Project Three Communication Plan Guidelines and Rubric.html
Competency
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:
Collaborate with multiple stakeholders using principles of emotional intelligence and team dynamics
Scenario
Large Technology Corporation (LTC) recently acquired the company Small Technology Company (STC). You currently work on a team of four members at LTC. But, with the acquisition, your team has expanded to 10 members. The new team members have a diverse demographic makeup as well as varying levels of professional experience, both in their careers and at the company. They are also quite diverse in their personalities and backgrounds.
With the rapid growth on the team, there have been some growing pains:
Several new employees have stated that they feel frustrated and demotivated by the lack of training and clarity in job roles.
You and the other original employees are feeling the stress of constantly needing to train and answer questions.
With the rapid changes, leadership was not able to foster cohesive team dynamics, so the diversity in personalities and backgrounds has caused a great amount of conflict among the team members.
Leadership is aware that there are conflicts on the team. So, they have asked you to develop a communication plan to explain the approaches you would take to collaborate with the team members effectively and cultivate positive team dynamics. Consider the theories and technologies you used in your management plan when preparing the communication plan. To assist you in developing your plan, review the
employee personas of the team.
Directions
Communication Plan
You have been asked to create a communication plan for your team. In this plan, you will not only address how you will manage the specific team, but also how you will manage yourself as a leader. To begin, analyze the team dynamics, specifically the cultural and generational differences of the team, as well as situations that may occur with challenging employees. After analyzing the team dynamics, you will analyze your personal approach to management and how you will manage the specific team dynamics. Finally, you will develop collaboration strategies to effectively lead the team.
Specifically, you must address the following:
Communication Barriers: While developing your plan, consider the impact of cultural and generational differences. Describe the different factors that may act as barriers for effective communication in the team. For example, describe implicit biases that might be at play on the team, and explain how these may impact communication on the team.
Personal Approach: As part of your communication plan, explain how you will manage yourself as a leader. Specifically, show how you will use emotional intelligence principles to analyze your personal approach to management. As you describe your personal approach, be sure to address the following:
Describe the approach you will take to assess your own strengths and weaknesses as a leader and your plan to continually improve these skills.
Explain how you will address your own biases and use empathy when communicating with the diverse team.
Explain how you will manage your emotions when working specifically with challenging team members.
Collaboration Strategies: Explain your approach to developing collaboration strategies specific to the current team dynamics. Also consider how you will resolve the team conflicts and frustrations that have developed due to the new changes. As you explain your collaboration strategies, be sure to address the following:
Describe how you plan to promote effective collaboration within the team, while considering the cultural and generational differences. For example, how will you ensure the communication is relevant and appropriate for all members of the team?
Explain how you will create a safe, open environment that encourages feedback to build relationships within the team. For example, will you establish specific group norms?
Describe the strategies you will use to facilitate effective collaboration with challenging employees. For example, you might consider how you will manage employees who prefer to work on their own schedules or those who did not get the promotion they were expecting, and so on.
What to Submit
To complete this project, you must submit the following:
Communication Plan
Develop a personal approach to managing a team as well as collaboration strategies to create a positive and productive team dynamic. Your communication plan must be 2 to 4 pages in length and cite any references using APA format.
Supporting Materials
The following resource may help support your work on the project:
Employee Personas
This document provides specific information about each employee on the team.
Project Three Rubric
Criteria
Exemplary (100%)
Proficient (85%)
Needs Improvement (55%)
Not Evident (0%)
Value
Communication Barriers
Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner
Describes potential communication barriers and how they might impact the team communication and leadership
Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include vague or irrelevant communication barriers, missing or vague description of their impact on the team
Does not attempt criterion
15
Personal Approach
Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner
Uses emotional intelligence principles to analyze personal approach to management; describes the approach to self-assess strengths and weaknesses as a leader and a plan to continually improve these skills; explains how to address own biases and use empathy when communicating with the diverse team; explains with examples how to manage emotions when working specifically with challenging team members
Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include missing emotional intelligence principles, missing self-assessment approach, missing or weak attempt at addressing own bias, missing or weak examples of self-management
Does not attempt criterion
30
Collaboration Strategies
Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner
Describes ways to overcome communication barriers and promote effective collaboration; outlines strategies to create a safe, open environment that encourages feedback; describes specific ways to manage challenging employees with examples
Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include missing, irrelevant, or vague collaboration strategies; missing, irrelevant, or weak examples of ways to manage challenging employees
Does not attempt criterion
35
Articulation of Response
Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner
Clearly conveys meaning with correct grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, demonstrating an understanding of audience and purpose
Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, negatively impacting readability
Submission has critical errors in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, preventing understanding of ideas
15
Citations and Attributions
Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with few or no minor errors
Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with consistent minor errors
Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with major errors
Does not use citations for ideas requiring attribution
5
Total:
100%
course_documents/MGT 200 Employee Personas
MGT 200 Employee Personas
Current Large Technology Corporation (LTC) Employees
Frank: Frank enjoys thinking at a high level and does a great job conceptualizing, but he does not enjoy getting in the weeds and producing at a
granular level. While he does a great job generating bigger ideas, he has trouble putting his ideas into action. Frank has 25 years of professional
experience in the field and has been with LTC for 12 years.
