Entire Team By Project Champion example essay topic

Managing Individual Performance The steps a team leader takes to select workable teammates for a project can be challenging and frustrating task. The concepts of team building have been evaluated for many years by psychologists, psychoanalysts and researchers such as Carl Gustav Jung, Abraham Maslow, mother and daughter Katherine Briggs and Isabel Myers-Briggs. The simulation is based on research performed by Myers-Briggs, Abraham Maslow and Carl Jung which deals with organizational structure and individual team member personality traits and how it affects individual / team morale and productivity. Silveira (2003) wrote that as individual learn his or her personality preference they will". ... understand and appreciate their interactive strengths and vulnerabilities" (p. 29). Based on the simulation, this paper will delve into Myers-Briggs Type Inventory personality categories-based on information provided, such as, volunteers' personality profile, interests and hobbies, and notes from the supervisor ("Managing Individual", 2005). Using this profile will determine which candidate will be selected in building case files, moderating self-help groups, perform follow-ups, and supervise confrontational sessions.

On-Line Simulation The simulation starts by introducing DARE, the Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Endeavor, a social responsibility initiative run by Sawyer Pharma, a $3.2 billion multinational pharmaceutical company with presence in 20 countries. The company encourages employees to volunteer 60 hours per year on community service. DARE project provides assistance such as psychological support, counseling and skill training to recovering drug addicts for several months until they can be clean of their addiction and return to a normal life. The simulation selects a "DARE champion" for a new project that requires the individual to choose four out of seven team members with varied skill sets, interests, and motivation who will work with drug abusers to return to society with skill sets which will help them find gainful employment. The objective of this exercise is to explain how selecting a right or wrong team mates and providing those individuals with right or wrong motivations can affect team success and objective.

Selecting The Team McShane and Van Glinow defined team as". ... group of two or more people who interact and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization" (p. 227). This statement means that for a team to be successful in its endeavors there is a need for interdependence and collaboration amongst team members to accomplish common goals. Team members should place the objective of the team higher than individual priorities and be willing to devote whatever effort is necessary to achieve team success. Building Case Files John Conner was chosen as the individual to build case files for the DARE participants in the drug rehabilitation program. A task description for John includes "conduct site visits to verify and research case histories and substance abusers' profile, analyze and record causes and patterns of substance abuse" ("Managing Individual", 2005). In order to build case files, John has to visit drug addict's site and communicate with the individual.

Such a person has to be a team player, task-oriented, extrovert, enjoy working and sharing information with people. John's background as a football quarterback and coaching local baseball league fits Myers-Briggs extrovert (E), intuitive (N), thinker (T), and judge (J) personality trait. John tends to overlook "people" and also has had problems with some of his peers at work, the project champion will have to keep him motivated and steer him to the main goal of the assigned project. Moderate Self Help-Groups With the reputation of being hard-edged and constantly trying out new ideas and possibilities, project champion picked Lisa Stafford as the person responsible for moderating the self help-groups ("Managing Individual", 2005). Lisa has worked with several awareness groups and has also contributed to other social causes. The friendly, personal, interested in others, and quick-thinker qualifies Lisa as extrovert (E), intuitive (N), feeler (F), and perceiver (P) on Myers-Briggs Personality analysis.

Lisa task on the DARE project is to "facilitate interaction within self-help groups, arrange group meetings, handle conflicts and build record of interactions and results" ("Managing Individual", 2005). At work, Lisa does not hesitate to take credit for work done, and project champion needs to be aware to reward Lisa's efforts in the DARE project and to boost her standings amongst her work mates. Perform Follow-Ups Project champion assigned Nicola Minnelli to perform follow-ups task which includes to "monitors addicts in family, work and community environments" ("Managing Individual", 2005). Nicola's role in the DARE project will require her to possess good observation and to be aware of participants degree of drug addiction and to interpret reported data.

Nicola is a quite, reserved and analytical person, and prefers to read or listen to music when she has time. Nicole attends church regularly and a member of the church choir. Nicola's quite but friendly and generally reserved character qualifies her as an introvert (I), intuitive (N), thinker (T), and perceiver (P) on Myers-Briggs personality analysis. Nicola's stubbornness of not taking advice could be a throw back to the team and will have a cascading effect on the participants.

