MGMT 5113

Managing Teams
Assignment #2 – Managing Hybrid
Teams in an Ever-Changing World of
Work
Assignment #2 – Managing Hybrid
Teams in an Ever-Changing World of
Work
Date Assigned:
Monday, January 16, 2023

Due Date:
Various Due Dates – see page 8 for Schedule of Project Deliverable Deadlines

Course Grade:
This assignment is worth a COMBINED grade of 45% of your grade and includes both TEAM
and INDIVIDUAL components:
 Team Assignment – 25%
 Individual Assignment – 20%

Context for Assignment

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world of work changed overnight. We moved from
mostly in-person work teams to mostly on-line, virtual work-from-home teams, around the world.
And, once it was safe to do so, the return to a brick-and-mortar building for work, for many
organizations, will likely never involve operating fully in-person again and managers are now
navigating a variety of modes for managing their teams. This assignment has been designed to
address the challenges that managers will face as they navigate how to manage hybrid teams
within hybrid work environments.

Rationale for Assignment

1. To understand the impacts of the pandemic on today’s workforce, from the perspective of
manager – from pre-COVID, during COVID and post-COVID (or the other side of it).
2. To experience working as a high-performance, collaborative team in a hybrid-virtual
environment.
3. To gain a better understanding about how high-performance teams manage projects,
hold each other accountable, and work together to achieve desired outcomes.
4. To learn how to provide and receive feedback as a team, and as a Manager, to enhance
mutual performance.

Deliverable Description

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Each team will be responsible for identifying a manager of a unit, department or organization that
meets the requirements of each phase below:

Work State #1: Pre-COVID – manager managed a fully in-person team, with minor exceptions,
in one (or multiple) team locations/sites around the city/world.
Work State #2: During COVID – manager managed their team entirely on-line, virtually, from a
variety of locations/sites around the city/world.
Work State #3: Post-COVID (current state, on the other side of pandemic) – manager currently
managing hybrid work team from a variety of locations/sites around the city/world.

Note: If someone on the team is currently a manager that can identify with these work
states, then you can do your project on that team member, however that individual will
need to play an integral role in the deliverable of the project still. If you’re not sure how to
proceed, please speak with your instructor to discuss further.

The project team (or designated members) will interview the identified manager to learn more
about their experiences managing their team during work states 1 and 2. They will also discuss
work state 3 with the manager to better understand the manager’s expectations, concerns, and
current challenges about working in a hybrid work environment with a hybrid team. They will
identify ONE KEY PROBLEM, CHALLENGE or ISSUE that the manager is having within the
team, and they will come to an agreement about analysing the situation and the outcome of the
project will be to make a recommendation to the manager about how to address the identified
problem, challenge, issue.
When discussing what work state 3 is with the manager, be sure to ask them about
considerations for things like accessibility (physical, virtual, wellness, etc.), technology, holding
meetings, addressing possible dysfunctions (Lencioni), and what their concerns are about
managing a hybrid team.
There will be two deliverables that may be provided to the manager upon completion of the
project:
1) Presentation: Team is to prepare a video presentation summarizing their key findings
and a recommended strategy for addressing the identified problem, challenge or issue.
See Project Phases for more information on requirements.
2) Report: Team is required to prepare a final report that summarizes findings from each
phase of the project, as well as not only key recommendations for how to best approach
and support their recommendation to address the identified problem, challenge or issue,
but will include a recommended timeline, action plan for implementation that respects the
needs of the manager and their team, and possible risks, financial implications, etc. See
Project Phases for more information on requirements.

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Project Phases and Rotating Management Structure Requirements
This team project will have a rotating management structure, with each member serving as an
official Manager for one phase of the project. Projects are to be structured in 5 phases with each
member of the team responsible for managing one phase of the project. These 5 phases will
include:
1. Project Definition and Planning
2. Research and Analysis
3. Recommended Strategy and Plan
4. Preparation and Delivery of Presentation
5. Preparation and Submission of Final Report
Teams must meet at least once during each phase with the meeting to be chaired by the Phase
manager. One phase is considered to be complete when the next phase officially commences.
See page 8 for the schedule of deadlines and deliverables.

