Using Teamwork in

performance Improvement

$4\mathrm{.}1$ Managing Team Conflict

Description

It is critical to the success of an improvement project that the team leader has a strong understanding of best

practices for avoiding team conflict and resolving conflict if it does happen.

Instructions

Read the following case study:

When staff members were recruited for an improvement project, they were told the team's work would be

additional to their regular work responsibilities but that they had to treat the project as a high priority. The

members were expected to complete team assignments on time and were required to attend meetings.

This was difficult because of other work responsibilities that also needed to be completed. Despite being

aware of the expectations for the improvement project, by the third week of the project, team members

started arriving late to meetings, making excuses for failing to complete their assigned tasks, and neglecting

to return the team leader's phone calls.

If you were the team leader of the group described in case study, how would you refocus and motivate

the team toward achieving the improvement goal? To answer this question, write a report that covers

the following topics:

Your summary of the situation

Analysis of the cause of the poor performance

Actions you propose to take and why

Result you expect to see from your proposed actions

Method to measure the outcome of your actions.