The document discusses strategies for building effective teams. It begins by outlining the functional areas that team members could be selected from, including sales and marketing, finance and accounts, and production. It then describes characteristics of effective team members such as commitment to objectives, problem solving skills, and respect for others. Tools for ensuring team understanding of objectives are proposed, like drafting a team charter. Strategies are provided for delegating tasks, managing conflict, and measuring team success through factors like synergy, cohesiveness and innovation. The conclusion emphasizes that effective teams require skills like active listening and open communication.

1. Running head: TITLE; ALL CAPS 1
TITLE; ALL CAPS2
[Title: Assessment 3]
[Learner Name]
Capella University
[Month, Day, Year, e.g., October 1, 2018]
Introduction
[text]
Functional Area Team Member Selections
[text]
Reasons for Functional Area Team Member Selections
[text]
Characteristics of Effective Team Members

2. [text]
Communicating Team Objectives
[text]
Strategies for Delegating Responsibility
[text]
Strategies for Managing Conflict
[text]
Success Measurement, Tools, and Process
[text]
Conclusion
[text]
References
Running head: BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS 1

3. Building Effective Teams
Sitara Monnappa
Capella University
BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS 2
Copyright ©2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of
this document is prohibited.
According to Katzenbach & Smith (2004, p. 5), a team “is a
small number of people with
complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose,
set of performance goals, and
approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”
(as cited in Bertland, 2012, p.
2). Every business plan that involves people from different
functional areas of an organization,

4. working together as a team, has to address many considerations
in order to achieve the desired
goals. These considerations range from selecting team members
to measuring the team’s
performance.
The Functional Areas to Include within an Organizational Team
Employees selected for a team should have the right
combination of skills and personal
attributes (Winston, 2016), in order to ensure amicable
relationships among team members and
to meet the goals (Alencar & de Almeida, 2010). For a firm
deploying a team to develop a
proposal for a new business model and growth strategies, the
team members will be selected
from different functional areas. They will work together for
close to a year to develop a business
model that supports the growth plan. The three functional areas
from which employees will be
selected for the team include the following:
• Sales and Marketing: This area is usually involved with
developing and marketing products
at prices that can guarantee an appropriate return on the
investment for the firm. Team

5. members from this area will be able to provide inputs about
customer preferences (Engelman,
2007) and competitors’ products and marketing strategies. Thus,
their inputs will help create a
business model that considers the interests of external
stakeholders like customers and
competitors.
Comment [HM1]: Sitara, please review the
format for citing indirect sources in in text
citations.
BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS 3
Copyright ©2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of
this document is prohibited.
• Finance and Accounts: This is the functional area that helps
plan the budget for different
sectors of the company and manage the cash flow for the project
proposed in the business
plan (“Roles and Responsibilities,” 2011). Team members from
this area will provide inputs
about investors, dividends, and other financial policies that can
help the team create a
business model that is financially feasible.

6. • Production: This area, which is concerned with the
manufacturing of products, will ensure
that production proceeds as economically as possible, while
maintaining the required quality
standards (“The Functional Areas,” n.d.). Team members from
this area will help in the
implementation of the proposed business model and the growth
strategies by suggesting the
best production techniques and methods based on their
expertise.
When people from different functional areas are brought
together, their interests and ways of
working could conflict. Therefore, identifying and selecting
people with characteristics that
make them good team players is crucial.
Characteristics of Effective Team Members
• They understand and are committed to team objectives.
• They are problem solvers who do not blame each other, but
discuss and collaborate to form
solutions and action plans (Garfinkle, 2016).
• They discuss different opinions to reach a common consensus
and actively involve other team

7. members while making decisions.
• They trust other team members and are respectful and tolerant
of individual differences.
• They understand that they are responsible for their individual
duties in a team and accept
feedback for their work and behavior (Collins, n.d.).
BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS 4
Copyright ©2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of
this document is prohibited.
In sum, attributes that make a good team are empathy,
flexibility, trust, leadership, and
initiative (Mole, n.d.). When team members have such
attributes, the team will function
cohesively. Team members should also have common goals for
team achievement, and there
should be clear communication about individual goals (Scholtes,
1988).
Tools to Ensure that the Team Understands its Objectives
Drafting a team charter which includes the team’s purpose,

