Building High-Performing Teams: Diagnosing Your Team and Building Collaboration

This document provides instructions and charts for diagnosing and improving team performance. It covers topics such as team goals, member roles, communication, and collaboration. The document also includes a section on utilizing conflict to develop the team. The course code is HAME502 and it is offered by Cornell University.

HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
Cornell University
Course Project
Part One: Diagnosing Your Team
Instructions:
In this project, you will outline strategic elements critical in leading your team. In doing
so, you will map a plan for diagnosing the team’s needs, building collaboration,
generating conflict, managing virtual team space, and finally, shifting your own
leadership role. This plan will enable you to thoughtfully provide your team with the
leadership it needs to perform at its highest levels.
First, identify if the team is new or if you are new to the team. (Or alternatively, you and
the team may have been working with one another for a while. If so, think of your team
as new all over again and try to look at it with fresh eyes.) Next, complete the
appropriate chart in order to identify areas of development or needs for your team.
If the team is new, engage (or reengage) your team in a discussion of its vision and
mission. What is the desired future state and the overall purpose of your team? What
does the organization need the team to accomplish? Identify members’ roles and
responsibilities. Prepare between 3-5 long-term and short-term goals. Enter your results
into Chart A.
If you are new to the team, collect data. Interview at least five team members. Observe
the team working. What do you notice? What is the work pattern? Based on your
analysis of your data, identify and discuss between 3-5 actions/behaviors that the team
needs from you. Enter your results into Chart B.
Chart A: Building Your Team
when the team is new
Team Goals Short term goals:
 Creating a more efficient work environment
 Eliminating areas of wastage of time, resource and energy
 Establishing working grounds and commitments
Long term goals:
 Creating a common vision and goal for the team
 Creating SMART goals for the team to achieve
 Outlining the best team practices to reach collective and
personal goals
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HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
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Member Roles &
Responsibilities
Person 1: to ensure that any wastage of time, energy and
resource is avoided and that the team remembers do not indulge
in baseless gossips during work
Person 2: focus on conflict resolution amongst the members of
the team and ensuring that communication has now barrier
Person 3: forming SMART goals for the team to achieve
If you have completed Chart A, you have completed part one of your course
project. You do not need to complete Chart B.
Chart B: Building Your Team
when you are new to your team
Interview Findings After interviewing five members of your team, summarize your
findings based on each category below:
What actions or processes are working well?
After the interview, I am convinced that the team is working
cohesively and communication in the team is not a problem.
What actions or processes can be improved?
The part where the team can improve is in increasing its
efficiency, while the team is extremely hardworking, it tends to
lose focus and can get demotivated easily because of this.
Thus as a leader, my priority will remain on improving this
situation as soon as possible.
Overall, how effective do they think your team is?
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HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
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As mentioned above, while the team is effective, it is not at all
efficient. The team is not able to focus clearly on tis goals and
objectives and because of this it is not as much productive as
it can be in all this time.
Observations of
Team
After observing your team working, what do you notice? What
work patterns can you identify?
After having worked with the team, it is understood that the
team has a very good bond with each other and this bond is
both good and bad for the team. Because of this the team
works together in cohesion and has very less feuds or fights,
but it is also because of this bond that the team loses focus
and indulges in time waste.
Recommendations Based on your findings, identify 3-5 recommendations you have
for your team. Outline how you will or have communicated
these recommendations.
1. efficiency: the team has to focus more on getting productive.
This can be achieved by working away from each other to avoid
time waste in any manner
2. time saving: the team has to give quality work at once to
avoid any wastage of time later on. This can be done by
attaining focus and getting the work rechecked before final
submission to the leader/ manager
3. Communication: the team has to identify the right channels of
communication. While the communication is quite smooth, it still
needs to be official and in the right manner.
4.Goal setting: the team has to ensure they set SMART goals
for the themselves individually and as a team
5.
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HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
Cornell University
Part Two: Building Collaboration
Instructions:
In this module, we put the lens on you to consider both how your team members act
and interact, as well as how you engage your team.
For part two of your project, map a plan for how you want to engage with your team,
moving forward. Prepare a list of ideas that answers the following questions:
1. What is your goal as leader? Ideally, what type of team leader would you like/plan to
be and why?
2. How do you plan to authentically connect with individual team members, including
how often and in what setting?
3. How do you plan to increase collaboration and engagement within the team through
how you model engaging behaviors and guide, both the entire team and individual
members?
4. How do you plan to keep your boss apprised of team progress and represent your
team to him or her?
Present Your Idea List
Enter your ideas in the grid below.
