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strategic-plan.org

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Team Strategic Plan

Part 1: Collective Critical Reflection

Group projects are always going to be difficult. However, throw in the fact that the group project is for an online distance class and the task becomes even more daunting. Luckily, after an admittedly slow start, our group is up and running and has a solid sense of direction moving forward.

The first three to four weeks were spent attempting to establish consistent contact with each other. After only a couple of emails back and forth we quickly figured out that email was too slow a method of communication for a group who will never meet in person, so about two weeks ago (Learning Unit 2), we made a GroupMe. GroupMe is an instant messaging app that is useful for communicating in a group in real time. It is a huge advantage to be able to receive a notification in real time in order to respond quickly to group members. An additional form of communication used is Google Docs. We plan on sharing all research and papers across the internet with each other so all the information can be compiled and saved by each member. In fact, this paper was initially created on Google Docs and then moved to a word document for submission. For future meetings we hope to be able to use Skype to physically speak with each other in an effort to be more efficient. The reason for our inability to meet in person and resulting use of Skype is that only two members are in the same state. Danielle is in South Dakota, Harley is in Minnesota, Stella is in Washington State, and Sam and Brady are in Nebraska. Therefore, it is impractical to meet in-person. Skype allows us to get as close to in-person communication as possible. Initially, the group could not get in consistent contact with Harley, but the situation has been remedied, and we have brought her into the Google Docs, GroupMe and Skype communication channels.

Our first meeting as a group happened on June 13th, 2017 and was productive. While we didn't have our own set agenda, we used the different parts of the current assignment as a rough agenda that managed to keep us on track during that meeting. An agenda is “a list of topics to be covered in a meeting” (Adler, Elmhorst and Lucas, 2013, p. 245) and for future meetings, scheduled or otherwise, we hope to have an agenda set before the meeting. They are important for keeping a meeting on schedule and although our first meeting went fine, we do not want to risk wasting time on unnecessary things for the future. We also have Danielle taking meeting minutes which she is logging in a separate, shared Google Doc for the group to reference. These meeting minutes are “a written record of the major discussions held, decisions made and action items assigned” (Adler et al., 2013, p. 258). This record will be useful for keeping group members accountable for that which they have been assigned or delegated. During the first meeting, we established our team goals, a plan for communicating in the future, set a weekly meeting to make sure everyone is on the same page and delegated tasks for this paper and some for the rest of the semester.

One norm quickly established within our group was the use of parliamentary procedure. Parliamentary procedure is “a set of rules that governs the way groups conduct business and make decisions in meetings” (Adler et al., 2013, p. 249). The use of parliamentary procedure is used in our group to maintain order and efficiently allow ideas such as when to have future meetings can be agreed upon. So far it has been used to great effect and it has allowed everyone to have a say in important decisions. With the use of parliamentary procedure, we have established the use of motions and majority vote. A motion can be defined as “a specific proposal to action” (Adler et al., 2013, p. 250) and an example of this from our first meeting was a motion to vote on our goals that are listed below. A majority vote on the other hand is how we decide if a motion passes and can be defined as a vote that “needs only the support of most of the members” (Adler et al., 2013, p. 266). Keeping with the above example about our goals, we reached a majority decision (that probably could've reached consensus, or “a collective group decision that every member is willing to support” (Adler et al., 2013, p. 266), if we had given it enough time) to of three out of the five members and the motion passed. Additionally, while it wasn't used in our first meeting, minority decisions are being used for parts of this paper. Minority decisions are where “a few members make a decision affecting the entire group” (Adler et al., 2013, 266) and for example, Harley, Stella and Brady are working on part one of this assignment largely independently of the other members while they are independently working on their own parts. While in this case, every member can and will have input on each section, it is useful to allow a smaller subsection to work on the various parts of the project independently and allow for revisions later.

