Leadership and Teamwork: Analyzing the Allison and Penny Conflict

This report delves into a case study highlighting a conflict between Allison and Penny within a team, exacerbated by offshore work arrangements. The analysis examines the mistakes made by a manager, Craig, in addressing the situation and identifies the core issues of miscommunication and differing perceptions between the team members. The report emphasizes the importance of team building, regular meetings, and proactive conflict management. It suggests improvements like team-building activities and a change in Craig's approach to foster better team dynamics and resolve the conflict. The reflective part of the report underscores the value of teamwork, highlighting how effective team collaboration is essential for organizational success and personal career development. The student emphasizes the need for healthy team relationships and the importance of conflict resolution skills for managers to guide teams towards achieving organizational goals.

Running head: TEAM WORK
TEAM WORK
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The given report throws light on the case study and the conflict between Penny and Allison.
Team work is often undermined but in reality forms an essential part of the organization, for this
purpose it is important for any organization to inculcate team collaboration and team work ethics
among the different members. The given report throws light on the case study. A brief analysis
of the case has been provided followed by the different aspects of the case. Certain
recommendations for the same have also been provided.

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Table of Contents
Part 1:...............................................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
The case scenario.............................................................................................................................3
Mistakes committed by Craig..........................................................................................................3
Conflict evident...............................................................................................................................4
How to resolve the given issue........................................................................................................4
Reasons for the ineffectiveness of the team....................................................................................4
Improvement....................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
Part 2:...............................................................................................................................................7
Reflective.....................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Part 1:
Introduction
Team Work is an essential part of the organization. An organization functions well if it
has a good bond between the different team members. It goes a long way in assisting the firm to
achieve its goals and objectives (Nancarrow et al. 2013). Furthermore, if the work is being
completed with the help of off shoring, it becomes essentially important to inculcate team
building in the given scenario, as the different members of the organization are unable to see one
another face to face and there may arise a situation whereby the different members may have
certain difficulties (Kvarnström 2008). The primary aim of the given report is to discuss the case
scenario and describe the importance of team work thereby highlighting the relationship between
Allison and Penny
The case scenario
The given case for which the difficult situation has come to surface has taken place
because of the rift between Allison and Penelope. Earlier when the team used to work together
under the same roof, there existed normal rifts between the two ladies; however they did not
seem to be anything serious (Maruca 1998). However recently, as a majority of the work takes
place in the offshoring format, the ladies have been facing problem with one another. It has
happened that one of them believes that the other is being too authoritative and trying to demean
the other one in front of the clients. Allison has been with the firm since a long time and feels
that she is the unofficial team leader, however Penny`s behaviour towards her seems to
authoritative to her which then leads to conflict between their interests. As Allison is
overdramatic she feels that Penny`s relationship is quite unjustified towards her and in the same
manner Penny feels the same (Costa, Passos and Bakker 2014).
Mistakes committed by Craig
The primary mistake being committed by Craig is that he took the situation quite lightly.
He believed that he should have communicated with the different members involved in the given
conflict using a single meeting, where both of them were present. Although the given scenario is

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plausible, due to the off shoring work that is currently taking place, this could not have been
implemented easily (Russ et al. 2013).
Conflict evident
The conflict which is quite evident in the given case study is that there exist certain
miscommunications and misunderstandings between the different team members and specifically
Penny and Allison. Both of them had to work alongside each other but had various differences
amongst them. Penny felt that Allison`s behavior was quite irrational and Allison thought that
Penny was very authoritative. Both of them were not feeling very comfortable with one another
and for this reason they often created a scene in front of the clients. For this reason, it there us a
conflict among the team members and all of the different team members also felt some kind of a
problem against Penny (Galegher, Kraut and Egido 2014). Hence, Penny felt the need to
communicate with Craig and had a meeting with Penelope which greatly hurt Allison who felt
that a joint meeting could have been conducted and then the issue being faced by the different
employees, could have been solved easily. Hence, due to this Allison has hinted a resignation.
How to resolve the given issue
The given scenario could have been resolved easily if Craig had shown a bit of
responsibility towards his team members and if he had been able to easily identify the given
conflict at an early stage. If Craig would have been able to successfully solve the given problem
at an earlier stage and taken up the issue with more seriousness then he would have been easily
able to solve the issue at hand and would have been able to not bring the given scenario at this
stage (Fidalgo-Blanco et al. 2013).
It is believed that the conflict needs to be resolved at an early stage before it escalates and
becomes too big for the management to handle.
Reasons for the ineffectiveness of the team
The ineffectiveness in the team is due to the following reasons:
1. Distance between the team members- As the different employees have been working on
an off shore basis, they have not been able to confront one another properly.

