Q Competency In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency: • Collaborate with multiple stakeholders using principles of emotional intelligence and team dynamics Scenario Large Technology Corporation (LTC) recently acquired the company Small Technology Company (STC). You currently work on a team of four members at LTC. But, with the acquisition, your team has expanded to 10 members. The new team members have a diverse demographic makeup as well as varying levels of professional experience, both in their careers and at the company. They are also quite diverse in their personalities and backgrounds. With the rapid growth on the team, there have been some growing pains: • Several new employees have stated that they feel frustrated and demotivated by the lack of training and clarity in job roles. • You and the other original employees are feeling the stress of constantly needing to train and answer questions. • With the rapid changes, leadership was not able to foster cohesive team dynamics, so the diversity in personalities and backgrounds has caused a great amount of conflict among the team members. Leadership is aware that there are conflicts on the team. So, they have asked you to develop a communication plan to explain the approaches you would take to collaborate with the team members effectively and cultivate positive team dynamics. Consider the theories and technologies you used in your management plan when preparing the communication plan. To assist you in developing your plan, review the employee personas of the team. Directions Communication Plan You have been asked to create a communication plan for your team. In this plan, you will not only address how you will manage the specific team, but also how you will manage yourself as a leader. To begin, analyze the team dynamics, specifically the cultural and generational differences of the team, as well as situations that may occur with challenging employees. After analyzing the team dynamics, you will analyze your personal approach to management and how you will manage the specific team dynamics. Finally, you will develop collaboration strategies to effectively lead the team. Specifically, you must address the following: • Communication Barriers: While developing your plan, consider the impact of cultural and generational differences. Describe the different factors that may act as barriers for effective communication in the team. For example, describe implicit biases that might be at play on the team, and explain how these may impact communication on the team. • Personal Approach: As part of your communication plan, explain how you will manage yourself as a leader. Specifically, show how you will use emotional intelligence principles to analyze your personal approach to management. As you describe your personal approach, be sure to address the following: o Describe the approach you will take to assess your own strengths and weaknesses as a leader and your plan to continually improve these skills. o Explain how you will address your own biases and use empathy when communicating with the diverse team. o Explain how you will manage your emotions when working specifically with challenging team members. • Collaboration Strategies: Explain your approach to developing collaboration strategies specific to the current team dynamics. Also consider how you will resolve the team conflicts and frustrations that have developed due to the new changes. As you explain your collaboration strategies, be sure to address the following: o Describe how you plan to promote effective collaboration within the team, while considering the cultural and generational differences. For example, how will you ensure the communication is relevant and appropriate for all members of the team? o Explain how you will create a safe, open environment that encourages feedback to build relationships within the team. For example, will you establish specific group norms? o Describe the strategies you will use to facilitate effective collaboration with challenging employees. For example, you might consider how you will manage employees who prefer to work on their own schedules or those who did not get the promotion they were expecting, and so on. What to Submit To complete this project, you must submit the following: Communication Plan Develop a personal approach to managing a team as well as collaboration strategies to create a positive and productive team dynamic. Your communication plan must be 2 to 4 pages in length and cite any references using APA format. Supporting Materials The following resource may help support your work on the project: Employee Personas This document provides specific information about each employee on the team. Project Three Rubric Criteria Exemplary (100%) Proficient (85%) Needs Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value Communication Barriers Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner Describes potential communication barriers and how they might impact the team communication and leadership Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include vague or irrelevant communication barriers, missing or vague description of their impact on the team Does not attempt criterion 15 Personal Approach Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner Uses emotional intelligence principles to analyze personal approach to management; describes the approach to self-assess strengths and weaknesses as a leader and a plan to continually improve these skills; explains how to address own biases and use empathy when communicating with the diverse team; explains with examples how to manage emotions when working specifically with challenging team members Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include missing emotional intelligence principles, missing self-assessment approach, missing or weak attempt at addressing own bias, missing or weak examples of self-management Does not attempt criterion 30 Collaboration Strategies Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner Describes ways to overcome communication barriers and promote effective collaboration; outlines strategies to create a safe, open environment that encourages feedback; describes specific ways to manage challenging employees with examples Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include missing, irrelevant, or vague collaboration strategies; missing, irrelevant, or weak examples of ways to manage challenging employees Does not attempt criterion 35 Articulation of Response Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner Clearly conveys meaning with correct grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, demonstrating an understanding of audience and purpose Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, negatively impacting readability Submission has critical errors in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling, preventing understanding of ideas 15 Citations and Attributions Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with few or no minor errors Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with consistent minor errors Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with major errors Does not use citations for ideas requiring attribution 5 Total: 100%