Project Phases and Team-Based Deliverable Requirements

1. Project Definition and Planning
Working with the team, the Phase 1 Manager will be required to submit a memo to the instructor,
with a copy to each team member, which summarizes the team’s approach to the project. The
memo should no less than 500 words and no more than 1,000 words, and include the following:
 The name of the manager you will be interviewing and working with, along with the name
of the organization they work in and why your team chose this manager/organization.
 Detailed outline of the scope of the project and what the intention of the project will be
(approach), including who the Phase Managers will be for each phase.
 Detailed outline of the timeline and expected deliverables/outcomes from each phase and
entire project. Each phase manager is expected to contribute to this information for their
respective phases.

2. Research and Analysis

Using the project plan outline from phase 1, the Phase 2 Manager is to lead their team through
the research and analysis phase of the project. This portion of the project will include, but is not
limited to, the following:
 Preparing interview questions for the team members responsible for interviewing the
identified manager.
 Conducting the interview with the manager.
 Conducting a form of a SWOT analysis based on input from the manager. Be sure to
have the manager identify what they see the strengths/weaknesses of their team is in
each stage (pre-COVID, during COVID, post-COVID). What opportunities has the
manager identified as a result of COVID that has, or will, enhanced its team’s ability to

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 perform/function better? Are there any threats, issues or concerns that have been
identified?
 Who are the key stakeholders? What are the main issues that the manager is facing as it
relates to managing their team in current state, or as they anticipate moving into a hybrid
environment?
 Review literature, journal articles or other materials that speak to high-performance teams
(could include all in person, on site, virtual teams, hybrid teams, or other related research,
etc.). The final report (and/or presentation) should include references to related articles,
research, as appropriate. There should be a minimum of two sources cited using APA,
NOT including the materials included from the course materials).
 Analysis of information from interviews and/or articles. What have you learned? What
insight can you glean that will be helpful as you move into the recommended strategy and
plan?

3. Recommended Strategy and Implementation Plan

The Phase 3 Manager for this portion of the project will guide their team through identifying a
proposed strategy and plan to implement the recommendation for how to address the identified
problem, challenge or issue. Considerations during this phase should include, but are not limited
to:
 Clearly identified strategy (recommendation) for the manager.
 Timeline for implementing proposed strategy by manager.
 Stakeholders involved in implementation at any point.
 Financial implications for recommendation.
 Risks identified and recommended ways to mitigate those risks.
 Measures to address various dysfunctions that might occur in a hybrid scenario (how will
they address issues of trust, conflict, commitment, accountability and possible inattention
to results?).
 Communication / engagement plan for manager to utilize with team during transition to
hybrid work environment - will it remain the same? Change? How will things be done
differently, based on their individual management style.
 How will they manage the individuals and the greater team and what will those
differences be, if at all?

4. Preparation and Delivery of Presentation

Teams are expected to prepare a no less than 12-minute and no more than 15-minute recorded
presentation which may be shared with the manager upon final grading of assignment. Each
member of the team is expected to participate in the presentation.
The presentation should include an introduction, body and concluding statement. In addition,
teams should be sure to use relevant visuals and supporting aids. Citations should be included
and sourced where appropriate.
A FINAL version of the PPT for the presentation is required to be submitted via Brightspace
along with the video, by the deadline on the schedule of deliverables. The PPT is to include the

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NOTES feature with high level notes for each slide and the name of the person that will be
speaking to each slide.
5. Preparation and Submission of Final Report
Teams are expected to submit a written summary of their research and recommendations in a
final report, which should be no less than 3,000 words and no more than 5,000 words in length
and can be single or double spaced. It will be written in a professional, clear and logical manner,
with resources and citations included as appropriate. You may use section headers, bullet points,
or lists WHERE APPROPRIATE but the written elements of each section must be written using
full sentences and paragraphs. Teams are required to include a one-page executive summary
with the report findings and recommendations. Cover page with course name, number, each
team member’s name and student ID number as well as the title of the assignment. The report
may be provided to the manager as a resource.