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2. Lack of team building activities- There has been no witness of any team building
activities among the different team members which could have gone a long way in
solving the issue at an early stage itself (Valentine, Nembhard and Edmondson 2015).
3. Behavior of Craig- Craig seems to have given them too much freedom and the flexibility
in their work schedules has bought about the given scenario.
Improvement
1. Conducting regular meetings-
Regular meetings need to be conducted in order to bring about resolving scenarios between
the different team members.
2. Team building activities
Team building excursions and activities need to be built up continuously in order to
ensure that the different team members gel with each other continuously and there does not exist
any disparity among the thinking of different members.
3. Craig`s behavior needs to be altered
Craig needs to consider the behavior of the employees and find better solutions.
Therefore, if the given is implemented and Allison and Penny are bought about in front of
one another thereby have a face to face conversation and making them realize the need to respect
one another than the issue might get resolved (Dettmer, Knackendoffel and Thurston 2013). If
the given steps are implemented, there will be no problem in the future.
Conclusion
Therefore from the given analysis it could have been stated that team building and
conflict management plays a crucial role in managing a team. As seen from the given report the
issue between Allison and Penny can be solved using a team management tool of conducting

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regular meetings and making them confront the issue. If the issue is not dealt with one a face to
face meeting then the problem cannot be solved. It is the role of a manager to ensure that the
team is successfully able to manage conflicts under his guidance

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Part 2:
Reflective
The value of team work cannot be undermined. The society is formed of different groups
who have members and due to this it is very important for different members in a team to have
healthy relationships with one another. This is because the members in a group are
interdependent and that will require them to work keeping in mind the needs of the other
members.
According to Robinson and Stubberud (2014), Team work has better results for the
organization as compared to the individual work. If individuals in a team are able to perform
well and there does not exist any synergy between the different members in a team then, there
may arise a situation whereby the goals in an organization may not be achieved carefully.
Before undertaking the given coursework, I was not aware of the various concepts and
their underlying importance in a team. I had a belief that team work is not as important as
individual contribution and that if the different team member’s work together towards successful
goal completion, the organization will be able to prosper. However after analyzing the different
case studies in the given coursework and going through the real life experiences, my perception
about team work changed.
I have learnt various theories on team work and according to me this will go a long way
in helping me to prosper in my career. I believe I would like to build up my team work and team
collaboration skills as a good team worker assists the firm and helps the team to achieve their
targets. Furthermore a good team collaboration skill also goes a long way in engaging in long
term relationship with the other team members. The importance of team relationships need to be
understood and given value to.
Lastly, if I have good team skills and have build up adequate details from the coursework
it will go a long way in assisting the team in which I will be performing in. This will in a way be
beneficial for the firm as well.

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As a manager I will be required to assist the organization and help the different team
members who have been facing conflicts and assist them in achieving their organizational goals.
A team needs to function in a synergy and as a manager, it will be my responsibility to manage
my team and make them realize that they will not be able to function without one another. A
good team can easily achieve the organizational goals and able to bring about competitive
success to the organization.

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References
Costa, P., Passos, A.M. and Bakker, A., 2014. Empirical validation of the team work engagement
construct. Journal of Personnel Psychology.
Dettmer, P., Knackendoffel, A., and Thurston, L. P. ,2013. Collaboration, consultation, and
teamwork for students with special needs. Pearson.
Fidalgo-Blanco, Á., Sein-Echaluce, M.L., García-Peñalvo, F.J. and Conde, M.Á., 2015. Using
Learning Analytics to improve teamwork assessment. Computers in Human Behavior, 47,
pp.149-156.
Galegher, J., Kraut, R.E. and Egido, C., 2014. Intellectual teamwork: Social and technological
foundations of cooperative work. Psychology Press.
Kvarnström, S., 2008. Difficulties in collaboration: a critical incident study of interprofessional
healthcare teamwork. Journal of interprofessional care, 22(2), pp.191-203.
Maruca, RF 1998, ‘How do you manage an off-site team?’, Harvard Business Review*, July –
August, pp. 1 – 7.
Nancarrow, S.A., Booth, A., Ariss, S., Smith, T., Enderby, P. and Roots, A., 2013. Ten principles
of good interdisciplinary team work. Human resources for Health, 11(1), p.19.
Robinson, S. and Stubberud, H.A., 2014. Teaching creativity, team work and other soft skills for
entrepreneurship. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 17(2), p.186.
Russ, S., Rout, S., Sevdalis, N., Moorthy, K., Darzi, A. and Vincent, C., 2013. Do safety
checklists improve teamwork and communication in the operating room? A systematic
review. Annals of surgery, 258(6), pp.856-871.
Valentine, M.A., Nembhard, I.M. and Edmondson, A.C., 2015. Measuring teamwork in health
care settings: a review of survey instruments. Medical care, 53(4), pp.e16-e30.