Learner Outcome:  Investigate key challenges that a specified team is facing, and propose solutions to improve performance.

Course: INMGT 630 Teams and Negotiations | 3 cr. | Summer 2025

Artifact: 

During the summer 2025 semester, I took a course called INMGT-630 Teams and Negotiations. For the final, my group of four students created a PowerPoint analyzing team structures, phases of team development, and team problem-solving methods. This artifact proposes solutions to address key challenges that a team is facing which is impacting their performance. We were prompted with a list of challenges that a pseudo software development team was experiencing, and we researched the negative impacts of having a lack of communication, time zone differences, uneven participation, cultural differences, and lack of trust.

Work sample: 

Virtual Team Building Proposal for Company XYZ (PowerPoint)

Self-Reflection:

What did you learn?

I learned about various factors of team dynamics that have an impact on overall team effectiveness, including the challenges that virtual teams often have during each stage of team development. I learned the key components of a team charter and how creating one facilitates a positive and productive environment. A charter includes sections about communication tools, response times, the decision-making process, and conflict resolution. It sets baseline standards for expectations and interactions and can be referenced if there are issues or the team is not performing well. The course also taught me about team engagement and building in routine events to recognize colleagues for their contributions, tying it back to team and project goals. Overall, I learned more tactics for improving collaboration in remote work environments that should lead to better outcomes for the team.

How did you learn this?

I accumulated knowledge throughout the course by completing this group project in addition to other assignments related to the team development process and factors that impact performance. This involved researching topics like how to form teams, determine roles and responsibilities, and how collaboration and communication help or hinder team effectiveness. Specifically, I learned about using gradients of agreement for decision-making, setting ground rules, and communicating the source of conflict to propose solutions. Throughout the course, I was also prompted to set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). In one assignment, I did a deep dive into psychological safety and learned about shared norms for risk-taking activities like admitting errors, asking for help, and challenging the status quo.

The final group project reinforced all of these learnings, as I had to investigate ways to address each of the challenges the company was experiencing and determine how they fit into the different stages of team development, such as forming or storming. We recommended many activities to establish a team and help it function effectively.

What were some challenges that you overcame?

One challenge I had was during the group project itself. I realized that many of the initial recommendations we were proposing were based on opinions or my own work experiences. To justify the recommendations, evidence-based reasoning had to be incorporated into the presentation. I overcame this by reminding our group about past feedback on this topic and researching proven strategies for resolving conflict, team building, and improving dynamics.

Another challenge was a course restriction that required us to keep all team communication within the Learning Management System, Canvas. Not being able to use typical communication tools such as Outlook, Teams, or video calls made it difficult to complete work. To overcome this, my team members and I posted frequently and always uploaded a new version of any file we were working on, even with minor changes. This helped with tracking changes and ensuring each person reviewed and approved everything.

Lastly, this was an accelerated summer course, which necessitated reading and completing tasks every day to stay on track. I overcame this by adding all due dates to my personal calendar and committing to a minimum of one hour of coursework each night.

How will you apply this information in the future?

I will take the learnings from this course and final project and apply them to my work and personal life as opportunities arise. I now have the knowledge to recognize when a team charter will be useful and can propose establishing one when I am assigned to a team. Getting alignment on roles and responsibilities right away during team formation will be critical to being set up for success from the start. With these skills, I am now better positioned to recognize and manage conflict within teams and to address a variety of other challenges.

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