For the future, our group will need to further assign responsibility for other portions of our group work. As it sits we have not begun working on anything beyond this week in much detail other than discussing our topic. Additionally, we need to work on allowing input from everyone and accepting others opinions and allowing ideas to flourish. Each member of the group has good ideas and special skills that, if utilized, will help the group. We need to make sure we pull from all members of the group. No doubt as we continue to work together, we will continue to learn more about each other and appreciate what we are all able to do but for now it is definitely something to keep an eye on as we progress through this class.

Although we did not have the quickest start, group three is established and ready to work. We have done well in establishing consistent communication with all group members and created a format in meetings to work efficiently going forward. We have set meeting times and hope that they can be as productive as the first. In the future, we need to work on getting everyone's ideas and giving them a chance as well as defining everyone's responsibilities for the rest of the class. All in all, we are on the path to success and with a little hard work and cooperation we believe we have set up a network in which to succeed.

Part 2: Team Strategic Plan

Part 2A: Structural Elements of Team's Plan

Team Contact Information

Team Goals

Our goals are threefold: to develop a formal plan, backed by scholarship and subject-matter expertise, with the goal of reducing medical malpractice lawsuits; to be able to work together as a group, efficiently and with minimal arguing; and to ensure that all assignment deadlines and requirements, as defined in the various rubrics and syllabi, are met and exceeded.

Team Communication Plan

As many of our members are in varying locations across the country, we have elected to use the following methods of communication: GroupMe, an instant messaging system to provide constant dialogue; Google Docs, for collaborative editing of documents, notes and research; Skype, for online meetings (weekly on Tuesdays, 8:00 PM CDT); and Sam's website, to host research documents, interview transcriptions and recordings and other artifacts.

Timeline

June 20 June 25 June 27 June 30 July 5 July 7
Team meeting, assign roles for final project Introduction finished Team meeting Body and conclusion finished Team meeting Final project submitted

Part 2B: Procedural Elements of Team's Plan

To complete the assignment as a team, some procedures must be in place. These procedures are aligned with our goals and general communications plan. Further, these need to leverage our strengths as a group, and consider our weaknesses. These procedures will pertain to decision making, distribution of work and the timeline.

For decision making, for the most important of matters we will use a modified form of parliamentary procedure with a discussion of the topic being voted upon, an individual making a motion and the group lead calling for it to be seconded and for a vote. If the motion passes, it will be noted in the meeting minutes with the number of votes for being noted, along with a brief reasoning. In the event that the motion does not pass, it will be noted with reasoning. Minor decisions will be made during collaborative editing and as we keep in touch on GroupMe.

Distribution of work will be accomplished through discussion between all group members, and separately designated sections to be individually worked on. For example, in this assignment we all worked collaboratively on the Structural Elements (part 2a), Harley, Brady and Stella worked on the Collective Reflection (part 1), Danielle worked on the timeline and Sam developed the procedural elements (part 2b). We then each reviewed and edited the other sections with the intent of harmonizing the paper.

Our timeline is described above. To complete these tasks as intended, we will work quickly and efficiently, completing research and writing tasks in a timely manner. To accomplish this, we will keep in frequent contact to coordinate along with meeting regularly to make the major decisions. We intend to do this through GroupMe and with meetings, holding each other accountable. Furthermore, our timeline is extremely tentative, and various deliverable dates are subject to change.

Meetings will be held weekly, with an agenda posted two days before. These meetings will be held on Skype, lead by Sam with each member participating, discussing the agenda and anything else that comes up such as progress reports, research summaries, continued planning and updating of the timeline. All important decisions will be made during these meetings. In addition to the agenda, meeting minutes will be taken by Danielle, the group secretary.

It is through these procedures that we intend to complete our final project. By using modified parliamentary procedure to make decisions, a fair and equitable distribution of work, a fluid timeline with constant discussion and weekly meetings; we should be able to accomplish our goals.

References

Adler, Elmhorst, & Lucas (2013). Communicating at work: Strategies for success in business and the professions. [Customized e-textbook for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln]. Lincoln, NE: McGraw Hill.