gains within your project staff team.

- The project staff team is facing a series of difficult assignments that are extremely important to the organization's success. Define a few of the ways that you believe the group can model collaborative behavior for the organization.

- Help your team identify the ways in which you believe you should communicate your team's progress on your project