Henry Tam & the Mgi Team Case
Overall the MGI team’s process was appears ineffective and dysfunctional.
The MGI team comprisedbrought together diverse team members with a variety of professional skill sets. By adding Henry and Dana from HBS, this team attempted to buildt a base to launch the product to the HBS contest. However, the team failed to define formal roles and objectives, and facilitate effective communication. First of all, the MGI team did not havelacked any formal structure and leader. Teams comprisednsisted of diverse people definitely need to be structured along with a leader who excels at managinghas a great teams. management skill. Since the team was not structured, each member’s role was never clearly defined from the beginning, as reflected in Henry;s observation,shown “Sasha saw us as interns, while we saw ourselves as leaders and facilitators in shaping the vision” (Polzer et al, 7).
Not only did the absence of structure it contributed to team’s ineffectiveness;, but also it also created confusions about the perception of eachthe team member’s role. For example, when Dav joined the team, Henry and Dana doubted the intentions of the team founders when they themselves got hired due to no clear explanation about Dav’s role. Asas Henry indicated, “I don’t think we were very clear with respect to the role that we took on initially. We each served as facilitator, moderator, task manager, and strategic thinker” (Polzer et al, 12). Second, the MGI team failed to communicate effectively. This failure hindered team collaboration so the team could not reach its consensus in decision making. Informal norms for team interactions were never established and interpersonal conflicts flared up as a result. Instead of capturing the value of each individual’s diverse experience and skill set, poor communication and conflict impeded the development of collaboration and integration. This team “fail(ed) to use all the information and expertise of their members” (Polzer,
The MGI team comprisedbrought together diverse team members with a variety of professional skill sets. By adding Henry and Dana from HBS, this team attempted to buildt a base to launch the product to the HBS contest. However, the team failed to define formal roles and objectives, and facilitate effective communication. First of all, the MGI team did not havelacked any formal structure and leader. Teams comprisednsisted of diverse people definitely need to be structured along with a leader who excels at managinghas a great teams. management skill. Since the team was not structured, each member’s role was never clearly defined from the beginning, as reflected in Henry;s observation,shown “Sasha saw us as interns, while we saw ourselves as leaders and facilitators in shaping the vision” (Polzer et al, 7).
Not only did the absence of structure it contributed to team’s ineffectiveness;, but also it also created confusions about the perception of eachthe team member’s role. For example, when Dav joined the team, Henry and Dana doubted the intentions of the team founders when they themselves got hired due to no clear explanation about Dav’s role. Asas Henry indicated, “I don’t think we were very clear with respect to the role that we took on initially. We each served as facilitator, moderator, task manager, and strategic thinker” (Polzer et al, 12). Second, the MGI team failed to communicate effectively. This failure hindered team collaboration so the team could not reach its consensus in decision making. Informal norms for team interactions were never established and interpersonal conflicts flared up as a result. Instead of capturing the value of each individual’s diverse experience and skill set, poor communication and conflict impeded the development of collaboration and integration. This team “fail(ed) to use all the information and expertise of their members” (Polzer,