Question

Subject: Principles of Management and Supervision

You work for an electronics company that designs and produces electronic controls for the appliance industry. You have been appointed as team leader for a cross-functional team that will be responsible for development of a new product. This team consists of members from accounting, sales and marketing, quality, hardware engineering, software engineering, mechanical engineering, and manufacturing. You know from past experience that this group has not worked well together, and your boss has suggested that you get the team off to a good start by having them participate in some team-building exercises. She has asked you to research and identify 3 to 4 different exercises that would be appropriate.

Conduct internet research for team-building exercises and prepare a written report (1-2 pages) detailing the options you have selected with links to the sources. This report should include the scope and length of the training as well as the cost (if applicable). This report should also include your rationale in selecting these exercises.

Best regards,

Answer 1

TEAM BUILDING

Team building is all about providing the skills, training and resources to achieve a common goal. As a team leader, we have to know the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats which will influence the team's performance. If we provide things that your team need, so that they can work in harmony. But, to be truely effective, it need to be a continual process.

If the team seems to have lost some of its energy and motivation and morale is beginning to drop, so we have to take adequate measures to bring them back. it is only possible through team building strategies and activities.

As a team leader i would like to prefer the following team building   exercise to motivate, encourage and manage conflict among team:

(1) TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE

Start out by having every team member secretly write down two truths about themselves and one lie on a small piece of paper, Do not reveal to anyone what you wrote down. Once each person has completed this step, allow 10-15 minutes for open conversation much like a cocktail party where everyone quizzes each other on their three questions. The idea is to convince others that your lie is actually a truth, while on the other hand, you try to guess other people’s truths/lies by asking them questions. Don’t reveal your truths or lie to anyone even if the majority of the office already has it figured out After the conversational period, gather in a circle and one by one repeat each one of your three statements and have the group vote on which one they think is the lie. You can play this game competitively and award points for each lie you guess or for stumping other players on your own lie. This game helps to encourage better communication in the office,

Duration: 10 to 15 minutes

(2) PICTURE PIECES GAME   

  This problem solving activity requires that the leader choose a well known picture or cartoon that is full of detail. The picture needs to be cut into as many equal squares as there are participants in the activity. Each participant should be given one of the puzzle pieces and instructed to create an exact copy of their piece of the puzzle five times bigger than its original size. They are posed with the problem of not knowing why or how their own work affects the larger picture. The leader can pass out pencils, markers, paper, and rulers in order to make the process simpler and run more smoothly. When all the participants have completed their enlargements, ask them to assemble their pieces into a giant copy of the original picture on a table. This problem solving activity will teach participants how to work in a team and it demonstrates departmental working, which is the understanding that each person working on their own part contributes to an overall group result.

Duration : 30 minutes

(3) SNEAK A PEAK GAME

This problem solving activity requires little more than a couple of sets of children’s building blocks. The instructor will build a small sculpture with some of the building blocks and hide it from the group. The participants should then be divided into small teams of four. Each team should be given enough building material so that they can duplicate the structure you’ve already created. The instructor should then place their sculpture in an area that is an equal distance from all the groups. One member from each team can come up at the same time to look at the sculpture for ten seconds and try to memorize it before returning to their team. After they return to their teams, they have twenty-five seconds to instruct their teams about how to build an exact replica of the instructor’s sculpture. After one minute of trying to recreate the sculpture, another member from each team can come up for a “sneak a peek” before returning to their team and trying to recreate the sculpture. The game should be continued in this pattern until one of the team’s successfully duplicates the original sculpture. This game will teach participants how to problem solve in a group and communicate effectively.

Duration: 15 minutes