English homework help

Write a speech based on the paper. 1 page
My Summary of Concepts is
Adaptive capacity
Conflict
Give & Take
 
Geibel and Johnson were introduced to the company facing the issue of static culture and a somewhat strict creativity flow regiment. Before John Lasseter and Ed Catmull became leaders in the company, Disney was a rigidly structured and hierarchical organization that lacked easy ways for departments to cross-innovate.  Managers were not really associated with the teams they directed and teams were unwilling to share resources or support cross-team learning. With the acquisition of Pixar, tech animation and creative designers needed to work closely and develop ideas across teams. Geibel and Johnson saw potential for a greater flow of communication and collaboration to provide employees with freedom to pursue their passions and capitalize on their various skills, however it would take an overhaul of the status quo structure.
The performance of the teams has changed to be a more dynamic one where there is a more collaborative environment within the teams and how the studio was being managed. Although not everyone was behind every change that was made throughout this process, the changes that were made were better for all the workers.
Some of the team approaches that were tried were having the teams headed by a team lead, having primary and secondary team members, after team meeting the team would be left with a list of tasks that required action, and the conduction of a Systems staff meeting every other week. The most effective thing that they did was create a yearly road map for the goals of any team member. This made it easier to see where everyone stood and if their goals were changing.  Allowing teams to volunteer to tackle certain tasks will make sure that those who are completing them are invested and interested and will then come up with great ideas.
Other team approaches that should now be considered are making those team connections stronger by incorporating activities that aren’t necessarily part of their job requirements. Getting to know the team members on a more personal level will help make the team stronger since they’ll be able to talk about other things rather than just the topic of work.
While evaluating the team, we noticed that there were already many conditions for successful team performance. For example, they had an optimum team size of six people. It allows them to be closely connected, yet interdependent with each other. More specifically, they had diversities within the team, such as different members have their particular expertise so the team can leverage all of the skills that were needed in the field.
The teams achieved psychological safety as they were able to speak up and take risks without negative repercussions. The two leaders in Disney Animation strongly promoted psychological safety and the clear channel of communication that often comes with it, knowing too well that it would result in greater productivity, commitment and innovation for all the teams. Furthermore, in the term of reflexivity, Geibel and Johnson held a meeting with the team each week to discuss how the expected team performance versus the actual team performance. If team performance was below the expectation, even if it failed to perform, they will identify the root cause of dysfunction and seek for a feasible solution to improve the team performance.
Geibel and Johnson provided a very hands-on type of leadership where they were a part of everything that was going on and would constantly check in with the employees. For example, the employees were assigned as primary and secondary to specific teams, each employee played a primary role on one team and had the option of playing a secondary role for any other teams. The secondary players helped them see where peoples’ skills and passions were across the organization which helped them move employees around so they could utilize all of their skills. This allowed everyone to get as involved as they wanted. Geibel and Johnson’s goal of the small teams was to foster informal communication, so the working teams only met as needed even though some did establish regular standing meetings every week that were no longer than one hour. They thought all work should be accessible to any team member and they had a very open line of communication where they could talk to the team leads when they had disagreements.
The most relevant item in the analysis is conditions necessary for effective team performance as they determine how effective the team performs. One of the most significant factors under conditions for effective team performance is diversity which refers to the team having members from different backgrounds in terms of culture, skills and level of competences. This helps the team to leverage the needed skills in addressing the prevailing needs for problem solving. Diversities among the team members also increases the productivity of the team through synergy where the team members from a wide range of competences join together in synergy. Synergy is a key component of the actual productivity equation in that an increase in synergy levels increases the productivity of the team. Communication is the other key condition necessary for effective team performance as it enhances flow and exchange of ideas and skills among the team members. Defining the team size is also an important factor to consider in enhancing the team performance to ensure a manageable number of team members.
The thing that made an impact on the teams was the approach they took to change things based on principles of the scientific method. It allowed Geibel and Johnson to see what methods were working since they were testing them one change at a time and when things didn’t workout, they were able to make some adjustments based on their observations. They implemented this strategy throughout the departments and were able to organize themselves and build successful teams.
If G & J continue on to run the company this way, they are naturally  likely to create high performing teams. We learnt in class about the “Team Performance Model”. The recommendation below falls along the line of sustainability. After high performance in a team comes “Renewal” – we believe that creating some healthy competition among peers will not only give them a distraction from their every day work life but also will establish new relationships + new goals to look forward to among these competitions. Thus creating some new conversation and establishing some balance in their work life…
One recommendation that we believe would help Johnson and Geibel accelerate their progress in increasing department productivity would be to utilize certain lean tools in order to improve efficiency. They had already begun to share work spaces and put teams into closer proximity, however we feel that they could go a step further and track coordinated efforts between each team. They would have to create a swimlane diagram to see how the product moves from team to team (design to animation to lighting animation, etc) and create a spaghetti diagram to track how much physical movement happens between groups on any given day (i.e. animation walks over to design once per day but animation to lighting meets at least 6 times a day). With this information, they can better utilize each team’s position and improve informal communication through closer proximity layout.
