Case Study

Case 15: Working in Teams: Cross- Functional Dysfunction “Teams are groups of two or more people who interact and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization.” Taking into consideration Case 15, Joe’s team doesn’t see themselves as a social entity nor are they interested in achieving a goal collectively. The situation is that Joe Tanney was chosen by the Executive Director of Operations to lead a task force team to streamline the blue printing process at their company. In this essay, I will discuss if Joe was successful as a team member, and the steps that Joe should take moving forward.
Was Joe successful as a Team Member Joe was given legitimate power by the Executive Director to pull the team together and start the preparation process for the project. He was proactive in his communication to the team in providing an agenda for the first meeting and came prepared to discuss the tasks that needed to be accomplished. Joe’s team members were not as prepared or anxious to move forward with the agenda and the process. Team members showed up to the meeting unprepared and not willing to commit the time needed to accomplish the project. In addition, the meeting had some tense moments as they tried to work through the topics. In my opinion, I think that Joe was satisfactory as a team member but not as a leader. He tried to keep the meeting on topic and the team focused on what needed to be accomplished as opposed to personal issues. In some instances he was a bit arrogant in his answers as well as clearly frustrated. In this team scenario, he is a team member but also a leader, therefore, he needs to help guide the team to ensure successful completion of the project. He would have been a better team member and leader if he had provided more guidance in his initial email to the team. He should have given more