Idea 1 What is your goal as leader? Ideally, what type of team leader would you
like/plan to be and why?
As a leader, my topmost priority is to increase the efficiency of my team and create a
long term plan for them to work on. Hence, to achieve all of this I have to have a blend
of strict task master and a visionary leader which can bring discipline to the team
members and motivate them to achieve the best at the same time.
Idea 2 How do you plan to authentically connect with individual team members,
including how often and in what setting?
I would like to connect with the team member on a regular basis. This can be
done in formal and in informal setting both. What is important is that
communication is clear and precise for them to understand.
Idea 3 How do you plan to increase collaboration and engagement within the team
through how you model engaging behaviors and guide, both the entire team
and individual members?
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HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
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The best way to engage the team members to allow them to make decision.
Hence, I plan to involve my team members in the decision making process.
This will not only boost their confidence, but will also additionally push them
towards being responsible and sorted in their conduct
Idea 4 How do you plan to keep your boss apprised of team progress and represent
your team to him or her?
I will be sending my bosses bi monthly reports of the team’s progress and
will ensure that the team interacts with the bosses. This will again motivate
them and will make them feel acknowledged by the top management.
Part Three: Utilizing Conflict to Develop Your Team
Instructions:
Generating functional conflict can prevent your team from becoming stagnant and promote
growth and innovation. It is essential to the vitality of your team. In this part of your project, you
will outline a plan of action to develop your team using functional or healthy conflict. In doing
so, you need to assess the dynamics of your team, establish ground rules, then guide how
your team members interact with one another.
1. Identify a situation your team consistently handles the same way that may be too detailed,
outdated, or in need of improvement.
2. Assess the power dynamics and trust level of your team.
3. Set ground rules to (re)balance the power dynamics and promote a trusting environment.
4. Define your goals and clearly communicate your expectations to your team.
5. Communicate as a group until you either reach consensus or an agreed-upon target.
Functional Conflict Action Plan
Complete the grid below.
Identify a Situation
(a routine practice or
process that you think
could be improved or
should be evaluated)
Do you have a process that has been in place for a long time?
When questioned why things are done a certain way, do
people respond by saying, “We’ve always done it this way”?
Note the process here.
No. I have particularly ensured that no redundant process is functional
or applicable to my team. Also, my team has been given enough
freedom to question certain aspects of the way I lead (unless they are
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HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
Cornell University
insulting or asked with the rong intention). Hence, I am proud to say we
have no such activities in our functional environment
Assess Power and
Trust (recognize the
role these play and
the current impact on
your team)
Where does your opinion fall? Does it carry more weight than
others? How about your team members?
My team members are very adept when taking some one
else’s help, be it me. My opinions might not be always
accepted but they are always valued. The team is clear about
what they want and hence, their decision making too is quite
flawless.
How invested are some in the identified situation? Do some
team members have more knowledge or experience with this?
Yes, my team has a proper blend of experienced and amateur
workers. Hence, there are few members who are aware of
high pressure originations works; and these members groom
the other relatively amateur members as well.
How would you describe the trust level of your team? How do
those with more power respond to questions or information
they disagree with?
The team is 100% trusting. As mentioned above, the team has
a close bond and identify with each other completely. Even
with me, I have created this aura by being always accessible,
polite and protecting them whenever needed.
Set Ground Rules
(establish guidelines
for communication
and timing with
everyone)
How will the team discuss ideas (e.g., through brainstorming,
round-table format, facilitated)? Can more than one approach
be used? Who determines this?
The team has regular brain storming sessions with each other
to get new ideas.
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How long will your discussion be? Will you allow breaks or
time out when needed? Who is in charge of timing decisions?
Can members come and go as needed?
The discussions happen regularly. However, the discussions
are always serious. They happen for at least an hour, with only
10 minutes break to freshen up the people.
Define Goals (be
clear about the goal
of the meeting and
what outcomes you
expect)
What do you need to accomplish in the meeting? Are you
looking to make a specific change? Do you expect the team to
challenge existing processes? Are you more focused on
sparking greater collaboration on the team?
In this particular meeting, my main goal is to focus on
increasing the productivity of the employees by making them
aware of the time leak in their work culture.
Communicate and
Reach Consensus
(conduct your
meeting or session
and continue to work
together as a team
until you reach
consensus)
What is the goal of the meeting? What steps will you take to
reach consensus? Can you have multiple meetings? Who
decides when you have reached consensus? Will you accept
anything other than consensus or consider reassessing the goal
if needed?
The goal of this meeting is to by make them aware of the time
leak in their work culture and how in-efficienct they are, this will
not require multiple meetings and consensus will be achieved
by simple discussion.
