How Poor Communication Destroys Team Performance: Insights from the West Coast Transit Case Study
A team’s success depends not only on its output but also on the cohesiveness of its members. Performance and project outcomes are influenced by how well a team works together (Sanyal & Hisam, 2018). As an illustration of team dynamics, the West Coast Transit Case Study focuses on the marketing department. This paper analyzes the effect of poor communication on motivation, collaboration, and the capacity to manage and resolve issues.
Criteria for Effective Teamwork
Evaluation of a team’s effectiveness is crucial in a project. Task performance, member satisfaction, and future viability are the three metrics by which an efficient team or group may be assessed (Uhl-Bien et al., 2020). The efficiency with which a team processes information and turns it into actionable choices and outcomes is an example of input-to-output capabilities, which characterizes task performance. Team members’ satisfaction depends on how pleased they are with the project’s final result and their roles in bringing it to fruition. The future viability of any given team may be gauged by looking at how its members interacted with one another and whether or not they would be interested in working together again.
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The West Coast Transit marketing team is acting in a manner that is counter-productive to the company’s objectives, which can be deduced by knowing the criteria by which a team’s success and effectiveness are measured. Their task performance suffered since no new insights or actionable steps were offered at their previous meeting. Team members felt their concerns about the tight deadline and the lack of compensation were being disregarded, and they were dissatisfied. Finally, the manager’s insensitivity and quick temper, brought on by stress from the company’s expectations, undermined the future viability of the team. One of his teammates is reluctant to work with him again until he apologizes and guarantees they will be treated respectfully.
Stages of Group Formation
How a team is built is crucial to its success. Its development method is the key to understanding its eventual success or failure. Uhl-Bien et al. (2020) identify five stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. During the forming and storming phases, team members get familiar with one another and test out their roles and responsibilities within the group. The norming phase aims to strengthen teamwork and establish a consistent method of operating (Vaida & Serban, 2021). When a group is ready to perform, everyone should be on the same page and invested in the team’s success and personal drive. At the adjourning stage, it should be evident whether or not the team members will work together on future projects.
From their most recent interaction, the team is still in its forming phase. The team is still figuring out its structure, roles, responsibilities, and how it will handle overtime. Since this is the first marketing team meeting of the 6-week project, the members are having trouble communicating with one another and have not yet reached the norming stage. The team’s dysfunctional personalities and the unfavorable connections they formed due to their experience make it improbable that they would willingly choose to work together again.
Schein’s Behavioral Profiles
Tough battler, friendly helper, and objective thinker are the three different behavioral types (Uhl-Bien et al., 2020). The tough battler is easily recognized by their defiance of authority and hostile demeanor. A friendly helper lends a hand and boosts morale by offering encouragement and praise to others fits this description. The objective thinker will be passive as they balance their demands and the group’s objectives.
Pete Denson, the marketing manager, is a tough battler, as seen by his callous response to his staff’s legitimate complaints about the increased workload. Team member Jon Mahonney is a friendly helper by offering encouragement and solidarity. When disagreements developed, he jumped in to mediate or file suit immediately. Since much of Lea Jing’s participation in the conference consists of her restating her contribution limits, she is an objective thinker. She was also considering the possibility that if the team did a great job, she might finally receive the promotion she had hoped for.
Effectiveness of the Participants’ Communication
The key to successful communication is clear transmission and reception of information. Uhl-Bien et al. (2020) define potential obstacles as anything that gets in the way of effective communication, including noise. In this scenario, the group’s communication was very inefficient. Team members were anxious and discontent as they worked to meet the impossible deadline of creating a brand-new marketing strategy in only six weeks. The meeting ended badly when the team lead disregarded members’ professional concerns that the suggested plan was completely unrealistic, given the available time. A failure to recognize a problem might stifle dialogue about how to address it (Lewis, 2019). Denson’s callous dismissal of Katarina Tanney’s worries about the impact on her work-life balance as “complaints” only further dampened morale. As a result of this backlash, nobody was ready to discuss their contributions to the project.
Types of Conflict
There are two basic categories of conflict: substantive and emotional. Workplace concerns, such as job allocations and team objectives, are often core to substantive conflicts (Uhl-Bien et al., 2020). In essence, it is arguments or conflicts amongst team members with differing perspectives on the work. When people at work have diverse opinions, tensions can surface. Mahonney and Tanney’s attitude to the team project’s unreasonable deadline and workload is an excellent example. Substantive disagreements arose immediately upon the team’s receipt of the email with the agenda attached. The team instinctively developed a conflict mentality since they had as short as six weeks to create a high-quality marketing plan while being overworked and lacking the necessary resources.
