Deck 2: Designing the Team System

Question 1

Once a role responsibilities matrix has been shared with the team's members and stakeholders, it should be linked to the team's charter and ___.

Answer 1

Gantt chart

Question 2

Briefly discuss four guidelines for using a Gantt chart.

Answer 2

1. Distribute the Gantt chart to the team and its stakeholders; this helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page with the planned timeline. It is also helpful for the team leader to walk through the chart with the team.
2. Include the chart with all meeting agendas. This helps to promote a process focus on the team and maintains a high level of awareness of the team's plan for completing its objectives.
3. Conduct PvA (Planned versus Actual) comparisons of planned tasks completions versus actual levels of achievement. If a team has successfully completed an entire task the cell for that task should be shaded in to reflect this fact. If less than 100% of the task was completed, then only that portion of the cell should be filled in.
4. Update the chart as necessary. A Gantt chart should be evaluated, revised, and updated by the team as necessary. It is not intended to be set in stone.

Question 3

The Team Scholar for this chapter, Professor Greg Stewart, discussed what he considers to be three critical aspects to team design. What are they? Briefly discuss each.

Answer 3

According to Professor Stewart, the three critical aspects are:
1. How teams approach their work tasks. Teams working on creative tasks benefit from having members work together closely, coupled with substantial freedom for the its course of action. Teams working on routine tasks are more effective when they have limited autonomy and moderate interdependence, as on an assembly line.
2. Team composition. You have to get the right people on the team. Some traits such as conscientiousness are universally important, suggesting that teams are best when all members are conscientious. The effect of other traits, such as extraversion, depend on teammates. Having all team members be extraverts results in too many members trying to take charge. Having to few extraverts results in problems getting organized and setting goals. Teams with a mix of extraverts and introverts perform best.
3. Formal and informal influence. Although it can initially be difficult, teams benefit over time from having empowering leaders who guide and assist rather than direct and control.

Question 4

Identify four key principles for guiding development of a team dashboard.

Question 5

Discuss three guidelines for using a team dashboard.

Question 6

List and briefly discuss four practical guidelines for using a team charter.

Question 7

Discuss steps in the procedure for developing a role responsibilities matrix.

Question 8

Briefly discuss three guidelines for using a role responsibilities matrix.

Question 9

List and briefly discuss the three basic steps in developing a Gantt chart.

Question 10

People sometimes express the concern that use of the formal procedures suggested in this chapter is constraining, may restrict needed flexibility and creativity, and is overly bureaucratic. Take a position for or against such concerns.

Question 11

This chapter stresses the importance of incorporating all four key elements of the team system. Briefly discuss why each of those elements is necessary for team success.

Question 12

On a team dashboard a score in the ___ zone reflects an area of concern: performance on that matrix should be monitored carefully for potential action in the future.

Question 13

The team charter, a Gantt chart, a role responsibilities matrix, and a team dashboard comprise a team ___.

Question 14

A ___ enables checks of planned versus actual progress of the team.

Question 15

The first step in developing a team charter is to define the ___ of the project.

Question 16

___ are useful in that they show the relationship between tasks to be performed and time, typically measured in weeks or months.

Question 17

Together, the team charter, Gantt chart, role responsibilities matrix, and team dashboard, along with process clarity, have been shown to enhance team ___ and team performance.

Question 18

A ___ shows which tasks that need to be completed have been assigned to various team members.

Question 19

When a consultant suggests that the team consider using a team charter, Gantt chart, role responsibilities matrix, and team dashboard, a team leader says, "We've always done pretty well without all those sorts of things. It also seems to me that these would take a lot of time and effort and draw our attention from our primary responsibilities." How might you respond?

Question 20

What are eight (of the 14) elements of a team charter?

Question 21

Identify four benefits of using a Gantt Chart.

Question 22

Which of the following is used to evaluate the performance of team members in successfully completing their assigned tasks?

A)Gantt chart
B)role responsibilities matrix
C)team charter
D)team dashboard
E)none of the above

Question 23

When developing a role responsibilities matrix, it is important to make sure than no team member is assigned responsibility for more than three tasks.

Question 24

A matrix shows Developing Prospective Donor Lists and other tasks on the vertical axis and Courtney Bates and other team members on the horizontal axis. The matrix is a role responsibilities matrix.

Question 25

To maintain objectivity, the team leader has the sole responsibility for developing a role responsibilities matrix.

Question 26

Team dashboards are sometimes criticized because they focus solely on outcomes, ignoring process.

Question 27

Once a team has established a charter, it has the first piece in the first piece of infrastructure needed to build a high performance team.

Question 28

The team charter is one of the basic tools for defining the objectives and scope of a team.

Question 29

A difficulty associated with a role responsibilities matrix is that it creates ambiguity about potential. responsibility overlaps

Question 30

The first step in creating a team dashboard is to solicit inputs from all team members regarding the performance metrics that they feel are most relevant to the objectives of the team.

Question 31

Once the team charter has been developed, it is important that it remain unchanged in order to provide a stable, ongoing, reliable anchor for team activities.

Question 32

Which of the following provides a timeline for completing a project?

A)horizon tracker
B)team charter
C)role responsibilities matrix
D)team dashboard
E)Gantt Chart

Question 33

This chapter's "Teams in the News" example the Mayo Clinic is lauded as one of the best medical centers in the world. Which of the following was not presented as a reason for that success?

A)Use of information technology and various work systems to make key information available to support learning and collaboration.
B)Broad sharing of information by physicians and other staff.
C)Debates about various options for treatment.
D)Focus on a combination of medical practice, education, and research.
E)None of the above

Question 34

A team member says she is very concerned about how her performance will be rated. She says she is unclear about exactly what she should be doing, and some things she has been doing are also being done by others. Also, she's aware that some aspects of her project are simply not being covered. She thinks team performance will suffer and that she and her team members will be blamed even though they're all trying to do their best. Which of the following tools might help with the situation she an

A)Gantt chart
B)team dashboard
C)team charter
D)role responsibilities matrix
E)none of the above

Question 35

A Gantt chart shows tasks on the vertical axis and which of the following on the horizontal axis?

A)total cost
B)marginal cost
C)time
D)a measure of success
E)additional resources needed

Question 36

Which of the following would be signed by the all team members?

A)role responsibilities matrix
B)team charter
C)team dashboard
D)Gantt chart
E)none of the above

Question 37

Which of the following is not a key principle for guiding the development of a team dashboard?

A)The measurement system should focus on helping management to enhance its effectiveness and performance.
B)Members of the team should be empowered to create their own measurement systems.
C)If a team's process and activities are cross-functional, then the measurement system should also reflect this cross-functional emphasis.
D)The team should adopt no more than 5-7 key measures to prevent diluting its focus.
E)None of the above

Question 38

Failure to include which of the following elements of the team system is likely to create confusion about the scope of the team project?

A)Gantt chart
B)team charter
C)team dashboard
D)role responsibilities matrix
E)none of the above

Question 39

Which of the following is not a step for creating a team dashboard?

A)Solicit inputs from all team members regarding the performance metrics they feel are relevant to the objectives of the team.
B)Assign team members to specific tasks.
C)Have team members discuss the metrics that have been suggested and decide which to include in the actual dashboard.
D)Create a gauge for each metric in the dashboard.
E)None of the above

Question 40

The final step in developing a team charter is to:

A)develop a role responsibilities matrix.
B)validate the charter.
C)define the supporting elements of the charter.
D)ensure that the charter is consistent with the role responsibilities matrix.
E)none of the above

Question 41

Team reactivity refers to taking charge, remaining adaptive, and avoiding passivity.