High Performing Work Team Analysis

This assignment is worth 20% of your final grade.  It gives you an opportunity to analyze a tool used to assess the performance of a team.  You must complete this assignment individually, without contacting other students, and you may not use a paper or any part of a paper from a previous class or from another person or an online source.  If you have any questions about this assignment, please post them in the Ask the Professor discussion forum so that everyone can benefit from the answers.  The assignment addresses Course Objectives 3, 4 and 5.

Organizations often use surveys or questionnaires to obtain information regarding employee satisfaction, organizational issues impacting staff performance, and perceptions of pay and benefits, organizational culture, etc.  Sometimes, questionnaires are used in classes for staff development and focus on behavioral styles, conflict styles, or team behaviors.  Additionally, surveys may be used to help intact teams or departments focus on and resolve team differences or performance issues. Many times, the questions themselves provide people with insight into what the organization expects from its employees.

The Scenario

You are the leader of a cross-functional team that has not been performing well.  You are not sure whats causing the problems, but you know that the team cannot continue this way.  You have contacted the Human Resources (HR) department for help and they suggested using the High Performing Work Teams Survey as a tool to diagnose problems within the team.  Every team member will complete the survey anonymously.  The HR department will analyze the results and will work with you to develop a plan to address issues. 

Your Task

Read the questions in the High Performing Work Teams Survey. The survey follows these instructions.  You will analyze the questions, identify trends you see in the questions, and discuss what you and the members of your team could learn by taking this survey.

Write 4-7 pages (not counting the cover or reference pages), summarizing the trends you identified, describing what you and your team members could learn from taking the survey, and discussing your conclusions about what is required of team members in order to create a high performing work team. Support your opinions and statements with a minimum of five references from sources published within the last ten years. 

You can cite scholarly and practitioner-oriented journals, newspaper articles, YouTube videos, (but not Wikipedia, vendor websites, or other non-academic sources.) Please use the UMUC library to search for appropriate sources rather than Google or other search engines.  Librarians are available by phone, email, and chat; they are excellent at their jobs and they love to help students.  See the Library link in the Resources section (on the ribbon at the top of our classroom) or go directly to https://sites.umuc.edu/library/index.cfm for more information and to begin searching for sources. You can also consult a graduate writing tutor for help with organizing your ideas, presenting them clearly, and complying with APA style requirements..  You can access tutors through the Writing Tutoring module in our classroom. 

Use APA format for citations, references, and quotations.  This means your list of references should start on a separate page, and should be double spaced, with a hanging indent and no spaces between entries.  Your analysis should be 4-7 pages (not counting the cover or reference pages), double spaced with one inch margins and a font size of at least 11 points.  Criteria for Grading High Performing Work Team Analysis are attached to this document (they follow the High Performing Work Teams Survey).  The criteria give details on how your analysis will be graded.  Keep in mind that most organizations value efficient communication; busy managers dont have time and most dont have the desire to read long reports.  Keep your writing clear and concise.

Please add the following statement to the cover of your paper:

This paper is my own work that I created specifically for this course and this section.  All research or material I used in preparing this paper has been properly acknowledged within the assignment in accordance with academic standards for complete and accurate citation of sources.

Submit your assignment electronically via the Assignment folder.
Name your file this way: LastNameFirstInitial_WorkTeamAnalysis
(Example: StudentJ_WorkTeamAnalysis)

Due date: Sunday, [insert date], 11:59 p.m. Eastern time

High Performing Work Team Survey

The High Performing Work Team Survey appears below.  The criteria for grading this assignment follow the survey.

Mission:5 Items
1. I understand what contributions I am expected to make to the organization
2. I understand how this team’s performance will affect the business results of the company.
3. I can describe the mission or why this team exists.
4. I understand the team’s primary purpose.
5. Team members agree on the major work functions that our team is to perform.

Goals:5 Items
6. I understand the team’s goals.
7. I am highly motivated to achieve the goals.
8. I understand the team’s long term goals.
9. I understand the standards for team quality and effectiveness.
10. This team has goals that are closely linked to the company’s goals.