Project champion will have to keep an eye on Nicola, and step in to resolve any conflict that arises. Supervise Confrontation Sessions With a knack for identifying problem areas and analyzing the root causes before the issue balloon into an issue, Michelle Levy was selected by the program champion to supervise confrontation sessions in the DARE project. However, Michelle is a bit of a pessimist, and always takes the gloomy side of event and needs to be pushed to look at things positively. On the Myers-Briggs scale of Personality trait, Michelle is definitely an extrovert (I), sensors (S), thinker (T), and perceiver (P). Michelle lassie faire attitude at work will require program champion to reassure her of the importance of dividing her time evenly between work and DARE. MBTI Personality Profile Assessment Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) evaluation was founded in 1940 by Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs-Myers on the insights of Swiss psychiatrist Calvin Jung who". ... proposed theory that identifies the way people prefer to perceive their environment as well as obtain and process information" (McShane & Von Glinow, 2002, p. 87).

According to McShane-Von Glinow (2002) an extroverted person is "outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive" (p. 86). This is in direct opposite to an introverted person who is quite, shy, inhibited and stand off-ish and keeps to themselves. The sensing person makes decisions based on". ... what can be seen, touched, smelled, tasted heard, or experienced kinesthetic ally" (McCaulley, 2000, p. 118). On the contrary, an intuitive individual based decisions on subjective and quantitative feedback. The thinking individual uses scientific logic and analysis to recognize the meaning of perception, whereas the feeling individual weighs the consequence of his or her actions. The judging individual". ... enjoy the control of decision making and want to resolve problems quickly" (McShane &Von Glinow, 2002, p. 87).

Finally, the perceiving individual adapts to situations, and gathers more information before making a decision. The Myers-Briggs Personality assessment of the DARE team yielded the following results of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test: John - ENTP, Lisa - ENTP, Nicola - INTO, and Michelle - IS TP (Managing Individual, 2005). It is very obvious that the team is equally divided 2 each in the case of E vs. I. In case of N vs. S the team prefers 3 to 1 ratio; furthermore T vs. F the team scored resounding 3 to 1. In case of P vs. J, the team had 3 P and 1 J. From this analysis it is clear that the DARE team is ENTP, and further additional test will determine E vs. I, since members trait were evenly split. Based on the overall determinants, DARE volunteers are an ENTP team. According to McCaulley (2000), MBTI indicator could be used to". ... build mutual respect, better teamwork and problem solving, improved communication, and higher productivity in the workplace" (p. 117).

Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow, ". ... the Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory provides both a theory of human motives by classifying basic human needs in a hierarchy, and a theory of human motivation that relates these needs to general behavior" (Wa hba & Bridwell, 1973, p. 514). Maslow's theory can be classified as a hierarchy because it builds upon the previous or lower needs within the hierarchy. Maslow hierarchy of needs comprise of physiological needs, safety needs, the belonging ness or love needs, the esteem needs, and the need for self-actualization (McShane & Von Glinow, 2002, p. 134). The dominant factors in Maslow's theory are the concepts of deprivation and gratification that links the human needs to general behavior. In creating a team such as the volunteer team for the DARE program, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory can be use to resolve conflict, motivate and reward individual volunteers. While Lisa and Nicola may need to be recognized for their work, they may also need to be rewarded and guided towards the goal of the team.

The project champion needs to communicate to Lisa the importance of both work and the volunteer project since her supervisor noted her job performance has waned due to her participation in the volunteer project ("Managing Individual", 2005). John on the other hand, having the leadership MBTI trait may need intellectual support and direction in times of crises. Upper management decision to cut back 30% of volunteer efforts will have drastic draw back on the individual volunteers if not addressed properly to the entire team by project champion. Project champion should meet with team and convey his appreciation for their volunteerism and the belief in their abilities, and challenge the team to complete the project under the new timeline.

The challenge motivation proposed was visual index of". ... addicts rehabilitated... , awards for exceptional performers, and reassign tasks with the volunteers' consensus" ("Managing Individual", 2005). In conclusion, the simulation has conveyed the need to create teams within organization based on their personality traits. Finding the right person for each role within a team can help to complete work assignments on time and within scope. MBTI indicator can be helpful to structure teams at work and assign task to suitable individuals, and can also help to "improve breakdowns between departments and business units" (Golder, 2003, p. 3). However, solely relying on MBTI and Jungian indicators could be misleading since there are many confounding life experiences and socioeconomic factors which influences who we are and ought to behave.

Managers should be careful attaching too much importance to individual personalities, because people are different, and diverse personalities such as different cultural backgrounds could enhance team creativity.