1. Team Scenario
ETH/316

2. Introduction Teamwork is a vital part of the business world.
Teamwork is the collaboration, cooperation, and coordinated efforts of a group of people. When team members use their skill, they can work together towards a common goal and complete the tasks needed to be successful. There is no ‘I’ in team to communication and collaboration is key to the project’s success.

3. Scenario Here is your scenario: Small Team (5 Members) – Large Project
Three are engaged and collaborate
One is controlling and an independent member
One unable to participate
Here is your situation:
You are working with a small team of colleagues on a large project at work. Your team consists of five people. Three members of the team are highly engaged and seem to work well together. However, one member of the team is controlling and wants to constantly make decisions without consulting other members of the team. A fifth member of the team is going through some difficult times and is not able to participate in the team project as much as he would like.

4. Claudia’s feedback How to create a successful team
Planning, Deliverables, and Expectations
Influence of team member
Just the right tasks
Encouragement of team member - Equivalent credit?
Sensitivity in situations
Find alternate options for participation
Balance of work and needs
Cross training of team members
Ethical and legal consideration
Company Polices and Procedures
Consider what you would do to help the team in the scenario be successful.
There are several opportunities to create a successful project. An essential step in any project is the planning stage and making sure that all tasks and all risks are considered. Once the team has created a charter of the expected deliverables and assignments, they can then set the expectations and rules of the work that will need to be completed.
How would you handle the controlling team member?
Nearly every team has one person that is a little more controlling than others. This is when the team leader needs to find just the right tasks for this individual to complete. Knowing or unknowingly this individual can sabotage the project. Finding the tasks that will one be the most beneficial to the team, but as well keep them busy, can help the team work productively.
How would you handle the team member going through a difficult time?
This can be a sensitive issue that often individuals do not wish to share. When possible, the team leader should have a private meeting with the team member to discuss what they will be able to contribute to the project. This may include participating in meetings, conference calls, or working remotely.
Could he get credit for work he had not done?
Sometimes a person may not be able to participate in the project itself. If this is the case, then the individual should receive some credit for participation. After all, the reason may be unavoidable.
In these situations, how do you balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the group? One thing that is crucial for all teams is that team members be aware of what other members are doing so that in the event of an unexpected situation another member can step in and help. Unforeseen things happen, and this is a risk in any project.
What are the potential ethical and legal considerations you would need to consider? Factors that need to be accounted for are: Are the company guidelines and policies being adhered to? Are there any legal issues that may be involved in the project

5. Daniel’s feedback How to create a successful team
Influence of team member
Encouragement of team member
Equivalent credit?
Balance of work and needs
Ethical and legal considerations
Any teamwork environment requires communication and patience, not everyone understands what it means to work in a team environment and may not be as open. If I had a teammate who is being too controlling, I would put him in charge of small assignments within the project. This would make them responsible for completing these tasks and give them the authority to make changes to those boundaries. For a teammate who is going through some difficult times, I would give him a simple task that needs to be done, like editing and submitting the project. This way he or she still helps complete the project but does feel overwhelmed with everything going on in their lives and yet do enough to receive credit. Ethically I feel like this would be the best solution to handle both scenarios within the group project dynamic.

6. Matt’s feedback How to create a successful team
Influence of team member
Encouragement of team member
Equivalent credit?
Balance of work and needs
Ethical and legal considerations
Making a successful team
To create a successful team, there needs to be a plan. There should be clear, open lines of communication. The whole team needs to be able to talk through issues as well as be available and accountable. Set expectations for each team member based off of each member’s strengths and weaknesses.
Controlling team member
There will always be a member of the team that wants to take over as the leader and makes all the decisions. This is why setting expectations are so important. People need to know what is expected of them. The controlling team member especially needs to feel that they have some control over the outcome of the project. You can help this type of person by giving them extra tasks and letting them express their thoughts and opinions.
Team member that doesn’t contribute as much
This member may be having trouble due to a variety of reasons. They need to be talked to in a one on one setting where they can have an opportunity to share their concerns or issues. Provide this member opportunity that they can participate that work around whatever problems they have. For example, maybe they have a scheduling issue that they need to be able to work on the project at a different date/time or work remotely. Perhaps they are not comfortable with their part of the plan, and their role can be redefined. If this person puts for effort to contribute but is unable to do what was expected of them, they should receive some credit based on that. If they just blatantly didn’t participate, then no credit should be given. In this case, it’s important to consider the circumstances of the individual team member.
Balance of work and needs
Have a plan B for situations that arise(because they will). Training and communication are vital here. Team projects work when the team is on the same page. Members have to be able to adjust and adapt to make sure the project gets completed even if everybody doesn’t do the same amount of work.
Ethical and legal considerations
Consider the companies policies. All actions and contributions to the project should meet the expectations of the companies code of conduct and legal obligations.

