Scenario

In the Week 4 assignment, you worked on a project as a contractor related to defining a company’s mission, vision, and ethics statement. In the Week 6 assignment, you developed a well-rounded view of the company functional areas from the internships you completed as a new employee. Your task for this assignment is to build and plan for a cross-functional team to solve a business problem.

In this assignment, you will bring in the knowledge you gathered earlier of your selected company’s functional areas to assemble a team to solve a problem.

The business problem to be solved:

The logistics function (warehousing, trucking, and inventory) is having a problem with channels of distribution. Some customers have recently complained that their orders are delayed 2–3 weeks, while others have praised the company for delivering the orders in advance. It will require a cross-functional team to study and brainstorm solutions for the situation.

Preparation

In preparation for this assignment, complete the following:

• Study your chosen company website to see what characteristics make its teams successful. Notice if it has any particular team guidelines or communication strategies that contribute to the group functions. You may have to observe the images on the website to make some assumptions about their teamwork.
• Gather the background information you need about key characteristics of effective team members, group processes such as conflict resolution, and communication strategies that make teams successful.
• Access the Team Planning Activity media to review the profiles of eight current employees. Select three people to be members of your team based on their representation of the various functional areas and their individual characteristics. Fill in the grid with the information about each team member. Important: Your manager will also assign one person to your team, so be on the lookout for the additional member. You will meet the assigned individual within the Team Planning Activity.
• Highlight the strengths that each member brings to the team and indicate why those characteristics are important to build an effective team by using the Team Planning Worksheet [DOCX].
• Develop a plan on the Team Planning Worksheet [DOCX] for building your team that you could present to the CEO as part of a budget plan and funding request for staff. You will also create some effective team communication practices and conflict resolution strategies that will support a successful team, and you’ll wrap it up with a final pitch to the CEO about how your plan will result in an effective team that will contribute to organizational success.

Instructions

Develop a plan for building an effective team with representatives from different functional areas that will work together to solve a business problem. Use the Team Planning Worksheet [DOCX] for the team-building plan.

Consider the business problem presented above. In the Team Planning Worksheet [DOCX]:

• Explain the reasons for including the specific functional areas in the organizational team.
• Create a communication plan that includes recommendations for how the team will connect daily, weekly, and over the course of the project.
• List 3–5 steps of a plan to solve the problem.
• Explain strategies for delegating the various responsibilities in each step.
• Describe how business skills from the functional areas will contribute to problem solving and how individual soft skills of the team members will help to maintain a positive working relationship and functional problem solving on the team.
• Explain strategies that the team can use to resolve conflict.

Example assignment: You may use the Week 8 Assignment Example [PDF] to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Additional Requirements

Your assignment should also meet the following requirements:

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, not smaller than 12-point font.
• Organization: Based on the intended CEO audience, your answers should be well-organized and written in clear, succinct language.
• Worksheet: Complete all sections of the Team Planning Worksheet [DOCX], plus a reference page.
• Resources: Include at least three reputable resources to support your ideas. Include a reference page
• APA: Follow APA rules for citing sources that support your analysis and conclusions. See the Evidence and APA section of the Writing Center for guidance.

SCORING GUIDE

Your work will be evaluated using this criteria.

VIEW SCORING GUIDE

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 3: Solve business problems using critical thinking and effective decision making.
• Competency 4: Explain the skills and characteristics of an effective team.
• Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for the field of business.