Improving Team Effectiveness - Case Study Example

MGI was a highly creative group with a good combination of team founders cum members. Igor and Roman provided the creativity required and Sasha managed the finances. They even had a good product, but things didn't work out the way it was expected to. The problem was not with the team members, but with the process the team followed. Though the team worked hard at the process involved in creating the product, it hardly did anything when it came to the actual implementation of their project. First of all, they absolutely had no plans about how they would move the project to its destiny. The planning was so poor that they could not even produce the final product in time as they wanted to. While Igor and Roman, the musicians, were busy brainstorming to create the product, all the other works relating to organization and finance fell on Sasha's shoulders. There was too much work to be done and too little resources to help accomplish that. Making use of external talent would have helped reduce the burden on the founders, but outsiders either didn't get along with the founders or they were not able to visualize the project the way the founders did. In any case, working with outsiders didn't seem to be effective and by looking at the initial conversation between Igor and Henry, it didn't look like the founders did anything about analyzing as to why it wasn't effective. The founders were from the same ethnical background and so could relate to each other well. They ended up forming a comfortable zone which wasn't open enough for the outsiders. This resulted in a serious shortage of experience and resources required to effectively market and distribute their product. By avoiding flow of ideas from outsiders, the founders narrowed their view of the directions in which the project could have been taken. Moreover, the founders lacked the knowledge pertaining to the music industry. Though Sasha had prior experience and the educational background required in the business world, it was only general management skill that he had developed all this while, and not an experience in the music industry. All in all, the project was too big for just the three of them to handle considering the limited knowledge and experience they had. (2) The greatest strength that the MGI team had was their high level of commitment towards the project as well as the team. There were many disagreements and misunderstandings between Sasha and Roman, but they somehow seemed to get past it. There was an unspoken implied commitment among the three that they would never walk away from the team. The next strength that is evident in the team is the combination of the three. Roman is the one with the creative ideas, Igor is able to relate to Roman's creative ideas and keeps the company together by acting as a moderator between Sasha and Roman, and Sasha organizes and manages the finance. Most importantly, they were creative and hence, were able to come up with a unique product. Their product was a critical success and was appreciated for its high quality and originality. If I had to evaluate the MGI team 'on paper', I would give them a perfect ten for their degree of creativity and innovation. So would be the case even with respect to the potential of the business to create value. The product would be helpful in educating children and teenagers, and in promoting good music. However, I would not be equally generous when it came to other aspects. There was no proper strategy that the team adopted to exploit the opportunity. They stunted their thoughts when it came to the market they should be aiming at; they limited themselves to just the teenagers. Also, when it came to the finances of the team, they were not reasonable. They never planned it well and as a result, they ended up broke with no money to take the project any further. The team's ability to actually implement the proposal was poor. A lot of time was spent on creation of the product, but they never spent time on implementing their plans with respect to releasing the product in the market. Considering the overall evaluation, I would conclude that the MGI team was weak on the management front. (3) Diversity in the skills the team members possessed was surely an asset, but diversity in views and loyalty was turning out to be a liability for the team. The team was divided into three groups, one with the Russians, the other with Henry and Dana, and the third one consisting of the neutral ones, that is, Alex and Dav. Henry and Dana got together to plot against Sasha. In the Russian team, whenever Roman didn't agree with Sasha and Igor, the two of them forced their ideas on Roman so that the three of them functioned as a team. Alex and Dav were the neutral outsiders who got involved only when their skill sets were required. These divisions were stopping the team from getting the best out of each one of them. More than the ethnic differences, the problem was due to the difference in disciplines. The musicians, Roman and Igor, were creative people whose working methods were very different from that of the business graduates. Dana, who was into investment banking, wanted short clear cut steps and solutions whereas the musicians took their own time. The musicians worked in a relaxed mode which was considered by Dana as wasted time. The musicians spent more time on brainstorming rather than the next steps required for preparing the project plan. This became a concern for Dana. Yet another difference that posed a problem was the age difference. Igor, Sasha and Roman, who were comparatively older and more experienced, looked at young Henry and Dana as interns rather than equal partners. This restricted them from making use of Henry and Dana's full potential. The difference in their age also made an impact even on the approaches each one took. Henry and Dana were more active when it came to doing their work and were always ready with their power point presentations. On the other hand, Sasha had an outdated approach of putting things down on paper rather than using the