Group end product: Training manual Group activities Management is all about working with others. Consequently group work is important for understanding management. There are two parts to group work; the process of working groups as well as an end product developed by the group. In this unit we want students to engage with both the process of working in groups as well as collectively develop an end product. Group end product In workplaces groups work on a range of outcomes, such as the collective development of a product, the provision of a service or event, or a research report. The judgement or assessment of these outcomes is made of the outcome as a whole without consideration of individual contributions. In effect everyone receives the same mark or grade for the outcome generated by the group. However, this can create problems with social loafing where individuals do not contribute to the group outcome. Group processes However, managing is not just about the collectively developed end product but how the group works together to produce that outcome. This is difficult to assess because those making the assessment or judgement about that outcome often do not see how the group works together. Workplaces often use meetings as a formal process for individuals to work together as a group. Individuals in meetings have roles and responsibilities for how they behave in the meeting. A chair helps plan the agenda for the meeting, leads the meeting, ensuring that the resource of time is used wisely, that everyone at the meeting contributes, and that tasks are allocated to and completed by different team members (as well as contributing to discussions). A secretary works with the chair to develop the agenda and records the minutes (and contributes to discussions). A group members contribute to discussion and provide input on tasks they have been allocated The group assessment for this unit forms 30% of the overall grade for this unit. The assessment consists of 2 parts: Training manual - (15%) Minutes demonstrating group processes - (15%) Group end product: Training manual The training manual represents 15% of the assessment grade. In the learning material for each module there is a group activity provided for students to work together to produce material that will be compiled into a management training manual. Over the different modules students will be presented with a management problem in the area being studied in that module. The group needs to develop a 1/2 to 1 page response that would provide managers with a guide to how that problem could be resolved based on the material studied in that week. At the end of week 13, students will submit a management training manual consisting of 5 responses to the group activities, a group assignment cover sheet and an appendix that contains the minutes of all the group meetings. All group members will receive the same mark for the training manual. The training manual must include the group activity response from the following two modules: Module 3 on planning Module 7 on decision making The group will need to decide together which other 3 group activity responses they wish to include. It might be helpful to look at the assessment marking rubric (guide) to determine which responses best showcase the group's work. Please note that tasks have been deliberately designed to be ambiguous. This is to improve the authenticity of tasks and reflect the ambiguity often found in the workplaces. It is also based on recommendations about designing groupwork that advise creating more ambiguous tasks so that group members have to work together to complete the task. If tasks were designed in a way that could be easily divided students would be able to complete the work without communicating with each other - this defeats the purpose of working in a group. Some students will find this ambiguity quite difficult, particularly when beginning to work with others. This is a normal process of working with others. Please be reassured that there are many different and perfectly valid responses to the tasks. We are looking for the reasoning and justification for the responses made. Format for submission Please compile the 2 required reponses (from modules 3 & 7) and 3 chosen responses into 1 document and submit via the link below. If students have been completing group activities each week then they will have completed this assessment piece by the end of module 10 as there is no group activity for module 11. Submission has been set at the end of week 13 (2nd of June) to give those students who have been struggling to meet enough time to complete the assessment piece. Group Processes Attached Files: File MGT10001 MEETING AGENDA template.docx (16.188 KB) File MGT10001 MEETING MINUTES template.docx (17.523 KB) File Example MGT10001 MEETING AGENDA.pdf (13.06 KB) File Example MGT10001 MEETING MINUTES .pdf (41.991 KB) File Group processes template summary of contribution.docx (12.483 KB) For each module groups will need to conduct formal meetings where students will work on developing the training manual. As would happen in a workplace each meeting needs an agenda (formal plan of the meeting) and minutes (a written record of the meeting). Each week the group will need certain roles to be fulfilled - a leader or chair, a secretary and a group member. Students must take on each of the three roles at least once over the course of the unit. (There is space in the minutes to indicate who has adopted which role in the group activity for that week). The leader is responsible for: setting the agenda, ensuring every group member has the opportunity to participate, time management of the meeting and keeping the discussion on track. The secretary is responsible for: writing and posting the minutes of the group meeting for a module. One of the group members is responsible for writing up and posting the 1/2 to 1 page response that may be used in the training manual. Each student will take the role of chair, secretary and group member to experience the management of a meeting. A proforma and guide for each will be available for students to help complete the activity. Students will submit the agenda and minutes from all of their formal meetings as an appendix to the training manual. Attached is an example of how the minutes and agenda templates could be filled out. PLEASE NOTE: In order to simplify the submission and marking of the group processes the teaching staff have decided that it will be easiest for everyone if the Minutes are submitted as an appendix to the training manual. Students will then submit a brief, one page document evaluating their own and other group members performance. A template has been attached to help students with writing this document. The minutes are the evidence base for this evaluation, and will be used to verify evaluations. Module 3- Planning Our organisation is facing an increasingly competitive environment. New foreign companies are driving prices of our product down and our sales have been dropping as consumers shift to buying cheaper foreign imports. Profits have dropped. To keep costs down our product is being manufactured