The “clash of personalities” is the most typical emotional conflict in the workplace. Disagreements in interpersonal relationships stem from negative emotions like anger, distrust, hate, fear, resentment, and so on are referred to as “emotional conflict” (Uhl-Bien et al., 2020). The team cannot complete tasks successfully if it cannot focus on the work at hand due to emotional strife. Tanney’s enraged reaction to Denson’s insensitive answer to her problems indicates this sort of tension between them. Tanney has informed him that she is offended by his disrespectful words and will not work with him until she receives an apology. Also, Tanney wants assurances that she will be treated with the dignity she deserves.
Conflict Management Approach
The application of direct conflict management skills is essential to get the team to come together and be effective at finishing the project effectively. Denson’s team will gain the most from his ability to find a middle ground. To compromise is to find a middle ground where everyone’s needs are met and everyone is satisfied (Uhl-Bien et al., 2020). Resolutions might be effective if all parties are ready to make sacrifices. When discussing topics of compromise, there is a shared commitment to finishing projects on time.
Leadership, Maintenance, and Disruptive Activities
The members of this group should be encouraged to take the lead in starting conversations and asking questions. Each group member should realize they were hand-picked for this assignment, and they should talk about what they can bring to the table. Uhl-Bien et al. (2014) point out that when task activities are poorly done, it becomes more challenging for a team to achieve its goals. Every member of a high-functioning team should feel comfortable taking the reins of a key project or initiative when necessary.
Promoting involvement, recognizing others’ efforts, harmonizing diverse perspectives, and even implementing an agreed course of action are all essential maintenance actions. Poor maintenance leadership may lead to dissatisfaction among team members, a decline in the perceived value of group membership, and the diversion of attention and resources away from job completion due to emotional conflicts (Uhl-Bien et al., 2020). Therefore, having regular maintenance tasks also helps the team bond and become more cohesive.
Bullying, excessive aggression, and disrespect are at the top regarding disruptive conduct in a group. Denson commits all of these while addressing Tanney about her responsibilities. Uhl-Bien et al. (2020) found that employees who are the objects of harsh leadership, social marginalization, and negative rumors tend to work less diligently, perform poorly, be late or absent more frequently, and lessen their commitment to the company. Tanney’s incivility is on full display as she walks out of the room after giving her perspective to Denson; she is not eager to work with Denson after his angry and rude outburst.
Motivation Problems and Solutions
Despite the failure of the meeting, the project may be saved if Denson can determine his teammates’ requirements and what will inspire them to action. He discovered that Tanney struggles to find a good work-life balance, preventing her from giving the project her full attention. With this information in hand, he may investigate the methods within the content theory, focusing on the sanitation aspects of the position. This covers workplace-related considerations like working environments. To create time for this urgent assignment, he might suggest that Tanney reduce her workload in other areas without interfering with her personal life. This will help her reconnect with her sense of agency and improve her task performance.
Jing is concerned since she will leave the department shortly and does not feel she can contribute significantly. She may be inspired by using a process theory designed for people whose cognitive processes influence their actions’ course, intensity, and duration (Uhl-Bien et al., 2020). Denson may use goal-setting to ensure Jing understands that, despite missing the finish line, she can still contribute to the team in meaningful ways throughout her time there. She will be more motivated to succeed if you help her create concrete objectives.
Mahonney may be the most enthusiastic team member, but even he said that the project’s deadline was disheartening and unrealistic. Positive reinforcement and other reinforcement theories would help him the most. This technique is effective because it links the occurrence of an excellent outcome to the reinforcement of the desired behavior (Uhl-Bien et al., 2020). Denson openly applauding and affirming his team’s efforts is one example of an action that might have the desired effect.
Conclusion
The West Coast Transit Case Study highlights the importance of strong team dynamics and open lines of communication for success. The importance of effective communication and cooperation within a team is emphasized, since these factors have a much greater impact on performance than do outputs alone. The case study’s marketing team illustrates the value of dissecting ineffective communication and contemplating how it might undermine morale, collaboration, and conflict resolution.
References
Lewis, L. (2019). Organizational change: Creating change through strategic communication. John Wiley & Sons.
Sanyal, S., & Hisam, M. W. (2018). The impact of teamwork on work performance of employees: A study of faculty members in Dhofar University. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 20(3), 15-22.
Uhl-Bien, M., Piccolo, R. F., & Schermerhorn Jr, J. R. (2020). Organizational behavior. John Wiley & Sons.
Vaida, S., & Șerban, D. (2021). Group development stages. A brief comparative analysis of various models. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Psychologia-Paedagogia, 66(1), 91-110.