computer. This was slightly unacceptable to Henry and Dana. As a result, they began to ignore Sasha's ideas. There was also an evident clash between Dana and Sasha. Each one underestimated the other's capabilities. Due to this difference, the entire team's work was often getting held up. (4) Henry, in order to avoid problems in the team, could have taken a few steps right after meeting Igor for the first time. Henry should have got to know the other team members a little better before he could decide on taking up this project. This may seem very elementary, but is very important to make a good start. Secondly, Igor had mentioned in the very first conversation he had with Henry that the outsiders could not gel with the MGI founders previously. Henry should have investigated a little bit and also taken steps to know the reason behind it. That would have given him a basic idea of how he should be dealing with a similar situation. Most important of all, Henry, along with other team members, should have confirmed a set of rules and goals at the very beginning. It would have made each one's role very clear. Through the rules, the working procedures and relationships could have been defined. These rules would have helped avoid the mistrust created when Dav was accommodated without consulting or informing Henry and Dana. Aspects of decision making also could have been defined and rules could be set on how decisions would be taken and the criterion to be used to establish agreement. Rules regarding the procedure to be followed in case of disagreements would have made the days ahead a smooth sail. Arguments when the team members disagreed wouldn't have become a never ending debate. Also Henry and other team members should have been clear about the goal towards which they were working. This would have helped reduce the time spent on long lasting discussions of whether they should be going after the education market or the music industry. Henry should have worked a little towards setting deadline; not just the deadline for preparation of the final business plan, but also deadlines by when to complete smaller divisions of work which in totality led to the final plan. Henry and Dana formed their opinion of Sasha immediately after meeting him. Instead of carrying on with a preconceived notion in mind, Henry could have been more open about the issue. (5) Improving team effectiveness is not within the reach of one member in the team. However, Henry could have taken a few steps to improve the situation. First of all, Henry should have drawn out a plan of action along with the deadlines within which it had to be achieved. Though a plan was not drawn out at the outset, it was never too late to do it. A plan should have been in place and the extent to which the plan is being implemented should have been assessed at each stage. Henry did write down various points and give the team issues to discuss in the meeting. If Henry had a more definite written agenda for the meetings, the meeting time could be spent more wisely. The project should have been divided into smaller sub-sets with attainable short term goals. This would have not only helped in rounding up some parts of the work, but also would have worked as 'small wins' for the team members and kept them motivated. Henry could have worked towards managing the meeting time more effectively. Too much time was being spent on brainstorming while brainstorming would have been of use only when fresh ideas were in short supply or complexities occurred. Instead of everyone involving themselves in brainstorming, the musicians, Igor, Roman and Alex, could have got together to discuss the creative part of the project. To make the meetings more effective, Henry could have promoted a more structured decision making in the team. Providing proper physical facility for conducting the meeting was equally important. When the meeting place began to get too small for the seven of them, they should have made arrangements to move the meeting to a more spacious place. Henry played the role of a facilitator; he should have played it well. Instead of manipulating by playing good cop - bad cop roles, he should have stayed neutral and harmonized the situation between Sasha and Dana. He could have spoken frankly to Sasha and Dana explaining the problem to them. Sasha had poor interpersonal skills, but good intensions as well as good ideas, and Dana knew more than what Sasha expected her to know. Henry could have acted as the mediator communicating to each one what they needed to know about the other. Henry's attitude and behavior towards Sasha was not a very helpful one when it came to working in teams. Henry may have not reacted to Sasha the way Dana did, but the opinion he had about Sasha was the same as that of Dana's. Henry ignored Sasha's ideas when Sasha presented his ideas on a graph sheet. Henry could have very well taken this into consideration. Also, when Sasha asked Henry and Dana to make the calls to a set of HBS alumni, they plainly refused to do so. Instead of plainly refusing Sasha's idea, Henry could have attempted to understand Sasha's reasons for doing so and as well explained their not being ready with a definite strategy as his reason for not making the calls. Henry and Dana disliked the fact that they were being treated by the MGI founders as mere interns. Henry could have expressed his feelings to the founders by explaining the role they intended to play in the project. The team very desperately needed an experienced leader to lead the members in the right direction. Henry and Dana were well aware of this fact, but never expressed it to the other members. Alex and Dav were getting involved only when their expertise was required. But as spectators, they were able to analyze the shortcomings of the team very well. Henry could have got the two of them involved some more so that they could have been used to their fullest of capabilities. However, considering the spirits and the bonding Henry has towards the team, he still can get the team through this stage to move on to the constructive stage. Read More