Another recommendation that we think they should consider doing next with their teams would be to plan various bonding activities. This would  imply  that  everyone from each specific department would be divided to form multiple teams where they would have to work with people from other departments to achieve their prospective goal. Some examples of the bonding activities could be having a party where the teams each prepare a meal and present it to a set of judges. The judges then decide which team wins the cookoff and they get a paid day off that they can use the following week. This would work as an incentive so everyone from the company participated in the bonding activities that would be held throughout the year. Another activity that is more relaxing would be a bowling night followed by karaoke at a team members house. The teams would still have one person from each department to make it more versatile and get to know each other on a personal note.
Although there seemed to be reflexivity appearing in the manager team, we could recommend more reflexivity occur in the small teams. Some teams had established a regular standing meeting as needed, lasting no more than one hour, to foster informal communication. However, the goal of their standing meetings was focused more on tasks rather than team performance, as they often create a to-do list at the conclusion of the meeting. In order to improve the small teams’ performance, they should spend some time reflecting on how they had collaborated as a team and what tasks could have been done more efficiently.
There are various things that could improve the efficiency of the teams and encourage team work when integrated into the organization culture. One of the ways that the organization can do is setting targets to every team as it will provide a blueprint and help members focus their team energy to the priorities. The organization can also set up team building activities among teams to promote unity and teamwork. Also, redesigning the office layout to encourage open offices where the members of staff can work in teams can increase team efforts. In addition to the recommendations is opening up lines of communication by creating a culture that encourages communication in the organization.
There are many things that G & J are doing that are insorign. In the case we could see that many employees are feeling the sense of empowerment and trust entitled in them that they are going above and beyond what is expected of them. They truly feel a part of the team and they truly feel respected, and mainly valued. Another recommendation we had is to have a program that assigns you an overall “house” for example, in the series of Harry Potter, there were Griffindors, Slyntherine, Hufflepuff, and lastly Ravenclaw. Each new hire or existing employee could be assigned to their own “house” so that it creates unity among the overall company. Disney being a large corporation, there might be individuals who could be left out in some instances but if they are put into these types of houses, when it comes to recreational events or competition, these houses compete with one another. Creating even more comradery among one another within the firm. Maybe an event that they can look forward to each year.
For the concluding case as well as the overall class as a whole, we felt that our performance team operated efficiently and had a great sense of accountability. With our goals, we took the approach to determine checkpoints based on individual steps to each assignment. Instead of saying something like, “lets have this whole thing done by Monday” we went about it with “lets have everything up until step 5 done by Thursday at 3pm”. This helped us put assignments into perspective and allocate parts easily. Some of the objective performance measures that we established were member timeliness, attention to detail, and conforming to the assignment guidelines. When we divided work, these were some of the key attributes we strived for as we completed the task. We felt that our final case that included recommendations and decisions were up to standards of those potential clients who would theoretically use it. Unless course requirements and/or due dates changed, we did not feel inherently obligated to change our team goal(s). The initial goal(s) that we set was not changed over this course however if the task was extra difficult or longer then we might extend the goal’s deadline. One thing we might change in the future would be to initially add in an agreement on what we would do in unforeseen circumstances so that we’re all on the same page.
A big strength of our support team was our cohesion and overall synergy. Our team thoroughly enjoyed working together and gained a much better sense of comradery over the weeks as we got more comfortable with each other. For example, when we did the “worst dance moves” in-class task we all felt comfortable doing that together, however if it were in the beginning of the quarter we’d be skeptical. Our group didn’t run into any team dynamic conflicts, but if there was one condition that would provoke resentment it would be if a member didn’t do their assigned part.  The conditions that would prevent us from working together in the future would be if we lacked a shared goal or incentive. This could be us moving, graduating, or taking different classes. It didn’t apply to use, but if we had additions to the team or member turnover we would go about our business the same and welcome new people openly.
Our team’s performance relied on each other’s support and collective learning abilities. We all agreed that we grew and developed from this team experience and learned how we could apply some new ideas for future teams. Over time we gained a better sense of trust, psychological safety, and respect for each other. In the case of things that could block our personal growth, we felt that social loafing, lack of responsibility, and external factors would be most significant. Not doing your own work or interacting with the team due to external conflicts or simple ineffectiveness would inhibit your personal growth. Though we got closer as a support team, we weren’t easily open about our personal growth needs so they were not widely known by the group. In the future, we might enhance our growth (both as a team and personally) by openly discussing our goals for development. Our team members best learned from each other through efficient communication, meetings, and asking for help. If there was a part that one member did not understand, we would collaborate to find a mutual solution.
Our support team didn’t necessarily work for a larger upline organization, however this team experience will help us develop and integrate with future groups in college as well as within future careers. Our team goals were consistent in the idea that our deadlines were aligned with the school/professors deadlines for grades. Other than that, our goals were much more specific than larger organizations. In our case, our support team was a learning experience for us however in a professional environment the groups/departments directly above and below would be affected by our group ability. Our performance team did not actively take steps to integrate our activities with others. For the future, we would look to integrate with other departments/groups to foster cross-learning. Overall, we felt that our support team had an excellent dynamic and ability to reach our goals.
 
Write 60 word recommendations.
About Team setting goals