Individual Deliverables
1. Phase Manager Memo (only completed ONCE during project)
Upon completion of your phase of the project, Phase Managers are required to prepare and
submit a professional business memo to the instructor which is a self-reflection that will address
how you approached managing the phase, and your team, and what you learned in the process
concerning your team management skills. Specifically, you should address the following
questions:
Phase Requirements:
 As manager, what phase were your responsible for during the project.
 What were your goals/objectives for the phase (deliverables required to be
completed during this phase)?
 What plan/mechanisms did you put in place to ensure that the team achieved
them?

Team Communication and Engagement:

 What was your approach to managing your team?
 What was your plan for communicating with and supporting your team during this
phase, to ensure that the desired outcomes were met?
 How did your team respond to your leadership, in your opinion?
 Did you experience any conflict in your project phase and if so, how did you
address it? If you didn’t experience any conflict, share some reflections about why
you think this is the case.

Management Effectiveness:
 What skills do you believe you used well (i.e. what were your strengths), and what
evidence do you have of this?
 What difficulties or weaknesses did your experience highlight?

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  How might you improve your effectiveness in these areas in the future? What
would you do differently next time?

Concluding Reflection:
 Share a concluding thought or key takeaway to summarize your experience as the
phase manager.
The Phase Manager self-assessments are limited to no less than 1,000 words and no more than
1,500 words. You are to use the memo-template provided by your instructor (or a similar memo
format, as long as the key components of a memo header and the body are included).

2. Individual Peer Assessment of Team Manager (completed for EACH phase manager 3-
4x)
Team members that were NOT the phase manager each week will be asked to provide feedback
on the performance of each Phase Manager EACH WEEK, using the form posted in Brightspace.
Specifically, each team member will be asked to rate the Phase Manager practice on 5
dimensions and describe 3 things that were done well and 3 things that the Phase Manager
could have done more effectively.
Deadlines for self-assessments and peer assessments are indicated on the Project Timeline on
page 8. There will be a total of 3 or 4 peer assessments for EACH member of the team,
depending on the number of individuals on each team.

Grading for Project

This project is worth 45% of the course mark and is comprised of both individual (20%) and
team (25%) marks, as noted below:

Phase Team Portion of Individual Portion

Grade of Grade

Phase 1 – Team Memo 5%

Phase Manager Self-Assessment Memo (x1) 10%

Phase Manager Peer Assessment (x3-4) 10%

Team Presentation* 8%

Team Final Report 12%

TOTAL GRADE 25% 20%

*During the presentation, each team member will be graded separately for how they present their
piece of the presentation (i.e. professionalism, tone, content, etc.) so it is possible to receive a
different mark on this portion of the project, based on performance during the presentation.

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Project Deliverables Timeline

Phase Phase Begins Phase Ends and TEAM INDIVIDUAL

Deliverable Due Deliverable Due

 Phase 1 – Phase Manager Memo

Phase 1 Ends  Phase 1 – Individual Peer
Project Definition
Team Memo due by Assessment of Team Manager
and Planning
1 11:59pm on
Mon., Jan. 16th BOTH due by 11:59pm on
Sun. Jan. 22nd
Weds. Jan. 25th

Research and  Phase 2 – Phase Manager Memo

Analysis Phase 2 Ends  Phase 2 – Individual Peer
Assessment of Team Manager
Mon., Jan. 23rd at 11:59pm on
2
Sun. Jan. 29th BOTH due by 11:59pm on
Weds. Feb. 1st

Recommended  Phase 3 – Phase Manager Memo

Strategy and Phase 3 Ends  Phase 3 – Individual Peer
Implementation Assessment of Team Manager
3 at 11:59pm on
Plan
Sun. Feb. 5th BOTH due by 11:59pm on
Mon., Jan. 30th Weds. Feb. 8th

 Phase 4 – Phase Manager Memo

Preparation and Phase 4 Ends & Team  Phase 4 – Individual Peer
Delivery of Presentation (recorded) Assessment of Team Manager
Presentation Due by 11:59pm on
4
Sun. Feb. 19th BOTH due by 11:59pm on
Mon., Feb. 6th
Tues. Feb. 21st

Preparation and  Phase 5 – Phase Manager Memo

Phase 5 Ends and  Phase 5 – Individual Peer
Submission of Final
Team Final Report Assessment of Team Manager
Report
5 Due by 11:59pm on
Mon., Feb. 13th Sun. Feb. 19th BOTH due by 11:59pm on
Weds. Feb. 22nd