8. project duration and plan,
names of team members, the desired end result, and a reporting
plan stating how frequently the
progress of the team should be recorded and reported. It will
provide the direction in which the
team will go forward to achieve its goals (Butler, 2013). The
new team members can be asked to
develop mission and goals statements as a team-building task
(Scholtes, 1988).
In addition, clear communication between the team members
allows better understanding
of the team objectives. An initial team meeting can be organized
in which the objectives and the
agenda of the team can be explained to team members. Online
collaboration platforms
(collaborative workspaces) such as TeamWorkLive.com,
teleconference tools, and chat tools can
improve communication among team members (“Online
Collaboration Tools,” 2016).
Failure to communicate the team’s objectives to the members
may result in conflict.
Team members may not understand what roles and
responsibilities they must assume. There
might be an overlap of tasks, and some tasks could be

9. completely overlooked, leading to
confusion (Joseph, 2016).
Strategies for Delegating Tasks
Comment [HM2]: What does this mean?
What is an example of such a goal? As the
team’s leader how would you facilitate the
development of such goals.
Comment [HM3]: Carefully proofread to
ensure the sentence structure enables you to
convey the meaning that you intend. For
example, removing the word “which” would
enable your sentence to be complete and
effective.
BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS 5
Copyright ©2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of
this document is prohibited.
To improve the efficiency of the team, team members will be
delegated tasks according
to their skills and expertise (Sohmen, 2013). Since people feel
more committed to their duties
when they are part of the decision-making process, the
delegation process will be discussed with
team members (Zwilling, 2013). Team members will be
informed about what resources,

10. including human resources, they can use to complete the tasks
delegated to them. Each team
member should be held accountable for the work delegated
(Williams, n.d.).
Building Trust and Respect among Team Members
Since members are going to be deployed from different areas,
trust and respect are crucial
for the smooth working of the team. Clear and concise
communication between team members
will build trust. If the employees are from different cultures,
training them to be culturally
sensitive will help build tolerance and respect within the team.
Team members should feel like
they are a part of the larger organization, not alienated from
their team leaders and managers.
Open and multi-directional communication must be encouraged
(Compton, 2008). Good
nonverbal communication such as eye contact and appropriate
body language will allow the team
leaders to gain their teams’ trust and respect (Chhay & Kleiner,
2013).
Resolving Conflicts among Team Members
Differences among team members in terms of power, values,

11. and attitudes could lead to
conflicts (Carole, n.d.). The problem-solving approach, which
can be used to resolve intergroup
conflict, involves the collaboration of all team members to
optimize results by merging the
insight, experience, knowledge, and perspective of each team
member. In tougher situations, the
compromise approach, which involves negotiation between
conflicting parties to reach a
common resolution, will have to be used.
Comment [HM4]: With whom will they
discuss the delegation process? Will you as
the team’s leader discuss this with them?
What is your role?
Comment [HM5]: Will a structure be put
into place to facilitate such accountability?
Again, what is your role?
Comment [HM6]: Excellent! This is very
important.
Comment [HM7]: What is the means by
which such a process occurs? For example,
regular meetings? One-on-one coaching?
Comment [HM8]: How will this process be
facilitated? Will you as the team’s leader
facilitate such a process?

12. BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS 6
Copyright ©2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of
this document is prohibited.
If conflicts between team members are not successfully
resolved, it could demoralize
people and weaken relationships. A work team that is
unsuccessful in resolving conflict will not
be cohesive and innovative. It could also result in damaged
communication channels, leading to
project cancellation and failure to reach the planned goals
(Sikes, Gulbro, & Shonesy, 2010).
Measuring the Success of the Team
Once a team has been put together and starts performing,
measuring its performance and
outcome is vital. The synergy and cohesiveness in the team will
reflect the success of the team as
these factors indicate how well members from different
functional areas coordinate their work so
as to maximize productivity. The amount of innovation is
another measure of team success since
it implies that people in the team appreciate and respect each
other’s ideas and work together to

13. make those ideas materialize. The 360-degree-feedback method
can help measure each team
member’s contribution to the team by taking into account the
opinions of employees at all levels
of the organization (“The Top 8 Methods,” n.d.).
Conclusion
Building an effective team requires training and preparation,
active listening, open
communication, and a knowledge of the behaviors, perceptions,
and personalities shared among
the members. The vision and integrity of team leaders should
motivate employees to work in
collaboration to reach the plan’s goal. An effective team is one
in which the different ideas of
individuals are respected and collaborated, leading to
innovation.
Comment [HM9]: How is innovation
measured?
Comment [HM10]: How might such a
process be actualized within the context of
the entire organization level? Is this realistic?
How would such input be solicited from such a
broad scope of participants?

14. BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS 7
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this document is prohibited.
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Comment [HM11]: Use “sentence case”
when writing titles in a reference list. This
means that the first word is the only word
capitalized, unless there is a colon in the title.

16. In this instance the first word after the colon is
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