Allyson: Allyson is a collaborative employee who enjoys working with her peers. She thrives on brainstorming with her peers in meetings and
can generate creative solutions to problems. She enjoys thinking outside of the box and experimenting with new ideas around processes and
products. She becomes excited with opportunities to problem solve and at times has taken over meetings. Her current team has learned how to
harness her energy and collaborate with Allyson, but this may be a challenge for her new peers. This is Allyson’s first job out of college, and she
has been with the company for five years.
Jerry: Jerry is a motivated and productive employee, and he’s highly curious and very energetic. Due to his high energy and constant curiosity,
Jerry sometimes struggles with focusing his attention in meetings, and he finds himself needing to multitask on his computer during a meeting in
order to pay attention. This behavior is sometimes viewed as offensive by others, but since the small team at LTC has worked together closely
for a long time, Jerry’s peers have learned how to effectively work with his style. Jerry has 15 years of professional experience and has been with
LTC for eight years.
Sarah: Sarah enjoys analyzing data and information and forming conclusions. She focuses on ensuring her recommendations are grounded in
facts and thrives when she is able to conduct research before presenting solutions. Sarah is not very comfortable simply brainstorming, as she
must understand the parameters and background before developing solutions. Sarah has 20 years of professional experience and has been with
LTC for 10 years.
Employees From Small Technology Corporation (STC)
Portia: Portia is a very ambitious employee and hopes to move up in the ranks in the company. She is eager to take on additional tasks and
growth opportunities and is constantly involved in the various initiatives at the company. She has had some difficulties growing at STC, as she is a
remote employee, and she has found that the management was hesitant to promote her to a management position or provide her with a pay
raise while not in the office. This has discouraged Portia, as she feels as though she is excelling in her role, but she is hopeful that with the
acquisition, she will have additional doors opened. Portia has 15 years of professional experience and has been with STC for the past two years.
Arjun: Arjun is a motivated employee who works best on his own. While he is successful collaborating with his team members, he much prefers
to work on his own and complete the tasks, rather than relying on others to complete their designated pieces. He also likes to keep his own
schedule, often coming in late and working late or not showing up to work on certain days but working on the weekend instead. With limited
oversight from previous management, this has raised eyebrows. Arjun has 10 years of professional experience and has been with STC for almost
one year.
Violet: Violet completes her daily tasks in an acceptable manner and is happy with the status quo. She is not interested in taking on additional
responsibilities or learning new tasks and does not have aspirations for promotion at the company. In the past, when approached about
additional professional development opportunities or tasks, Violet has become confrontational and has expressed that her current role is all she
can handle. While her previous manager has tried to assist her with time management and tried to create efficiencies in her work, Violet is not
interested. Violet has five years of professional experience and has been with the company for her entire professional career.
Jerome: Jerome is introverted and has trouble speaking up in meetings. He often feels as though his ideas go unheard and that others dismiss his
involvement. He wants to feel valued by the team and needs a safe space to contribute, but this has been difficult for him, as he is a remote
employee. This is Jerome’s first job out of college, and he has been with the company for just over one year.
Jin: Jin is outgoing and thrives when interacting with people, though at times her peers have found her confrontational. She is efficient and likes
to take on projects, but she becomes easily bored and anxious when more discussion than action occurs. When engaged in a meeting or project,
Jin excels and is a model employee. When disengaged, Jin tunes out and stops contributing to the team, and instead becomes a distraction. Jin is
nearing retirement and has spent the last three years with STC.
Carlos: Carlos thrives with set processes in place and has been quite anxious about the amount of change occurring with this merger. Carlos has
limited professional experience and has been with the company for less than one year, so he is feeling lost and as though he is not part of a
team. This has been increasingly difficult for Carlos, as he is a remote employee and does not always feel the sense of community that those in
the office seem to exhibit. At times, the team forgets to include him on updates that others in the office received.