7. Robert’s feedback How to create a successful team
Influence of team member
Encouragement of team member
Equivalent credit?
Balance of work and needs
Ethical and legal considerations
To make the team successful, I would try to assign each member specific tasks. Having a member of the team that is controlling I feel that it would be most useful to give that person the job of putting everyone's work together, an editor if you will. The three that are highly motivated I would discuss the challenges of working with the assigned editor and do my best to divide up some of the work from the fifth person who is going through some difficulties. I would have a conversation with the fifth person to get an idea of what type of work that person can do. Ethically I feel that I am fair with all of the team members by playing to their strengths. Legally I would meet with human resources to make sure that I am not creating any problems. I would give credit evenly throughout the team.

8. Zachary’s feedback How to create a successful team
Influence of team member
Encouragement of team member
Equivalent credit?
Balance of work and needs
Ethical and legal considerations
Much of a team’s success is due to the communication and overall morale of the team. For all of these to be kept up, it is essential to enforce the team mentality as much as possible. Creating fun competition within the team at work can also help to build the team mentality and ensure team members are awarded and recognized for extraordinary performances. This is also an excellent way to keep the group focused on improving. Another factor in any team’s successes is the diversity in an organization. This variety can often lead to more sound decision making as a team. Diversity is even required in today’s workplaces, so this moral difference can also meet the necessary legal standards for a company. As a group grows together and works more together, individuals that are controlling and independent will often be given parts of an assignment that can be accomplished alone. This gives that team member the control they need. When someone is down and not fully participating, it is beneficial for them to have the encouragement of the entire team to support them and get them engaged.

9. Similarities How teamwork happens
Communication is essential for successful partnership
Planning
Acknowledging the controlling member just needs to be in charge of a specific task.
Knowing that even a down teammate can still participate and contribute
What were the most common solutions shared? Based on the feedback from the team, it appears that communication and task assignments are the main similarities of teamwork. We all agree that assigning the controlling member specific tasks to be in charge of, helps the team complete the project. Also, we all think communicating with the down member of our team should be dealt with as sensitive as possible and that we should gauge what they are comfortable doing. Additionally, creating an ethical and legal environment, by working with guidelines and policies keeps all members on track.
What lessons can you glean from seeing your team's responses to the scenario? By sharing our thoughts, we can see that we all have the common goal of completing our project and that even the hard to deal with members, or weaker members, can still contribute to the overall success.
What role does ethics play in the individual responses to the scenario? We can see how everyone’s ethics help them in dealing with a group dynamic scenario and use their morals to help with dealing with sensitive situations that could arise while working within a team.

10. Differences Competition within the team Diversity of the team members
Controlling member as the Team Leader
Having a Plan B
What differences did you notice in the individual responses? There where several things mentioned that only appeared once it the discussion.
By using the project to creating a friendly competition, may encourage not only the tasks completion but increase the team morale.
Also mentioned was diversity within the group, by bringing in different strengths can help the team to success.
There was also the idea of putting the challenging member as the team leader, which has its good and bad sides to any project.
Finally, having a Plan B, just in case things to go well with Plan A
How can these ethical differences impact group scenarios?
As long as the competition within the project is healthy and not vindictive, all will remain controlled.
Having a diverse team of individuals work, however, this may not always be available based on numerous factors: (location of the project, possible team members, type of work being completed.)
By placing the controlling member in charge, the team may become frustrated, and arguments become a risk, which in turn may delay the project.
Though having a Plan B may work in some scenarios others it may not and either delay or fail the project.

11. Closing
Throughout this project our team has worked on finding ways to make the project include several different people with different agendas and mindsets. While we had some strong similarities on how to deal with these challenges that I feel shows the strong moral compass of our learning team. As we wanted to make sure that we were inclusive to everyone’s needs. While our differences highlighted the different personalities we have on our team.
“Whatever we accomplish belongs to our entire group, a tribute to our combined effort” ~ Walt Disney

12. Reference
Introduction image: Good Team Good Business - News About Technology, Sports, Business …News About Technology, Sports, Business, Computers and Learn600 × 300Search by image
Scenario image: Blood-Red Pencil: Independent writer? Team player? Can you be both? Blood-Red Pencil - blogger1280 × 1068Search by image
Claudia image: The Agent's Secret to Success in the Life Insurance Industry …LinkedIn1024 × 683Search by image
Zach image:
Similarities image:Similarities and differences of word formation compound words, blends…SlideShare638 × 479Search by image
Differences image:
Similarities and differences of word formation compound words, blends…SlideShare638 × 479Search by image
Our references