PLEASE USE THE RECOMMENDATIONS BELOW TO UPDATE THE MEMO:

While you correctly identified and stressed the importance of establishing a process to improve effective communication, we must raise two central questions:

Questions:

1. Would the introduction (application) of effective communication tools and techniques resolve, or minimize, the main problems inherent in the functioning of the design team?

2. Would training programs for the entire design team be effective if the underlying problems influencing the behavior of team members are not addressed and eliminated by the leadership?

Please see my comments and recommendations relating to how you can enhance the final draft of your presentation and your contribution to the brainstorming discussion.

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Let us focus on required elements one, three, and four:

Required elements one and three:

Create an email to Dwight with enough detail outlining the approach you would take to resolving the complaints about Josh.

Since communication problems in an organization are a reflection of wider problems relating to the leadership, management and organizational culture, we should extend the discussion to examine these important relationships.

We should emphasize the following:

1. The leadership of an organization plays a vital role in establishing a positive environment for team collaboration and knowledge sharing and operational efficiency.

2. Therefore, your recommendations should reflect the leadership’s key role in establishing a positive environment (organizational culture) to facilitate collaboration and operational efficiency.

The leadership of Easy Chairs must address some crucial questions relating to the design team and Josh ‘s leadership of the team.

Questions:

1. Would the introduction (application) of effective communication tools and techniques resolve, or minimize, the main problems inherent in the functioning of the design team?

2. Would training programs for the entire design team be effective if the underlying problems influencing the behavior of team members are not addressed and eliminated by the leadership?

3. Does Josh (and other members of the team) possess or demonstrate the main competencies of emotional intelligence?

4. How members of the team communicate and share knowledge and information.

Recommendations to the company’s leadership:

Shifting the focus to the leadership of the company—Why?

1. Recognizing the critical role of the leadership in developing and maintaining a positive environment for innovation, collaboration, and the sharing of information.

2. Leadership Skills: Competence or Capacity:

Leaders should engage in continuous conversations with workers so that they can assess the on-going performance of the organization: what are we doing right, what are we doing wrong, and how can we sustain/enhance our competitiveness while distinguishing our organization from our main competitor?

3. Soft Skills: Recognizing the Importance of Soft Skills:

Soft skills are required (useful) to change the organizational culture of a company and facilitate the sharing of information and knowledge.

Soft skills include communication, skills, analytical skills, problem-solving skills, taking initiative, capacity for empathy and learning from mistakes.

Using soft skills can be crucial in the decision-making process and how managers interact with their employees. Managers should be receptive to diverse opinions and suggestions and should not interpret constructive criticisms as insubordination.

Relationship management relates to the ability to “connect” with others and build positive relationships. In this context, leaders learn and develop the traits of treating others with sensitivity, kindness, and compassion.

Required element four:

An explanation of how you would communicate the information to the people involved.

1. The leadership should recognize that there are different types of teams and group models of collaboration and knowledge sharing.

2. Different modes of collaboration involve different strategies and trade-offs.

3. Organizational leaders (and team leaders) should articulate the scope, organization and functions of a team or group.

Recognizing the advantages and disadvantages of team (group) dynamics:

When and why do groups make better decisions?

Advantages:

Groups make better decisions through interaction and the exchange of ideas.

● Discussion is the greatest difference between the group decision making process and an individual process.

● Group interaction and effective communication enable members to be sincere about their skills and capabilities and the potential of the group to achieve its goals.

Disadvantages:

Lack of Team Cohesion: Commitment and Motivation:

The lack of team cohesion could have a negative impact on the productivity and efficiency of the team and the team’s ability to fulfill its main objectives.

● When group members exhibit too much confidence or become “overconfident” of their ability to make good decisions, then there is a tendency for groups to make worse decisions than individuals.

How members of the team communicate:

Team leaders and facilitators should provide specific guidance for team members relative to how they function, share knowledge and information, and make decisions.

● Group dynamics and composition affect the capacity of groups to make good decisions: the compatibility and personal biases of group members affect their willingness to be cooperative and less competitive. Competition among group members adversely affect a group’s capacity to make good decisions.

MEMO

To: Dwight

From: Wilma Luke

Subject: Resolving the Team’s Complaints

Dear Dwight,

Communication Issues

Regarding the grievances about the communication issues from the design staff, I have identified numerous causes. The first reason is that there is an absence of a clear process for communication. For instance, Josh gives a similar message to two members of the staff, which results in the repetition of the tasks. There is no clear process for communicating variations that require to be done within a short time. Obviously, Josh’s communication is unclear and lacks the crucial details required to ensure smooth operation in the design department. The staff members have an apparent difference with Josh because they claim that he does not give clear directions and positive feedback. 

Strategies

In order to improve communication between Josh and the team, the following approaches should be applied: A communication process should be put in place. The process should include how messages should be designed, how they should be sent, and how a follow up should be done in case one doesn’t respond to make sure they have understood them (Mindtools, 2017). 

A team communication platform should be established. In the staff communication podiums, messages can be simply directed to the design group as a whole. Problems linking to the repetition of tasks can be easily identified since there are numerous individuals who can recognize a request to execute a replicated task. 

The design staff members should be trained on the communications processes. Training would clarify to the staff members the essentials of communication, such as the necessity for clear and brief messages (Moss, 2018). The staff members can also be trained on business writing skills for delivering crucial business messages to the staff. 

There should be the utilization of numerous communication platforms. With existing technology, a broad range of communication podiums can be utilized to deliver messages. They range from video and voice conferencing podiums and messaging that can be utilized to deliver a wide range of discussions or messages. 

The team members should be encouraged to give feedback once a message is sent to them (Wartzman, 2014). In each kind of communication, the involved parties must provide responses to each other to point out whether or not they have understood the messages or if they require any additional explanations.

Communication etiquette should be encouraged among the design staff members. Team members feel comfortable when communicating with each other whenever etiquette is utilized. 

Communicating the Information

A meeting between all staff members should be conducted to address the identified issues to deliver this information. The team members should be requested to present other problems that they feel haven’t been addressed in this email and propose their own resolutions to the issues. I would also present the above resolutions as important proposals to resolve the communication issues for the team.

Regards,

References:

Mindtools (2017).  Managing knowledge workers:  Getting the most from them. Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_45.htm.

Moss, D. (2018, October 24). The Top 10 Management Skills You Need. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/book-blog/pages/the-top-10-management-skills-you-need.aspx

Wartzman, R. (2014). What peter Drucker knew about 2020. Harvard Business Review, 16. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2014/10/what-peter-drucker-knew-about-2020