COURSE: LEADERSHIP, ENGAGEMENT, AND PEOPLE PERFORMANCE

CASE STUDY: THE TEAM THAT WASN’T

Project Submission Template

Student Name: Badri Mishra

Question I 1. A brief summary of the problems faced by FireArt (100- 150

words)

The following are the major leadership and team problems at

FireArt.
 The top-tier management staff lack coordination
 Eric lacks leadership abilities and is unable to employ conflict
resolution tactics efficiently and effectively to address team
members’ issues.
 Randy lacks a team player mentality and is demanding of his
teammates, posing as a blocker. Ray is uneducated, and
Maureen believes her department is undervalued.
 The team members lack originality because they are unable to
produce new ideas.
 There is no rewarding system in the team, neither monetary nor
non-monetary, which has reduced overall motivation of team
members, which has further reduced overall commitment and
dedication among team members.

As a result, the team's performance is weak, hampering sales.

Question II 2. List and elaborate on two ways which Eric Holt and CEO Jack
Derry can take in order to intrinsically and extrinsically
motivate the team. (200 – 250 words)
a. Intrinsic motivators and its elaboration
b. Extrinsic motivators and its elaboration

Eric Holt and the CEO Jack Derry must look into the issue and address
the team motivations.

Intrinsic motivators:
In intrinsic motivation, we perform a task because it provides intrinsic
satisfaction. When employees are motivated in this way, they are
unconcerned with the external reward, pressure, or punishment that
may follow.

The types of Intrinsic motivators:

Autonomy imparts the feeling of having some control and

being free to make decisions.

The CEO and team lead can foster autonomy in a variety of ways such
as,
 Communicating a clear vision to the team,
 Providing them with some control over a project and the tools
to do their jobs,
 Providing them with creative space and relying on their
professional judgement.

Mastery is an intrinsic motivator as that includes improving at

something that matters. It involves perfecting the things you
enjoy doing to the best of your abilities.

The CEO and team lead should

 Set tasks for employees that are neither too easy nor excessively
challenging
 Provide the employees with opportunities to expand on their
present skill set and learn things that will be necessary for their
future endeavours.
Extrinsic motivators:
Extrinsic motivators drives an employee to complete a task because of
external factors such as receiving a reward or fear of punishment. This
type of motivation is more beneficial because it can
motivate employees to complete unpleasant tasks.

 To motivate employees, the CEO can promise the team various

tangible rewards such as pay raises, bonuses, and benefits to
ensure they commit themselves to the project.
 As short-term motivation, a reward should be tied to the
specific action. Once skills are established and some intrinsic
motivation is produced, the extrinsic motivator can be removed.
e.g., Offering a fully paid luxury holiday to a rare/exotic
location could also be a temporary motivator.
 Setting up an award of the employee of the month.
Question III  Evaluate the 'conflict' and 'commitment' dysfunction of the
FireArt team quoting two strong instances from the case study
(150-200 words)
a. 2 instances of conflict dysfunction and its evaluation
b. 2 instances of commitment dysfunction and its
evaluation

 2 instances of conflict dysfunction:

Ray and Randy arguing over team consensus was one

instance of conflict dysfunction.

 Randy believed that individuals are better at doing great

work rather than a team effort.
 He was full of ego and continuously put down the ideas of his
teammates.

 On the contrary, Ray believed team consensus was necessary

and not individual brilliance alone.
 The confrontation happened during a team meeting on this
difference and Ray/Maureen believed Randy could’ve given a
chance to the team. Randy’s idea of performance and ideas
conflicted greatly with the rest of the team.

Also, in another instance, Randy interfered while Carl was

presenting his ideas in a team meeting.
 Randy brought the team meeting to an unexpected halt by
letting out a loud groan and blurting out a mocking
dialogue which led to Carl ending his comments and leaving
the meeting.

 The aforementioned debacle led to another failed team meeting

for Eric.
  He could have posed questions towards him and started a
healthy debate on ideas instead of trying to end the pitch
abruptly.

 2 instances of commitment dysfunction:

One instance of commitment dysfunction is Maureen and Eric’s

opposition towards Randy’s negative attitude and
unprofessionalism.
 According to the case study, Randy arrived late. He was tapping
his pen and disrupting the meeting.
 This led to Eric being cut-off and Ray leaving the meeting
earlier than planned again.
 This action from Randy clearly showed that he was never
committed to the idea of this team or at the idea of any
team in general.
 He would always try to block good ideas/ pitches flowing into
team meetings/communications.
 He never really believed that the team would work and
therefore did not even try to commit to the idea. He also
answered most of the questions vaguely.

Another instance of commitment dysfunction:

 During the cost cutting pitch, Maureen had lost her way and
focused more on the emotional side of her journey in the
company and how she had to work hard to gain the respect
of others for her department.
 This shows a bit of non-commitment towards the actual
purpose of the team meeting.
 The sharing of feelings is important for mental health and it
could have been done in an appropriate place/platform.
Question IV 3.
a. Analyse Jack Derry as an inspirational leader of his
organisation under sensing, relating, visioning and
executing (100-150 words)
b. Recommend any changes or alternative steps that Jack
Derry could have taken to be a more effective leader
(100-150 words)

Sensing:
 Jack has a general awareness of his team's tasks, roles, and
skills. He knew that with the current team's ability, the
organization might achieve greater heights in a short period of
time if properly executed.
 However, he could have handled the issues related to behavioral
aspects of Randy in a better way.
 He was aware that in order to further develop the company, a
few harsh modifications to the existing processes were
essential. He didn't obstruct Eric's work since he recognized
that providing autonomy whenever possible, but he could've
aided more by directing at the start.
.
Relating:
 He did not demonstrate enough confidence during the crisis.
 He was unable to unite several teams under him, and the
company felt divided among its various sections.
 He did not reassure/reach out to every team when needed, as
indicated by Maureen's complaint that her department was
never given enough credit or acknowledgment.

Visioning:
 Jack felt that a new team must be assembled, and a clever
strategy would be executed and operational in six months.
 Jack Derry clearly anticipated the upcoming challenges and
appointed Eric as the leader of the new team in order to
strategically position the company to be a market leader.
 However, his planning was vague.
Execution:
 He did put his plan into action by creating and assembling a
high-performance team to develop the company's strategic
realignment plan, execute and achieve it in six months, and
putting Eric in charge of this team.
 Despite the fact that the initial job was completed, Jack could
have been more involved or concerned about the future steps.
 Eric was left to solve every difficulty on his own, with no
guidance or assistance.

Recommendations for changes:

 Jack should have more open dialogues with his team members
and be more involved in it.

 He should hold regular feedback sessions with Eric, conduct

performance level conversations with everyone, and provide
guidance to the team as needed.
 He needs to be more efficient in terms of receiving information
from the team and ensuring that everything is working properly.
 He should strive to be more action-oriented rather than simply
hoping for the best.
 He should try to bring the teams and team members together,
especially Randy and other team members.
 He should assist in better inspiring the team and making them
feel more involved in the decision-making process.