This document provides guidance for Week 5 of an online course on leadership skills assessment. It outlines the learning objectives and activities for the week, which include discussions on leadership communication and teamwork, as well as a final written assignment. Students are instructed to focus on information and knowledge management, collaborative learning, and the role of teams. The document also provides recommendations for effective team design, including defining team purpose and roles, and creating an environment that facilitates collaboration, communication, and performance.

1. MGT321
Week 5

2. WEEK 5 INSTRUCTOR GUIDANCE
MGT321: Assessing
Leadership Skills
MGT321
Week 5

3. MGT321 COURSE LEARNING MAP
 Week 1: Introduction to Leadership
 Building a practical foundation for assessing leader
effectiveness.
 Week 2: Leadership Perspectives
 Understanding individual and situational approaches.
 Week 3: Personal Dimensions of Leadership
 Internalizing leadership qualities.
 Week 4: From Followership to Leadership
 Understanding leader-follower dynamics.
 Week 5: Leadership for Performance
 Communication and teamwork for excellence.

4. WEEK 5 LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Task Description Due
Discussion #1 The Saddle Creek Deli Thurs, Day 3
Discussion #2 Lessons from Geese Thurs, Day 3
Course Survey End of course survey Mon, Day 7
Written Assignment Final paper for the course Mon, Day 7
Assigned Reading Description Source
Announcements Review course announcements for week. Course Home
Week 4 Feedback Review instructor feedback for
discussions and written assignment.
Waypoint
Text: Chapter 9 Leadership Communication (Daft, 5e)
Text: Chapter 10 Leading Teams (Daft, 5e)

5. WEEK 5: IMPORTANT NOTES
 Discussions:
 Be substantive – 200-250 words for initial post.
 Be scholarly – provide references and citations for
information taken from other sources.
 Final Paper Assignment:
 Final paper for the course.
 Carefully review and follow assignment instructions.
 Writing Resources:
 Ashford Writing Center & Library
 FSB APA Style Standards

6. This week you will learn to:
1. Apply critical thinking skills to select appropriate
methods for improving communication.
2. Determine the personal qualities of team
leadership.
WEEK 5 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

7. WEEK 5 INSTRUCTOR GUIDANCE
 Focus for this week
 Information and knowledge management
 Collaborative learning
 The role of teams
 Effective team design
 Elements for effective and efficient team design
 Collaboration and communication
 A high performance team environment
(Brown, 2011; Senge, 2006; Weiss, 2011)

8. (CONSIDERATIONS FOR EFFECTIVE TEAM DESIGN)
DEFINITION OF A TEAM
 Team –
 “A small number of people with complimentary skills who are
committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and
approach for which they hold themselves accountable.”
 Work Group –
 “Consists of people who learn from one another and share
ideas but are not interdependent in an important fashion and
are working toward a shared goal.”
(Katzenbach & Smith 1994; Thompson, 2008)

9. (CONSIDERATIONS FOR EFFECTIVE TEAM DESIGN)
THE FUNCTION OF A TEAM
 Basic function:
 Exchange of product, service, and
information within and without team
boundaries.
 Continuous engagement in information
processes.
(Deeter-Schmelz, 1997; Govindarajan & Gupta, 2001; Kroeger, Thuesen, & Rutledge, 2002;
 Fundamental objective of team design:
 Optimization of resources for effective & efficient acquisition,
processing and transference of product, service, & information.
 Transform information into knowledge.

10. (CONSIDERATIONS FOR EFFECTIVE TEAM DESIGN)
THE PURPOSE OF A TEAM
 Teams can be categorized by purpose
 Tactical: execute well-defined plans.
 Problem-solving: resolve on-going problems.
 Creative: explore possibilities and opportunities.
 Elements of effective team design
 Tasks – the work to be performed
 People – the desired knowledge and skills
 Processes – structure and flows
(Kroeger et al., 2002; Thompson, 2008)

11. (CONSIDERATIONS FOR EFFECTIVE TEAM DESIGN)
TEAM ROLES
 Team Role =
 Individual tendency to behave, contribute, and interrelate with
others at work in certain distinctive ways.
 Team Role Clarity =
 The ability of each member to know who is responsible for
which tasks.
 Considerations for effective team design
 Clearly defined tasks
 Optimum match of tasks and skills
(Deeter-Schmelz, 1997; Kroeger et al., 2002)

12. (CONSIDERATIONS FOR EFFECTIVE TEAM DESIGN)
CONNECTING THE ELEMENTS
 The “Knowing-Doing Gap”
 Dissonance between knowledge and action.
 Inhibits team performance & effectiveness.
 Actualizing the team process
 Leadership support and commitment
 Performance-driven infrastructure
 Competent team members
 Collaborative workplace climate
(Pfeffer & Sutton, 2000; Thompson, 2008)

