1. A group is two or more people interacting interdependently to achieve a common goal. A group can become a team only when there exists a strong sense of shared commitment and when a synergy develops such that the group’s efforts are greater than the sum of its parts. In this case, the team is made up with top people from different divisions, so it is a cross-functional team. This kind of team can only be high efficient when a team share great group norms. However, this team is not sharing the common goal and group norms, it is much worse to work as a group than sum of the work of six top individuals. If Eric and the whole group members can make some adjustments and sacrifice, clarify their goals and make a strategic plan, they can make a miracle when working together and it is much better than working individually.
2. the most important thing to do is to make management structure which supports teamwork. First, they all need to know what exact the goal is and build a group norm for this team. A strategic plan must be made for this team. Members should clarify their own role and their contribution to this team. Second, CEO must support this team and let them know their importance to the company. In this way, Randy might change his mind and begin to contribute.
3. The most influential factor to destroy this team is Randy. Apparently, he refuses to share any of his ideas. To build an effective cross-functional team, the team members must share identical information about the process of the task. However, in this case, Randy looks down upon the other team members and makes no effort to the team. His behaviors can extremely hurt the other members’ confidence.
The other process that impairs the current situation is that the team does not have the same goal and the commitment. Actually, the goal for this team is quite ambiguous. The CEO’s goal for the team “have a comprehensive plan for the realignment up, running and winning within six months." is vague. It is a long-term goal, but the goal for short-term is not clear at all.
The third destructive factor is no clear schedule for this task. Eric lacks of strong leadership, he hopes the group can be good itself- just like his previous team. Without clear timeline, the team members are not sure the procedure of achieving the goal.
In addition to that, this group is just established, it does not share the common group norms and they have a vague idea