Case Activity: Chapter 14: Leading Teams

The company is gearing up for next year's events and determining where to hold them. Customer feedback, logistics, and pricing of sites and supplies all play a role in the decision. Tough Mudder hosts events in North America, Europe, and Asia, so detailed country knowledge is necessary as well. Using a ___ of employees would result in the best decisions.

virtual team

A team made up of people of different nationalities will be ___ to the company due to its diversity.

an asset

When the company is hosting an event, managers should assign event preparations to a ___ . Preparations include trucking in different kinds of equipment and setting it up over several acres; installing sufficient security, first aid, and portable restrooms throughout the course; and having food and drink delivered, as well as marketing the event and enrolling participants.

cross-functional team

Managers should seek to maximize ___ on the team to enhance its effectiveness.

diversity of skills

Hiring team members who are diverse in terms of gender and race is likely to ___ the team's productivity.

improve

The CEO of Tough Mudder believes that teams in his company are not working as effectively as they could, and he is asking you for advice. Provide the best answer to his question. "Our teams in different countries have learned a great deal, so I am putting together an international team to study and share the best practices that have been developed. This team will have people from each continent where we operate. How should I plan to manage this team?" A. Understand that some people use online technology more than others and cannot be expected to participate as much. Accept that Internet culture often involves "trolling," or disrespectful disagreement, and do not interfere if this happens. B. Encourage team members to socialize online by sharing photos and videos. Reach out to people from cultures where proactively sharing ideas is not valued. C. To promote a sense of privacy, do not monitor online team communications. Keep information that may change frequently to yourself, as sharing it would be confusing. D. Speak about everyone on the team as though they are the same to help team members feel they are being treated equally. Do not single people out for special recognition.

B. Encourage team members to socialize online by sharing photos and videos. Reach out to people from cultures where proactively sharing ideas is not valued.

The CEO of Tough Mudder believes that teams in his company are not working as effectively as they could, and he is asking you for advice. Provide the best answer to his question. "One of our longstanding cross-functional teams is being led by Ingrid. She is very knowledgeable and highly organized, so we would like to keep her in a leadership role. However, when there is disagreement on the team, she puts forward her ideas very emphatically and flatly rejects other team members' contributions. Everyone on the team needs to buy in to the final decision so they work hard to implement it. What guidance should I give Ingrid?" A. Ingrid should learn to compromise and give other people on the team half of what they want. B. Ingrid should learn to avoid conflict because it is costly in terms of both time and wear and tear on relationships. C. Ingrid should learn to collaborate, using a high degree of both her natural assertiveness and cooperation. ID. ngrid should learn to accommodate the other people on the team because she needs positive relationships with them over the long term.

C. Ingrid should learn to collaborate, using a high degree of both her natural assertiveness and cooperation.

The CEO of Tough Mudder believes that teams in his company are not working as effectively as they could, and he is asking you for advice. Provide the best answer to his question. "A new team we just formed to explore expanding into the Mediterranean and Middle East seems to have split into three factions around what kinds of events to host and what kinds of customers to target, and communication is sometimes not respectful. How can the manager help the team move beyond this?" A. The manager should make sure that both the task specialist and socioemotional roles are being performed on the team. B. The manager should encourage a high level of task conflict and relationship conflict so team members can work out all their differences. C. The manager should encourage everyone to participate in discussions by stating their underlying interests rather than demands for specific outcomes. D. The manager should encourage team members to share personal information and get to know one another better.

C. The manager should encourage everyone to participate in discussions by stating their underlying interests rather than demands for specific outcomes.

Tough Mudder is committed to teamwork. The managers know that selecting the right type of team with the right characteristics is essential for the success of teams. Tough Mudder takes reservations from people wanting to enroll in its events by phone and online. The employees confirming these reservations, answering customers' questions, and ensuring that billing is processed correctly could be organized as a ___ , because they can be trained to hire new staff and hold one another accountable for results. On the rare occasions an employee cannot meet a customer's needs, the employee can confer with colleagues to decide how best to proceed.

self-managed team