13. (CONSIDERATIONS FOR EFFECTIVE TEAM DESIGN)
TEAM ENVIRONMENT
 Creating and sustaining a positive team environment
 Employment policies & practices
 Performance appraisals (360-degree feedback)
 Team-based rewards and recognition
 Continuous training (task & teamwork skills)
 Collaborative communication environment
 Responsive communication systems
 Social relationships (negotiation & conflict management)
 Technical information systems (accessibility & distribution)
 Collaborative technologies
(Deeter-Schmelz, 1997; Govindarajan et al., 2001; Polzer, 2008)

14. RECOMMENDED
READINGS
Elloy. D. (2008). The relationship between self-leadership behaviors and organization variables in
a self-managed work team environment. Management Research News, 31(11), 801-810.
Gardenswartz, L., Cherbosque, J., & Rowe, A. (2009). Coaching teams for emotional intelligence
in your diverse workplace. T+D, 63(2), 44-49.
Scott, S. G., & Einstein, W. O. (2001). Strategic performance appraisal in team-based
organizations: One size does not fit all. Academy Of Management Executive, 15(2), 107-
116. doi:10.5465/AME.2001.4614990
Townsend, A., DeMarie, S., & Hendrickson, A. (1998). Virtual teams: Technology and the
workplace of the future. Academy of Management Executive, 12(3), 17-29.
Zaccaro, S., Rittman, A., & Marks, M. (2001). Team leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 12(4), 451.

15. ANY
QUESTIONS?
Please post
your
questions
in the Ask
the
Instructor
thread.

16. REFERENCES
16
Benson, J. (2008). Team management. Great Neck Publishing. Retrieved October 19, 2008, from Research Starters – Business
database.
Brown, D.R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Carlton, L. (2004). Finding the right method of team compensation. SHRM Information Center. [SHRM White Paper] Retrieved from
http://www.shrm.org/hrresources/whitepapers_published/CMS_010590.asp
Communications & the Arts - Literature - Observers & Critics. Simpson's Contemporary Quotations (1988). Retrieved from xreferplus.
http://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=3523411&secid=.12.1.-
Croasdell, D. (2001). IT’s role in organizational memory and learning. Information Systems Management, 18(1), 8.
Deeter-Schmelz, D. (1997). Applying teams to logistics processes: Information acquisition and the impact of team role clarity and
norms. Journal of Business Logistics, 18(1), 159-178.
Earley, P., & Mosakowski, E. (2000). Creating hybrid team cultures: An empirical test of transnational team functioning. Academy of
Management Journal, 43(1), 26-49.
Elloy. D. (2008). The relationship between self-leadership behaviors and organization variables in a self-managed work team
environment. Management Research News, 31(11), 801-810.
Gardenswartz, L., Cherbosque, J., & Rowe, A. (2009). Coaching teams for emotional intelligence in your diverse workplace. T+D, 63(2),
44-49.
Govindarajan, V., & Gupta, A. (2001). Building an effective global business team. MIT Sloan School of Management Review, 42(4).
Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (1994). Teams at the top. Mckinsey Quarterly, (1), 71-79.
Kroeger, O., Thuesen, J., & Rutledge, H. (2002). Type talk at work: How the16 personality types determine your success on the job. New
York, NY: Random House.

17. REFERENCES
17
Pfeffer, J., & Sutton, R. (2000). The knowing-doing gap: How smart companies turn knowledge into action. Boston, MA: Harvard
Business School Press.
Polzer, J. (2008, July-August). Making diverse teams click. Harvard Business Review, 86(7/8) 20-21.
Senge, P. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization (revised ed.). New York, NY: Random House.
Scott, S. G., & Einstein, W. O. (2001). Strategic performance appraisal in team-based organizations: One size does not fit all. Academy
Of Management Executive, 15(2), 107-116. doi:10.5465/AME.2001.4614990
Thompson, L. (2008). Making the team: A guide for managers (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Townsend, A., DeMarie, S., & Hendrickson, A. (1998). Virtual teams: Technology and the workplace of the future. Academy of
Management Executive, 12(3), 17-29.
Weiss, J. W. (2011). An introduction to leadership. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Zaccaro, S., Rittman, A., & Marks, M. (2001). Team leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 12(4), 451.
Understanding Group Dynamics [Video file]. (2001). In Films On Demand. Retrieved May 21, 2016, from
http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=100753&xtid=49913