Roles:5 Items
11. I understand the role I am expected to perform for team success.
12. Team members are handling all job functions that the team is required to perform.
13. I understand what is expected of other team members.
14. Team members maintain a clear focus on the high priority tasks that are to be completed.
15. At least one member of this team attempts to maintain positive/harmonious relationships.

Procedures:5 Items
16. We have procedures that encourage members to participate equally.
17. We have procedures for providing feedback directly to team members.
18. We have procedures for handling the common problems or unexpected events.
19. Agendas are distributed before each team meeting.
20. Follow-up dates are set when actions are agreed upon.

Relationships:5 Items
21. I am encouraged to express my ideas even when my ideas disagree with the majority.
22. Team members live up to their promises.
23. Team members listen to me even when they disagree with me.
24. Team members have given me positive feedback and recognition.
25. Team members solicit ideas and help from me.

Effectiveness:5 Items
26. This team usually completes tasks and meets its deadlines.
27. The team is fulfilling its purpose or mission.
28. Team meetings are efficient.
29. Team meeting end up with all topics and work completed.
30. This team is effective compared to other teams.

Satisfaction:5 Items
31. I am satisfied with my job and responsibilities on this team.
32. I get a sense of personal enjoyment being a member of this team.
33. Morale is high on this team.
34. The team pulls together as a unit.
35. My skills and knowledge are fully used on this team.

Conflict Resolution:5 Items
36. Differences in style and opinion are encouraged.
37. Team members are allowed to be different.
38. Problems and conflicts are resolved with solutions that meet the needs of everyone involved.
39. Problems and conflicts are confronted until they are resolved.
40. When team members disagree, they listen openly to each other.

2

Criteria for Grading High Performing Work Team Analysis

Note: Your analysis should be 4-7 pages long, excluding the reference and cover pages. 

Criteria

A
B
C
F
Points Earned
Knowledge of Relevant Theories and Concepts
(45 pts)
Student demonstrated exceptional knowledge of relevant theories and concepts from the course; all statements and opinions were supported by appropriate citations from the literature.

45 41 points
Student demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of relevant theories and concepts from the course; most statements and opinions were supported by appropriate citations from the literature.

40 36 points
Student demonstrated less than satisfactory knowledge of relevant theories and concepts from the course; some statements and opinions were not supported by appropriate citations from the literature.

35 32 points
Student demonstrated unsatisfactory knowledge of relevant theories and concepts from the course; many statements and opinions were not supported by appropriate citations from the literature.

31 0 points

Comments

Quality of Analysis
(25 pts)
Student did an exceptional job of analyzing the survey and integrating course readings.  Student cited more than the minimum number of references; sources listed were all scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years.

25 23 points
Student did a satisfactory job of analyzing the survey and integrating course readings.  Student cited the minimum number of references; sources listed were primarily scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years.

22 20 points
Student did a less than satisfactory job of analyzing the survey and integrating course readings.  Student may not have cited the minimum number of references; some sources listed were not scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years.

19 18 points
Student did an inadequate job of analyzing the survey and integrating course readings.  Student did not cite the minimum number of references; many of the sources listed were not scholarly or practitioner journals, newspapers, annual reports, or academic books from the last ten years.

17 0 points

Comments

Presentation of Ideas and Mechanics
(20 pts)
Student presented ideas in a compelling manner with no distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement was met.

20 18 points
Student presented ideas presented in a clear, coherent manner with few distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement was met.

17 16 points
Student presented ideas in a somewhat organized manner with several distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement may not have been met.

15 14 points
Student presented ideas in a poorly organized or incoherent manner with many distracting grammar or spelling problems; the page length requirement may not have been met.

13 0 points

Comments

APA formatting
(10 pts)
All citations, quotations, and references were properly formatted or contained one or two minor errors.

10 – 9 points
Most citations, quotations, and references were properly formatted or contained a few minor errors.

8 points
Some citations, quotations, and references were not properly formatted or contained major errors.

7 points
Most citations, quotations, and references were not properly formatted or contained many errors.

6 – 0 points

Comments

Total Points Earned
(100 points max)

Overall Comments