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Introduction Managing the off-site team is not an easy task and it requires a lot of hard-work, effective communication and control. The quality of off-site management team’s work decides the quality of output. The management team who monitors and controls the off-site team needs to make sure the goals are established with proper benchmarks. This report is going to discuss the issues and challenges related to managing the off-site team and what possible solutions and alternates can be used for effective management of the off-site team. Team work is the essence of an organisation’s success and they need to understand the same and work accordingly.Cooperationandcoordinationisthecriticalfactoralongwithbetter communications skills. A problem needs to be identified and discussed within the team or group and then an optimum solution should be drawn out through the discussion. The major factor that decides the quality of work of an off-site team is better communication skill along with proper monitoring methods used. Proper communication and holding a regular meeting for discussing the goals, challenges and establishing proper responsibility and accountability should be the priority (Rockmann and Pratt 2015). Mistakes Made by Craig and its Remedies Craig was not recognising his mistake that he needed to modify his behaviour regarding the repercussions of electronic communication. Craig should have worked on making the electronic communication more effective as he already knew they are not as accurate as face to face discussions. In such cases, the problems escalate and tend to become a bigger issue which, under normal circumstances would have been resolved easily. This happened with Allison and Penelope. They worked on a project before and the performance was great but something changed their behaviour for each other and Craig should have addressed the same beforehand (Scott and Wildman 2015). The multiple communication tools used also created confusion. His reactions were slow for the messages received. He needs to understand the messages were urgent and required quicker attention. His reliability on people who could often meet was also a negative factor. Craig should have also cross checked the feedback received from Penelope about Allison. He already had the idea about the tension building up between Allison and Penelope. Craig was not prompt in taking effective steps for resolving the issue and he should have resolved their conflicts before it got out of control. Maggie also highlighted that the flexibility allowed should have been kept under his radar. Craig needed to acknowledge the drawbacks of electronic communication and worked on it, he should have
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been prompt, checked on the flexibility and tried to be in the loop before it gets too late (Ford, Piccolo, and Ford 2017). Conflict and Solutions The conflict clearly evident in this off-site team is that they have unresolved issue with each other hampering the work. Penelope is taking credit of the work and demeaning Allison in front of the clients shows that Penelope has personal issues with Allison. Also, Penelope is assuming and acting to be the team leader. One more issue that Maggie highlighted was that the freedom that the employees at the off-site enjoying should be limited (Zuofa and Ochieng 2017). Craig needs to acknowledge the fact that Allison and Penelope have issues with each other try to sort that out first. He received mails from Penelope and Allison. The main reason behind the same should be dealt with whether Allison is at fault or Penelope. The fact that Allison informed him about Penelope assuming she is the team leader needs to be addressed and Craig needs to clear this out with Penelope and other team members. Maggie needs to suggest ways of dealing with the unresolved issue that Penelope and Allison are facing. They should be allowed to talk it out in front of the manager and with each other so that the future projects are not hampered. Craig needs to be vigilant as well as agile and take matters into his own hands to solve it as soon as possible (Binder 2016). Improving Ineffectiveness The effectiveness of this off-site team is hampered mostly because of the lack of communication and the freedom they have been allowed to work with at the off-site. The strength of its communication with the main office seems to be very ineffective and insufficient. They need to evaluate if the employees are suitable for this alternate work arrangement. The talents of two good employees are going down unutilised just because there is a gap in the communication (Breuer, Hüffmeier, and Hertel 2016). The Manager needs to effectively frame the work allotted to them and back track their work. Proper hierarchy needs to be established and there should be a meeting where everyone is present including Maggie. The company need to organise a training program to improve their communication skills (Hoch and Kozlowski 2014). Craig should communicate more often and also involve other members of the team. The fact that he mentioned that he is communicating more but losing the touch shows how he needs to improve his own skills as well. The team meeting should be mandatory for everyone and other team members should be allowed to give their feedback. Craig should establish proper accountability and team reporting needs to be a must. The
workload has to be fairly distributed and checked upon. Since there is no team leader, Craig should assign one according to their skills and experience and the team would perform better under an effective leader. The off-site team shall report at regular intervals regarding their work status and progress (Lockwood 2015). Conclusion Conclusively,managementofanoff-siteteamneedsbetter,effectiveandefficient communication. The methods used decide the quality of output. The teams need to be provided with properly allotted work with their roles and responsibility. The team without an immediate leader lacks direction and such teams are harder to monitor and control. In order to manage an off-site team effectively, accountability should also be established. Identification of problems and immediately taking steps to tackle the challenges helps in achieving the objectives. Regular or scheduled meetings for discussing the issues face to face would minimise the confusion and conflicts as well.
References Binder,J.,2016.Globalprojectmanagement:communication,collaborationand management across borders. Routledge. Breuer, C., Hüffmeier, J. and Hertel, G., 2016. Does trust matter more in virtual teams? A meta-analysis of trust and team effectiveness considering virtuality and documentation as moderators.Journal of Applied Psychology,101(8), p.1151. Ford, R.C., Piccolo, R.F. and Ford, L.R., 2017. Strategies for building effective virtual teams: Trust is key.Business Horizons,60(1), pp.25-34. Hoch, J.E. and Kozlowski, S.W., 2014. Leading virtual teams: Hierarchical leadership, structural supports, and shared team leadership. Journal of applied psychology, 99(3), p.390. Lockwood, J., 2015. Virtual team management: what is causing communication breakdown?. Language and Intercultural Communication, 15(1), pp.125-140. Rockmann, K.W. and Pratt, M.G., 2015. Contagious offsite work and the lonely office: The unintended consequences of distributed work.Academy of Management Discoveries,1(2), pp.150-164. Scott, C.P. and Wildman, J.L., 2015. Culture, communication, and conflict: A review of the global virtual team literature. InLeading global teams(pp. 13-32). Springer, New York, NY. Zuofa, T. and Ochieng, E.G., 2017. Working separately but together: appraising virtual project team challenges.Team Performance Management: An International Journal,23(5/6), pp.227-242.