Leading Teams at West Coast Transit

Selecting a team from the member profile to collaborate on a West Coast Transit marketing project took deep thought and consideration. Everyone brings strengths and weaknesses to the company. First, I choose Natalie. Natalie works well on a team, is positive and ambitious. She works well in tense situation which is needed for this high stress project. Natalie has strong written communication skills as well, which is an added bonus. The next person I choose was Elizabeth. She enjoys collaboration, has a positive attitude is diplomatic and open minded. She is a detailed oriented, has a good work ethic and is good at meeting deadlines. Natalie and Elizabeth both will work well together with a team. I choose Katelyn as well because she is very driven and seeks a promotion. This will be her chance to prove herself to management. Katelyn likes to lead projects and will be proactive on the team. Next on the team is Susan. She is well respected, and others seek her out for guidance. She is creative and a go getter.

This project will require new ideas to drive up sales. Susan also works well with others. I also choose William to be on the team. William is an easy going team player who also doesn’t mind leading a project. He and Katelyn can co-lead the project together. William is a veteran in his area of expertise and motivated by challenging work. Working as the leader with Katelyn will be a good fit for this project. Last but not least I will choose Ian. Ian is quick and efficient. He is also smart and tech savvy. This will be needed to develop a new sales approach for the company. Ian can bring in new ideas the company has never tried before. He is a key component to this project. I believe that all of the team members chosen will work well on this project together. Everyone may not work well on a team, but there are people that are in the group that have easy-going personalities that can help bring everyone together. I did not choose Michael, Doug, Bob, or Tiffany to be on this project. Michael is currently working on his PhD and has plans to leave the company.

I will assume that he may not have the time or desire to commit to this high- stress project. I also don’t think his personality will fit within the group members. He is passive-aggressive and can take things personally. I did not choose Bob, though he has been with the company from the beginning, he tends to over-react and can be unprofessional. Finally Tiffany was not chosen because I don’t think she would contribute much to the group. She is jaded and cynical, not a good combination when working on a team under stress I believe McClelland’s Need Theory is the best motivational theory to apply to this group of team members. Everyone chosen in the group appears to have a high need for achievement. His theory also states the following. “Achievement-motivated people share three common characteristics: (1) they prefer working on tasks of moderate difficulty; (2) they prefer situations in which performance is due to their efforts rather than to other factors, such as luck; and (3) they desire more feedback on their successes and failures than do low achievers”( Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p.209).

If this project is a successful one, the reward in the form of positive feedback will be rewarding to the group. This project could be what determines the future of this company. All three of the characteristic in McClelland’s theory apply to this project. Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory and Alderfer’s ERG theory are not motivational theories I would use in this group. I feel these theories are too broad and not specific enough to apply in this circumstance. This project needs to be completed swiftly and flawlessly. Managers may not have the time to figure out and apply the basic needs of these theories. Some of the challenges this team might face are that they are vast in their types of strengths. I believe where some lack in strength others are strong. Elizabeth is hesitant about branching out into new and unfamiliar territory. Katelyn is an early adaptor to change. These two can help to balance each other when working together.

Susan is known to overlook details, but Elizabeth is very detailed oriented. Elizabeth is contentious about meeting deadlines verses William who can be inefficient and has difficulty meeting deadlines. Ian does not consider others goals. He is a big reason why I choose Susan to be a team member as well because she has a positive attitude and works well with others. I believe she can be a great moderator for team conflict when it inevitable arises .Communication is the key to getting this project up and running with success. Natalie and Katelyn both prefer written communication. They will be the two who will finalize the project in the written form at the end. Susan and Elizabeth prefer open communication. They will be good at initiating ideas in the beginning stages of the project. They can help to be the liaison between Ian who prefers direct communication and William who prefers face-to-face communication.

My vision for this team’s success is that they will successfully work together and cancel out each other’s weakness with each other’s strengths. This is the only way this team of individuals can successfully complete this project. I would hope my leadership skills would help them in achieving the task at hand. I will instate goals for the group as a whole to achieve. I will also give positive feedback during the process and maintain a constant presence during this high stress project. Making myself available at all times for the group will give them a sense of support and stability. Finally a reward system will need to be in place to show the team members the importance of this project and what it will mean to the company’s future. All of these leadership strategies will ensure the success of this vital project.

References

Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (2013). Organizational behavior (10 ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/ Irwin. .). Retrieved from http://gcumedia.com/digital-resources/mcgraw-hill/2013/organizational behavior_ebook_10e.php