View this interactive discussion scenario and answer the question(s) posed at the end of the presentation.

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I have included the 1st classmate response needed

Team Building Discussion

Jaclyn Bruder posted Jan 28, 2020 12:37 PM

At this point in the scenario Sarah’s workshop training was a success and the group is now in the norming stage of development – they are motivated and ready to reach the group goals, but also setting up norms and ground rules for day to day life on the team. Sarah would need to continue to build on the momentum, especially with the high turnover that comes with the restaurant business. The three self assessments provide some insight into how I would, in Sarah’s shoes, lead and manage this group into a successful team. The team assessment scored a 48 – I am a solid team member working well with an effective team. I understand group structure and team member development, which will help me grow the strengths of my team. The management assessment scored a 72- well on my way to becoming a good manager. I need to focus on using effective discipline when necessary and not avoiding the feedback, especially when social loafing is likely to occur among working groups. I can delegate effectively and develop skills of the right people. In the leadership assessment I scored a 69 – being well on my way to becoming an effective leader. However, I have self-confidence issues that could prevent me from utilizing my skills in fear of failure, so I need to have faith in my plan and ideas by being as prepared as possible.

The first step to my leadership plan is to review all feedback received from the workshop surveys. This will allow me to better learn the employees different roles and how to manage conflicts that will inevitably arise. Understanding the root of the performance issues is key to developing the plan. It is also the key to developing the right employees. I will schedule weekly staff meetings, which we have at my current office. I find the weeks where the meeting is canceled or delayed, we sometimes lose a little focus or urgency on projects or issues. These staff meetings will keep the waitstaff team focused on an area of improvement each week, as well as a strength. I want to give the team praise regularly when they do a good job, per reinforcement theory. Building off of this, I would implement an employee of the month based on performance/improvement/innovation/etc. I will make the criteria transparent and clear, so it does not become a “popularity contest”. They will receive a framed picture on the wall, plus a reward, such as a $100 gift card. I would also include more team tasks and roles, rotating between small production, idea generation or problem solving tasks. For example, I may ask the team to brainstorm the name for one of the specials the following week. This will help build cohesion among the team. The ultimate goal is to have the team become somewhat self-managed. Each employee keeps the others accountable to each other. The waitstaff can be an effective team, working together to support each other, the team and the restaurant as a whole.

2nd classmate response needed

Jeffrey Kresch posted Jan 28, 2020 5:54 PM

With the item we have been tasked with this week, I am glad that I did fairly well on the assessments. My scores were; 72 – team effectiveness quiz, 82 – leadership skills quiz, and 84 – management skills quiz. That being the case, not only should I be able to be a productive member of a team, I should also be able to create an effective team out of the waitstaff and lead them to success in offering great, consistent service to their customers. This will be a difficult task without knowing personality types, age ranges, previous experiences values, beliefs, or current skill level amongst staff, but there are still general principles that can be applied to the group to turn them into an efficient and consistent team.

I think that following an established method, such as the Stages of Group Development developed by Bruce Tuckman (1965), would be the best way to begin this process (Bauer & Erdogan, 2018). Though following conventional methods is not always the answer, the Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing model is a good place to start when you do not much about the group dynamic (Bauer & Erdogan, 2018). Not only does this provide a flexible path for the waitstaff to take, it also helps Sarah to define her role as the group shifts through different phases of group development. For instance, during the forming phase, Sarah may want to have two meetings where she goes over the reason for formation, reviews the status of the current customer service situation, but then also brings a list of 10 questions or so for the group to go around the room and answer. This provides direction while simultaneously allowing the group a chance to get to know each other. To get the group through the storming phase, I would suggest bi-weekly meetings to review “How Are We Doing?” cards that were provided to each customer with their meals. Taking a page from the Pret a Manger handbook, I would also enact a rule that each waiter/waitress would be required to give $5 a week to other waiters/waitresses who they saw providing excellent service (Bauer & Erdogan, 2018). I would allow the team to decide how to monitor this as well as to come up with creative ideas for continued excellent service in the future.

Letting the waitstaff work on these two areas together is an effort to build up their confidence as a team and to improve their cohesion. As we read this week, the more cohesive that a team becomes, the more productive it will be (Bauer & Erdogan, 2018). Cohesion also improves a team’s efficiency and has a side benefit of helping a team to do the right thing. Of course, I would be there to answer any questions and to guide them along their path if need be. But the more they figured out on their own as a team, the more they would continue to accomplish as long as we took the proper steps to avoid a groupthink mentality and kept the team challenged at the proper level (Bauer & Erdogan, 2018). Without knowing more specifics about the team dynamic, these are the steps I would take to manage the newly formed team to consistent customer service success.

Reference

Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2018). Human relations in administration (4th ed.). Asheville, NC: Soomo Learning. Available from http://www.webtexts.com