off-shore and recently consumers and activist groups have begun to complain about the environmental performance of our manufacturer. These groups are threatening to boycott sale of our products in Australia until environmental performance is improved. Within our organisation turnover of staff means that existing staff are stretched beyond capacity and morale is very low. Unemployment is high but it is difficult to find staff with the skills we need and with 50 to a 100 applicants for each job we advertise it is a lengthy and time consuming process to find new staff. The good news is that research and development have developed a more environmentally friendly version of our product, but it will be more expensive. Our management team is looking to develop plans to become more innovative and improve performance. They are not sure how to go about developing such plans given the different challenges the organisation is facing. The management team is gathering for a strategic planning day next week and your team has been given the task of developing a brief guide (two paragraphs) for the management team recommending a procces for developing such plans in such a challenging environment. They want evidence to support your recommendation (so that they know why they should adopt that approach) and examples showing how others have done this. The meeting for the group activity requires nomination of a leader or Chair of the meeting, a secretary and the tasks allocated to different group members. They want two different contingency planning approaches outlined and for your team to recommend which approach they should follow. HINT: One way that students might like to approach this is to have a paragraph comparing contingency and scenario planning and a paragraph justifying a recommended approach. Module 4- Organising Following the strategic planning day, the senior management team has decided that the organisation needs to restructure. The organisation currently has a functional departmentalisation structure. We have our Product Manager who reports to the senior management team, is in charge of all the functions related to our product. Reporting to our product manager is the Manager of Research and Development, Manager of Marketing and Sales, Manager of Human Resources, Manager of Manufacturing and the Manager of Finance. The structure is highly mechanistic so changes in response to our market have been too slow, there is poor communication between groups and there is a lot of repetition in different groups. The senior management team wants a more organic structure that responds better to the environment and supports innovation. Group activity organisational structure The Product Manager wants our team to recommend a new structure and develop a guide for the restructure process. In our meeting the Product Manager wants group members to prepare an outline the advantages and disadvantages of two possible organisational structures, and examples of other organisations that use the proposed structures. The Product Manager wants the group to offer a recommendation, with evidence to support our recommendation of no more than two paragraphs to be uploaded to the group site. The group will need to note roles and task allocations (which group member will bring what information to the meeting) in the agenda, and document discussions in the minutes of the meeting. Each group needs to upload a meeting agenda, completed minutes and the two paragraph recommendation. Module 5- Leading Now that our organisation has a new structure the Product Manager is struggling with the increased workload and has decided to appoint a new leader for our workgroup. The Product Manager has asked our team to develop a guide on what to look for in this leader. Despite all the changes in the organisation employees and managers have maintained good relations, with a high degree of trust and respect. Given that the group was established to provide advice and guidance to senior management on management issues in the organisation the nature of tasks are ambiguous with little formalisation or procedural guidance. The new leadership position will have limited power to hire or fire staff as that responsibility will remain with the Product Manager but the new leader will be accountable for the performance of the group and making sure tasks are completed on time. While most of the group members have limited experience they are confident in their ability and believe they have control over improving their performance and are learning how to do many of the tasks required. Your task: Using one of the contingency leadership theories, provide a guide advising the Product Manager of two different approaches to leading that could be adopted and the pros and cons of each option, before recommending one option. Provide evidence and examples of how others have led using the recommended approach. Module 6- Controlling The Product Manager has appointed a new leader to our group. Every year the leader of each group has to present a report to the senior management justifying the performance of the group. As the leader is new to the organisation, they have approached the group to outline the most appropriate measures needed to appropriately assess the performance of their group in terms of the guides and advice they have given to the senior management team. As a support function that advises the senior management team about unique situations the group outcomes cannot be easily translated into dollar amounts. Performance outcomes of the group consist of 1 page written recommendations to guide the senior managers. As collaboration is key to creating recommendations behavioural or process measures are important to assessing the group's success. Your task: Outline 2 performance measures that would be useful measures of the performance of your group (in terms of the guides to be used in the training manual and how well the group works together). Give a justification of why those measures would be appropriate. (hint: At the end of the chapter reading provided there is a discussion about what to measure that covers financial, customer, internal processes and learning and innovation that would be helpful in completing this activity.) Module 7- Planning; Decision Making Your manager has advised your team that the company is going invest in a new information system that is very expensive but will be quicker and more cost effective over time. This new information system will automate some of the processes in the workplace, which will mean that one staff member is no longer required. There are three possible staff that could be fired: a woman with a young family that is the sole income earner, a young man from Pakistan on a work sponsored visa and an older man that has been with the company for 30 years. Your manager wants your team to recommend who should be fired, and the reasons why they should be fired, outlining the process adopted (by your group) to make the decision. * There is no right answer for this task, we are trying to get the group to be accountable and transparent for how and why you made the decision you did.