Regarding the situation identified, what purpose does it serve?
Who benefits? How? Should it continue?
The situation will help the employees to get better and focus on
developing their productivity and achieving goals
When does it occur? Should the purpose change? If so, how
can the process or practice be changed to better support the
end goal?
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HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
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The purpose of the meeting will not change since this issue has
been there for long and requires to be rectified as soon as
possible
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HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
Cornell University
Part Four: Managing Virtual Teams
Instructions:
As organizations evolve, the option or possibility of work in a virtual environment is ever
increasing. So, it’s important to recognize the differences in how this work can be done.
Even those of you who don’t currently oversee a team virtually may have to in the
future.
When some or all of the members of your team work remotely, you must take steps to
build a connection with them. You must do so in a way that recognizes and
accommodates their virtual environment.
In this part of your project, imagine that you are hiring new team members that will work
from their homes. To ensure these employees are productive and engaged with the rest
of your team from the start, your boss has asked you to submit a memo to her. You are
to:
1. Outline the steps you will take to promote interactions with and among your team.
2. Specify actions you will take to support virtual team meetings.
3. Create a list of 3-5 recommendations outlining how you and your team will
communicate and interact with virtual team members.
Memo to Your Boss
Recommendations to promote positive onboarding and team engagement
Team Interactions What steps will you take to promote interactions between
these team members and your other staff? How will you build
relationships?
As mentioned above, the team is quite good with the
communication. However, to ensure it further strengthens, the
best way is to bring the team together regularly in an informal
manner. this will help them bond with each other outside of
work and always function in sync
Team Meetings How will you include virtual members in team meetings? What
resources will you use to support your efforts here?
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HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
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Virtual members of the team can be included using skype.
These members will be asked to come down to the office at
least once a month to meet the members so that the ice
breaks.
Recommendations State 3-5 recommendations you have for you team.
1. focus on cohesive working with each other
2. allow the team members to think differently
3. value diversity and inclusion in the team and respect it
4. make other team members comfortable in your presence
4. Stand up to what is wrong in the team and never support people
when they are wrong
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HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
Cornell University
Part Five: Shifting Leadership Roles
Instructions:
Moving from a tactical to a more strategic approach requires collaboration. You must
give your team the opportunity to make decisions and share responsibility. In this part of
your course project, you are to identify a problem that your team can address (with or
without your involvement).
1. Identify an improvement in your processes that your team can address, ideally with
members stepping up and sharing decision-making roles.
2. Describe between 2-4 of the strategies or approaches from this course that you will
apply to develop your team and/or team members as you build their collaborative
and conflict skills.
3. List the steps you will need to take to implement the strategies identified above.
4. Outline a timeline of events with specific target dates, including next month and
quarter.
5. Describe how you will measure results or demonstrate the positive impact of the
solution.
Action Plan for Shifting Leadership Roles
Recommendations to promote positive onboarding and team engagement
Key business
problem
Identify a business problem or change within your organization
that your team may be able to address. Briefly describe it
here.
The major business problem with the organization is its ability
to not bring in innovation and creativity in its organization
culture and product. Because of this, it is losing out on clients
and on employees.
Strategies What performance management strategies will you use to
address this problem or manage this change?
In order to ensure that the organization culture is more
creative and innovative, it is best to apply the Kurt-Lewins’c
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HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
Cornell University
change model. This model will help the organization in
managing the change effectively and can make the change
sustainable as well.
Steps What specific steps will you take to put those strategies into
action? What will you do personally? What will others on your
team need to do?
In order to implement this change, it is essential to first
communicate it to the people so that it does not come as a
shock to them. Once this communication is done, it can be then
implemented. As a responsible leader, I will ensure I take
charge of how the change is communicated to the people and
that they perceive it in the right way.
Timeline What will you or your team do in the next month? What will you
have completed over the next quarter? Outline a timeline with
specific target dates.
Next month: setting up of at least 5 SMART goals for the FY
Next quarter: achieving at least 2 of these SMART goals
Next Year: achieving all 5 goals and reviewing them for
efficiency and quality
All these plans will be time bound and will be checked off the lsit
monthly as well.
Measurement/
Results
How will you measure your results or demonstrate that your
solution has had a positive impact?
To measure the success, I will analyze the efficiency of my
team before and after by quantifying it in terms of sales, profits
and revenue, this is the easiest way to demonstrate the success
of the applied strategy. This will also help me in future as wel to
work better.
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HAME502: Building High-Performing Teams
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To submit this assignment, please refer to the instructions in the course.
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