Austin Thompson

January 26, 2020

M02 Study Questions – Teamwork

1. After reading The handbook of high-performance virtual teams, list and explain in your

own words three requirements for successful collaboration in a virtual team context.

The three ingredients for success in the virtual tem content per The Handbook of High-
Performance Virtual Teams are Depth of Relationships, Shared Understanding and Trust. The
lack of “being there” is an issue for the depth of relationships. Body language is not present and
it is easy to interpret a text differently from the way the sender intended it to mean. A virtual
team will likely have better success if they meet face-to-face, whether in person or through video
call interaction. Shared Understanding is another key in the success of a virtual team. The
individual should look at an overall goal and see that their work is important to the overall
completion of the puzzle, and metaphorically a person would not want to see the whole puzzle
partially complete because they could not see the “whole picture”. Trust is the final requirement
of a virtual team. Team members must trust each other to make a commitment to get something
done. Making these commitments and promises into action will fortify the trust.

2. After reading "Teams and team building", in your own words, explain the five-stage
team process described by Robbins.

There is the forming, where the team is created, bonds are formed, team members
learn about other’s strengths and weaknesses, and the task is set and known. The
storming stage is the stage where the team members realize the hardships put onto the
as individuals. This means that some might find it difficult to feel dependent on
somebody else making or breaking their grade. The norming stage is the stage where
team members which create habits that are known as normal in the group. These habits
are meant to help the team accomplish its task. Performing is the stage in which the
team performs the duties to create the project and succeed at doing the task. Finally,
adjourning is the stage in which all the tasks are wrapped up and analyses are formed
based on the performance of the team.

3. After reading "Conflict management", in your own words, describe two different
strategies for managing conflict discussed in the article. Describe a scenario when you
would use one of the strategies to manage conflict while working on a group project in
this course?

One of the topics discussed in this PDF was talking it out with another in conflict management.
This meant to be a direct “one-on-one nonthreatening discussion” in which a person talks about
the conflict and how both parties may come to a resolution to make a bit of a win-win situation.
Taking turns is another conflict-resolution technique. A team might dictate a schedule in which
every team member puts in about an equal amount of time to each task. It is harder to get burnt
out this way. One week a team member might be given the PowerPoint to work on while another
Austin Thompson
January 26, 2020
M02 Study Questions – Teamwork
might research some information. This way the project can be a little more varied in what
research may be gathered (but still relevant) and a Power Point might have a more interesting
presentation (of course there might be hard and fast rules about what might be allowed in the
Power Point).

4. After reading "Adventures of Team Fantastic: A Practical Guide for Team Leaders &
Members", in your own words, explain how this chapter advises you to receive feedback
from a team member.

The chapter tells us to take good honest feedback, and study it. After creating some sort of
feedback system, the other teammates may give feedback in basically a constructive way, being
encouraging but fair, and not making a huge deal out of the feedback receiver’s mistakes. A
person must find certain ways to improve their project, and then the feedback loop repeats, until
a conclusion is reached.