Team Formation
Motivation and skills are some of the desirable qualities that team members should possess. Nonetheless, even those teams that are made up of members who have such skills alongside competence have failed to accomplish the desired milestones. The reason for this is because the team leader divides the work based on each member's capabilities, which means that the results are flawless, but the team spirit and motivation are nonexistent. In a school environment, teamwork should be taken seriously as they not only help in achieving results, but they also teach students the value of working together. The team selected should, therefore, be small and manageable to minimize the time taken for coordination. Considering the complexity of the institution, the team should select a strong, assertive, and courageous leader who is going to invoke authority to steer the members towards the right direction, particularly during a crisis. Successful teams embrace diversity and use every member's capability to aid in accomplishing the set goals. Other qualities that a team needs to succeed include a deep sense of purpose, interdependence, and trust among the members, as well as mutual accountability accompanied by a crystal-clear comprehension of each member's responsibility.
Evaluation of the Team Candidates
One of the characteristics of a good and reliable team member is honesty and straightforwardness. Such a member is upfront about every news, whether good or bad. Based on this analysis, Victoria Adams, Duane Hardy, Meredith Watson, and Mason Dupree are most likely to be good group members. This is because they all agree that other outside forces such as parents and the community, in general, have become too involved in the curriculum and activities, making it impossible for the teachers to work. Duane Hardy, for instance, feels like the schools should have more power. In the same way, Mason Dupree, who is a community organizer, points out the school's way of putting in more money once a problem arises. Mason does not like that level of bureaucracy, and alongside other counterparts, he is not afraid to share his opinion. On the other hand, Ari Kaufman, who is liked by his student, fails to get along with any of the faculty members who view him as a squeaky wheel. Considering that being part of a team encompasses complementing other's work by working together and good communication skills, Ari Kaufman will be ineffective in the team. Candace Sharpe and Victor Martinez are also likely to be good team members because, like the others, they are not afraid to point out the areas of the management that they feel is going wrong. An efficient and effective team is supposed to be united, and considering that over 90% of the development team feels that there needs to be a change to bring power back to the school, the team will work together to ensure that the goal is achieved.
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Conflict Management
In every group setting, conflicts are inevitable as individuals are bound to disagree on different issues. Whether the issue of contention is petty or not, the most important thing is finding a resolution, one that both parties feel satisfied with. Several steps can be followed to get to the root of the matter. The first crucial step is becoming a calming agent. When two people or groups within the team are involved in a conflict, your first reaction can reduce or escalate the problem. For this reason, a neutral point of view needs to be found. The second step is listening carefully to help in analyzing the disagreement. Listening carefully will help in clarifying some things like the trigger of the conflict, the reason for the anger is the conflict accurate or exaggerated, as well as how it can be resolved. After that, the next crucial step is separating the individuals from the problem. In most circumstances, a conflict comes as a result of disagreement of opinions or certain circumstances. The mediator, therefore, should concentrate on such issues. The final step is working together and agreeing to disagree. Working together as a team means that the responsible person should take ownership of the problem instead of blaming others. When it comes to agreeing to disagree, every team member should accept that each individual has their own thoughts and unique way of approaching things. Consequently, they should embark on seeking the truth instead of concentrating on who is more right.
Negotiation Strategies
Integrative negotiation strategies are important for the development team because they focus on the interests at hand and not positions. The development team's work is to help achieve the Woodson Foundation's goal of coordinating instructional staff with community leaders as well as raising private money. Negotiation strategies will, therefore, take the stakeholders a step closer to achieving this goal through bridge solutions. In this case, the team will create new ideas with the other negotiating party. Although the original ideas are quintessential, such an integrative approach will result in better ones. Logrolling is another negotiation strategy that could help the team achieve joint goals. Through logrolling, the team, together with the other negotiating party, will take turns in getting the most favorable result, especially during a conflict. Such an approach will not only generate amicable solutions for both parties but also aid in achieving the set goals. Lastly, integrative negotiation will lead to equal compromising, where both parties will give up the same fair amount on their way towards an agreement. In doing so, the needs of both parties are met, and it also leads to the formation of a strong bond.
Report of the Program Team
Culture of the Stakeholder Organizations
Woodson Foundation's organization culture is adhocracy oriented in that it is entrepreneurial, with the focus being risk-taking and innovation. The foundation has won various prizes for its cost-cutting efforts, which have continued to produce excellent results. Additionally, it emphasizes experimentation as well as efficiency in everything. Lastly, the organization is dependent on hard data to evaluate the performance of their set initiatives. On the other hand, NCPIE's s organizational culture is hierarchy oriented, where the main focus is efficiency and stability. NCPIE is control-oriented as its mission is to increase parental control. The coalition believes that students and teachers can achieve success together as long as the community drives their own educational methods. The school district's organizational culture is, whereby it champions the policy of doing things together through nurturing efforts and mentorship. This is because it wants the new jobs unionized and operating in tandem with the current school policy. Additionally, the school district is opposed to the idea of Woodson taking a dominant role as this will hinder the schoolboard's efforts of controlling affairs at the institution.
How Leaders Can Encourage Employee and Parent Trust
At the moment, some of the development team members feel that the parents and the community, in general, are overinvolved in school affairs. To some extent, this is disadvantageous because it leads to mistrust, particularly on the teachers' and employees' sides. In as much as their involvement is to be reduced, developing trust between parents and employees is quintessential. Several strategies can be used to achieve that. The first one is an invitation and sharing feedback. The leader should continually invite feedback from the various stakeholders. Doing so will ensure that their opinions are heard, despite their involvement in the institution being reduced. The feedback can be obtained through three different ways, which are one-on-one interviews, large-scale surveys, as well as group samples. Furthermore, the leader can share success stories to inspire confidence in the parents. Despite their different approaches, the three stakeholders want the same results, excellence for the students. The problem comes in when the parents feel like they know what is best for their children, which is reasonable and acceptable. Nevertheless, in a school setting, teachers equally know what is best for the children. Various academic achievements should be made known to the parents regularly as it will let them know that the employees are working hard towards the common goal.
Strategies for Managing Diversity Issues
The school district and NCPIE are relatively diverse, with members being Caucasian, Hispanic, and African- American. Woodson Foundation's professionals are primarily Caucasian, which is raising some concerns about the diverse nature of the coalition. While this is the case, the development team is vastly diverse, which is the first bold step towards addressing the issue. In the future, the development team will strive towards ensuring that every individual, alongside their culture and beliefs, will be included in the coalition. Such inclusive efforts will be applicable in everyday gatherings such as holiday parties, birthdays, or retreats. The team will ensure that everyone's tastes and preferences are included in terms of food and beverages. Moreover, the team will formulate and strengthen the already available anti-discriminatory policies. Blanket language and superficial language may not be enough to initiate the diversity change required. For this reason, better-crafted policies that tackle real discrimination issues will be better in eradicating and discriminatory practices in the coalition. The last strategy that the team will use is one-on-one discussions between the leader and employees. Such interactions will bring out the underlying diversity problems and aid the team in finding an amicable solution for them.
