Assignment Cover Sheet

Student Name: Rabi Adhikari

Student Number: 65208
Course: Diploma in Leadership & Management
Assignment No: 3

Marking Criteria:

We expect the learners to write minimum one well expressed point in three lines against each
allocated mark. This means one needs to write 15 lines with 5 well expressed points to get high
grades for a 5 marks question.

For high grades use examples and illustrations where appropriate.

Please insert your completed assignment (in word format) here:

Question 1
i) A team is a group of individuals who collaborate on a common mission or
completion of a given task. People in a team have high level of
interdependence, have similar interests, thought processes, perception,
and attitude. Some team have a limited life whereas others are continuous
and ongoing. It’s worth noting that people who are not compatible with
each other can never form a team. Team shouldn’t be confused with
group. A group is not necessarily a team. Unlike a team, group can have
people who have different attitude, interest and thoughts and they might
not necessarily have common missions or goals to achieve. A team can be
small or large, depending on the structure of an organization. The
advantages of teams are that decisions are made within the level of
satisfaction for everyone, hence dissatisfied individuals are very unlikely.
Teams provide learning and personal growth and development
opportunities and experience.
ii) Common types of teams are: - Functional teams, cross-functional teams,
self-managed teams, and virtual teams. Functional teams are more
permanent and consists of members of the same department with different
 responsibilities who have specialised skills and education. The team is
usually managed by a manager who leads the project, and this is the
typical top to bottom management approach that can be seen in most
organisation. Cross-functional teams on the other hand as the name
suggests, are the teams whose members are chosen from various
departments for any given project that needs diverse expertise and inputs.
This kind of team forms when there is a need for multiple departments to
work on a project together to get a best outcome. This kind of team can be
difficult to manage because there will be different personalities and attitude
and perceptions. However, rather than resisting it, a good leader should
embrace those differences and work to their strengths to achieve a
common task. Self-managed teams are generally individuals from the
same organisation who work together but operate without managers and
are relatively autonomous, flexible, and share leadership and
responsibilities. Virtual teams are made up of individuals who work in
different geographical locations and who use technology and collaboration
tools to achieve a common mission. These kinds of team do not interact in
real life, and this team bring together creative individuals from different
parts of the world, resulting in great creativity and better ideas. One typical
example is during the Covid-19 pandemic, people forming groups and
working from home.
iii) Norms are rules within an organisation which defines how members of a
team will conduct themselves, interact and communicate with each other.
Norms are guidelines in place which help clarify the expected behaviour of
a team member on the team and prevent unnecessary conflict. Norms also
give the members a chance to express what is important to them and at
the same time learn what is important to other team members. Norms are
important to a team because they lead to effective decision making,
effective up-taking and on-boarding of new team members and clear
expectations for how the team interacts and performs. Team norms can
help address any part of the team’s functioning, for example safety,
expected work hours and meeting attendance. Norms which reflect a
team’s SOPs, communication, decision-making and accountability can
have a huge impact on team’s performance and cohesiveness. An
 effective and good team norms will help run an organisation effectively and
smoothly because if there is a team norm in place and it’s posted or kept
in a team’s work areas, it creates useful reminder to what team members
agreed to. And sometimes if members forget the norms or unintentionally
violates them, they can be reminded what they have agreed to and what to
abide by, thus enabling team members to remind each other of the
behaviour they would like to endeavour forward.
iv) The advantages of teams are numerous. One of the many advantages are
level of satisfaction from the decision making because people are much
less likely to be dissatisfied with decisions that they were involved in
making. Having a team improves quality and productivity of a team due to
the involvement of skilled people from different departments, having varied
experiences and skillsets. If everyone is working in a team and the goal is
the same, there will be reduced turnover and less absenteeism. Another
advantage is greater innovation, since team members have previous
experience on various field, and everyone have their own ideas and biases
this could lead to greater thinking and newer innovations. Naturally if
everyone is working towards a common goal, there will be increased
commitment to organisational mission and a greater amount of work
ownership can also be observed. Employees get opportunities to grow
within a team. While they are in a team, the decision-making process is a
