SU_MBA5001_W4_ Dennis_A

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1 Team Building Amanda Dennis South University MBA5001: Organization Behavior & Communication Lyle Cady October 16, 2023

2 Team Building Copiah Supply, Inc., conducted an employee survey in September to determine the cause of low employee motivation. It was discovered several factors were contributing to employees experiencing a lack of motivation in their work. Since then, Copiah Supply has held meetings to gather employee feedback to address these factors. Using the feedback provided, management has developed organizational and policy changes. Among these changes is the creation of a company website that will allow outside sales representatives and customers to verify inventory levels, submit a request for a quote, and place an online order. As this is a large-scale project, it has been determined a ten-person virtual team will need to be created to address all aspects of creating a company website. Creating the Virtual Team A virtual team, also known as a geographically dispersed team or a remote team, is a group of people who interact through electronic communications. Members of a virtual team are usually located in different geographical regions. Since communication is not in-person, trust and good communication are crucial to the success of a virtual team (CFI, n.d.). There are multiple types of virtual teams. The type of team needed depends on the objective, lifespan, goals, and roles of its members. Examples of virtual teams include networked teams, service teams, product development teams, and production teams. To create a company website for Copiah Supply, a virtual product development team will be created. Product development teams are composed of experts from different parts of the world to perform a specifically outlined task, such as the development of a new product, information system, or organizational process (CFI, n.d.). The first step in creating the virtual team is to decide the most effective team structure. There are four main types of product team structures,

3 which include outcome owner, outcome facilitator, feature owner, and feature facilitator. For the purpose of this project, it is determined the feature facilitator will be the most effective team structure. It has been determined the most effective approach to building a team for the company website is to create a team for each feature that will have a project manager and two team members. (See Fig.1) Virtual Team Potential Problems Virtual teams typically don't share a workspace, which can lead to challenges arising from the lack of a shared timeframe and environment (Indeed Editorial Team, 2023). The virtual team at Copiah Supply consists of inside and outside sales representatives, the owner, and web designers. Potential problems that are likely to arise for the team are:  Poor Communication - When working in a virtual team, you may have team members who do not work on the same schedule. The employees at Copiah Supply are available from 7:30A-4:00P Monday-Friday, whereas the web designers are not in the same time zone. This can create a problem in communication as team members are available at different times. Another potential communication issue is the style of communication. There is the possibility some team members want active and frequent updates while others may want to communicate only when an issue occurs.  Collaboration - Being part of a virtual team means there is limited to no physical interaction. This can cause an issue within the team due to not having a physical connection to your team members. While the Copiah Supply team does consist of employees, their positions cause them to have limited physical interaction. Not having a physical connection to your team members can hinder progress.

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4  Office Culture - A virtual team is made up of a variety of people. Not everyone on the team will share the same office culture. Copiah Supply employees are accustomed to a more relaxed and friendly culture towards not only other coworkers but also their customers. However, the web designer team members are accustomed to a more structured and disciplined approach to all projects.  Trust - It is difficult to trust someone you do not know. Trust is even harder to give when you have limited or no physical contact with team members. When a person is unable to read non-verbal cues or misinterpret messages as negative, trust is lost within the team.  Distractions - Phones ringing, emails, texts, other customers, other commitments, and even other team members can become a distraction. If there are too many distractions occurring, then team progress will be affected and goals will likely not be met. This can also lead to feelings of resentment within the team. The virtual team at Copiah Supply is no exception to facing obstacles. Communication will be the main factor in reaching the company goal of creating the website. Without good communication between all team members, the team will face more obstacles such as a lack of trust and problems in collaboration. All obstacles have the potential to cause the team to miss goals or to fail if solutions are not addressed. Solutions to the Problems Virtual teams are hard to get right. In their seminal 2001 study of 70 such groups, professors Vijay Govindarajan and Anil Gupta found that 82% fell short of their goals and 33% rated themselves as largely unsuccessful (Ferrazzi, 2014). It is imperative Copiah Supply address the potential problems and develop solutions to ensure the project’s success.

5  Solution to Poor Communication - a set time will be decided upon at the beginning of the project. This time slot will allow for communication in real-time using a chat messaging app installed on the dedicated company devices. In addition, emails can be sent for follow-up or clarification should it be needed. There will also be a Zoom conference scheduled every two weeks with screen share from each feature team.  Solution to Office Culture - To address this potential obstacle, Copiah Supply will host a “Meet the CSI Team” prior to the launch of the project. This will enable all team members to get familiar with one another. While there will be limited to no physical contact, the team will be able to familiarize themselves with their counterparts and build a connection.  Solution to Trust Issues - A task management tool will be utilized that will allow team members to track progress for the individual and team-assigned goals. This will create transparency within the team. In addition, Copiah Supply employees will be given a refresher course in professional communication.  Solution to Distractions - To limit the number of distractions the Copiah Supply team members face, there will be a company policy implemented that will allot a specific time during the day for this project. During this time frame, Copiah Supply employees will focus solely on this project. While working on this project with the virtual team, Copiah Supply employees should set their cell phones to silent and notify customers that unless an emergency situation arises, all issues will be handled at the end of the allotted timeframe.

6 Conclusion Being a part of a team can be challenging. There are deadlines to meet, updates to give, and added work on an already heavy workload, but being on a team has its benefits. A virtual team allows for a flexible work schedule, the opportunity to meet new people, and the chance to learn new skills and gain knowledge. Copiah Supply, Inc. has created a virtual team to create a company website that will streamline a customer’s experience in ordering goods and services provided by the company.

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7 References CFI Team. (n.d.). Virtual Team . Corporate Financial Institute. Retrieved October 10, 2023, from https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/virtual-team/ Ferrazzi, K. (2014, December). Getting virtual teams right . Harvard Business Review. Retrieved October 11, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2014/12/getting-virtual-teams-right Indeed Editorial Team. (2023, September 24). 9 challenges of virtual teams: causes and solutions . Indeed Career Guide. Retrieved October 11, 2023, from https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/challenges-of-virtual-teams Mehta, R. (2023). 4 effective product team structures for 2023 . Reforge. Retrieved October 10, 2023, from https://www.reforge.com/previews/product/product-team-structure

SU_MBA5001_W4_ Dennis_A

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