Planning and Execution

Every organization has defined goals and objectives. The main goal of the small-sized
family-owned construction company is to diversify its activities into real estate brokerage and
management. However, the team initiating this project faces various cohesion issues that need to
be addressed. Such include communication breakdown, absence of trust, and delayed decision
making. The team is also encountering productivity issues, including missed deadlines and
reduced quality of work. Implementing a training and development initiative to address these
issues will run for three months. The initiative will have three major activities: training,
education, and development. The initiative will be implemented on a part-time basis.

What organization are you working with (to remind your readers)?
I work with a small-sized family-owned construction company. My team’s main goal and
objective are to impact a major change in the company by diversifying its activities into real
estate brokerage and management.
What is the team cohesion need that should be addressed, and what is the intervention for
that need?
Team cohesiveness is the ability to work together towards achieving organizational set
goals and objectives. Cohesiveness allows team members to work without misunderstanding and
share their opinions without fear of criticism. Team cohesiveness varies depending on the stage
of team formation (Priyotomo & Suharnomo, 2019). To ensure that the team remains together
throughout the project to the adjourning stage, there is a need to set norms, goals, and objectives
to guide its operations. Lack of cohesion affects team functioning hence difficulties in meeting
the set goals. In the small-sized family-owned construction company, team members have
demonstrated a lack of cohesion. Such has been portrayed through communication breakdown,
delayed or no decision making, and absence of trust.
Communication breakdown is one of the cohesion needs that should be addressed in this
team. The company lacks effective and efficient communication channels to connect all
members at whichever time. The implication is that members find it difficult to share critical
information. Sometimes, some members receive the information later than others which is
mostly distorted from the original message. Such has led to increased informal communication,
such as gossiping among the team members. Besides, the team members are unwilling to share
essential information about the deadline, which affect the group operation. The team leader also

takes a long before responding to emails—the reluctance to share information results in
communication breakdown, which reduces team cohesion. The cohesive need can be addressed
by developing effective communication channels within the organization for the team members
(Khan & Siddiqui, 2021). Such will allow members to share critical information and become
aware of their roles and responsibility. The implication will be team cohesiveness since members
will effectively interact with each other.
The other team cohesion need is the absence of trust. Trust is an integral part of team
operations. Trust allows team members to work towards achieving a common goal without the
fear of intimidation. Besides, when working in a team, individual members have confidence
whenever trust is guaranteed (Khan & Siddiqui, 2021). However, in this team, members have
demonstrated a lack of trust, which affects team cohesion. The idea of people failing to share
information shows that they lack confidence and may fear criticism. The team members are not
comfortable around each other due to the assumptions of negative intentions from other
members. Lack of trust, if it goes unaddressed, a lack of trust is likely to affect team cohesion
negatively. The cohesive need will be addressed by implementing strategies to build trust among
team members. Such will be achieved by having interactive sessions and ensuring that the
members know the team’s mission, vision, and objectives. There will also be defined team roles
and responsibilities so that everyone knows what is expected of them.
The third cohesion needed in this team is delayed or no decision-making. The team
members disagree on various issues which affect the team’s functionality and cohesiveness.
During meetings, members adjourn by promoting their agenda rather than the teams. The team
leader takes a long time to reply to emails, which delays the decision-making process. Besides, it

delays approvals of most of the team’s materials and reaches the clients unchecked. Such has
resulted in some team members feeling frustrated, which affects their ability to make timely
decisions. Members are also forced to work overtime and late at night to meet deadlines—the
frustrations and failure to meet the required deadline results in reduced team cohesion. Delayed
decision-making will be addressed by defining roles and responsibilities for every member
(Khan & Siddiqui, 2021). Besides, the members undergo a training session that will focus on
organizational relationships.
What is the team productivity need that should be addressed, and what is the intervention
for that need?
The team has not performed as expected since its formation. The initial set goals and
objectives are yet to be achieved. Therefore, the team productivity is low, and some issues need
to be addressed to solve the situation. Reduced productivity will affect the overall organizational
performance. Two main productivity needs have been identified in this team, including missed
deadlines and reduced quality of work.
Missed deadlines have a significant effect on productivity. The team fails to meet the
deadlines, and they present unchecked materials to the clients. Missed deadlines contribute to
team members working under pressure, not guaranteeing the desired results. Besides, there is
delayed approvals and decision-making among the team members. Reduced team cohesiveness
prevents members from working towards achieving a common goal. Therefore, there is a
reduced probability of sharing innovative ideas to improve their quality of work (Oyefusi, 2022).
The productivity need can be addressed by setting clear goals and objectives and communicating
the team’s expectations within a specified period. Goal setting will ensure that everyone works

towards a particular goal, and communicating expectations will ensure that they deliver within
the stated timeline.
The other productivity need is reduced quality of work. Such is associated with delayed
decision-making and approvals among the team members. Reduced team cohesiveness also
prevents members from working towards the specific goal of diversifying the company. The
other issue that led to reduced productivity is the inability to share critical and innovative ideas
essential to improving the quality of work. The productivity need can be addressed by defining
roles and setting goals and objectives. More so, the organization can establish appraisal programs
where the active members who submit their work before the deadline are recognized (Oyefusi,
2022). Such will motivate the other team members to be more passionate and focus on meeting
the set goals and objectives. Appraisal programs will boost the team member’s morale, making
them perform better and enhance their product quality.
Who will need to participate (at any level) in the training and development initiative?
Different stakeholders will be required to participate in the training and development
initiative. Individual team members will be expected to attend the training programs. Such will
focus on specific organizational relationships, employee motivation, communication, and job
satisfaction. Undergoing the training will enhance their skills and competencies necessary for
achieving the set goals and objectives. Managers will also participate in the training and
development initiative. They will be responsible for organizing the programs and scheduling
how the initiative will be executed. Policymakers will also formulate policies to direct every
member toward the same productive direction. Such policies will encompass different areas,

including how team members should be organized, the roles and responsibilities of every team
member, and the required deadlines for the different stages of the project implementation.
When will the initiative take place?
The training and development initiative will run for three months. It will happen at the
norming stage, where the main focus will be no longer on individual goals but on how the team
can work together to increase productivity (van Geffen, 2020). The expected outcome of this
initiative is that the team members will respect each other’s opinions and value their differences.
There will also be the development of roles to govern the team and trust-building among the
members. By the end of the sixth month, the team members will be expected to show greater
self-direction and can solve issues and conflicts as a team. Working as a team will address the
various issues affecting the team, including communication breakdown, lack of trust, and
delayed decision making.
What is the basic schedule for rolling out your initiative?
The training and development initiative is scheduled to run for three months. This
initiative will schedule three activities, including training, education, and development
(Lacerenza et al., 2018). The first activity will be training scheduled to run for one month. The
team members will be trained on the scope of their jobs which align with the company’s culture
and objectives. The training will focus on the current roles and responsibilities of team members.
The other activity will run for the second month, involving educating the team members. Some
of the topics captured in this session are decision-making processes, making a successful team,
and organizational behavior, among others. The last activity, which will be in the third month,
will focus on development. The program will aim at developing individual skills and

competencies for effective productivity. Team members will be informed about what is expected
of them by the end of the project. The initiative will be implemented on a part-time basis.