collective one which ultimately helps each team members to learn and
experience personal growth and development. Decision making is a
process that challenges an individual to think outside the box, make you
understand the bigger picture and the business process involved. Teams
also increases employee’s autonomy. It’s because they require less
management time since they accept responsibility and ownership to the
duties they have been given. Employees can grow in other aspects too
like, increased skills for potential future leadership opportunities, enhanced
problem-solving skillsets and an overall feeling of satisfaction and
commitment.
v) The five stages of team development are: - forming, storming, norming,
performing and adjourning. We will briefly discuss them individually.
Forming is the first stage of team development, and this is the phase
where the team members have no clear idea of goals or expectations.
They will most likely adopt wait and see kind of attitude and might be
anxious and be formal to each other. This is the most crucial part of team
leader where he/she needs to make sure the team members know each
other, so they can begin to feel comfortable working together. This is also
the stage where a leader needs to start writing the mission statement as
well as clarify goals hence everyone knows the rough direction where the
team is heading. Storming is the stage where the team members are now
eager to get going. As members of a team, they will be working together
and will have their own voice and opinion and they may not agree with
each other or with the team leader. There will be difficult times since
disagreement and conflict can rise. This is when a team leader needs to
show leadership, listen to everyone, communicate with them, reminding
the members of how valuable each other’s roles are and deescalating the
disagreements in a more civilized manner. Having control from the team
leader is a key in this stage. Norming is the stage when the team members
start realising in which ways, they are alike. If a good leader continues to
encourage, motivate, and communicate in the team, the members will
work out their differences and begin to see a bigger picture and realise
that they are all working towards a common goal. In this stage there will be
more words like WE than I. At the end, the members will begin to trust one
another and become a more cohesive group and your hard work as a
team leader will have pay off. Performing is the fourth stage of team
development. This is the stage where the team is beginning to form
mature. They will be trained, competent and be able to work on their own
initiatives and solve problems. Members would have understood their roles
and responsibilities, are self-controlling and practical as well as productive.
Final stage of team development is adjourning. This is when the team
finishes working together, when the task is completed, and the group is
disbanded naturally. There will be celebration for the success and
achievements they have accomplished and then bring the team to a shut
down. Also sometimes, if it was an unsuccessful operation, the team
should evaluate what went wrong, and what could have been done
differently and use that as a lesson learning for the future projects.
Question 2
Every team has a team leader who can hold his/her team together, lead and
command where necessary and get the best out of the team members to work
towards a common mission. He or she will encourage communication and team
participation in any taskings, ensure conflicts and disagreements are dealt with and
resolved, and overall make sure the team is making progress and heading in a right
bearing. A team leader possesses different characteristics, and these will be
described below: -
As previously discussed, a good team leader has the characteristics to be an
effective communicator. Communication is very important within a team, and a lot of
conflicts occur due to miscommunication and members jumping to conclusions and
making incorrect assumptions. When a team leader deploys correct communication
techniques, the team will have a greater strength because everyone will be on the
same page, and they will be singing the same song. Another trait to be a leader is
being able to be open rather than being defensive. A great leader should let others
know that their opinions are respected and listened to, even if you don’t necessarily
agree to them. You should actively listen and give them a fair chance to be heard.
Another characteristic is to be assertive rather than taking the aggressive approach.
Sometimes you as a leader feel like you are losing it and ready to blow it, but that is
the time when you must be assertive, calm and step back and find a way, negotiate
with the members, and get on a win-win situation. Being a mentor to your team
members is another big one. Hitler approach probably won’t work in this day and
age. The team leader should actively seek to give their talent and mentorship to the
members. He/she should always be available to the team, support them where they
need you and you as a leader should be approachable. For example, the team
member should have the liberty to walk up to you whenever they are unable to take
a decision on their own.

Student Statement:

By submitting this assignment, I confirm that this is my own work.

Student Signature: Rabi Adhikari Date: 22/03/2022

For Tutor / Assessor Use Only

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