MT140M1-1: Describe solutions to management problems.

The Module 1 Assessment requires you to consider how effective teams are built. Some considerations in this assessment include the traits of an effective team leader as well as the strategies one would use to recruit team members that would communicate and work effectively together.

Prior to working on the assessment, consider completing the following learning activity, as it will prepare you to address the assessment requirements.

Using material from Chapter 12 of your text and the article in the supplemental reading (Rao, 2016), you will write an informative essay sharing best practices for effective team-building at a fictional company.

Scenario (fictional): Collapsible Workspaces (CW) creates workspaces based on client needs worldwide. They are a hybrid company mixing online contracting and manufacturing plants located in three countries: The U.S., Spain, and Malaysia. They primarily create small office spaces for up to 10 persons that can then be collapsed and moved to another site in remote areas. The company, in turn, subcontracts a shipping line in each of these three countries that carry the collapsible offices to ports around the world and then trucks the offices to the client site. Companies subscribe on a contractual basis for this collapsible office service once they have initially paid for the construction of the offices. Each team is headed by a senior installer who supervises the two installers, the shipping company contact, and the truckers.

Lately, there have been problems between the installers, the subcontracted shippers, and truckers who must work as a team to get each job completed at the location on time. The shippers and the truckers all say that CW supervisors are not their supervisors. The teams seem stuck in the storming stage (see Exhibit 12.2). This problem has led to delays in installations and cost overruns.

Assessment Checklist:

• Identify and give an example of four traits demonstrated by effective team leaders per Exhibit 12.4 of the textbook.