CSM Team Building & Development 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A strategic manager notices that two high-performing team members constantly clash on project decisions, slowing delivery. Which conflict resolution approach is MOST appropriate for preserving both relationships and outcomes?
- Avoid the conflict and let team members resolve it independently
- Collaborate by facilitating a structured discussion to find a mutually beneficial solution (Correct answer)
- Compromise by asking each party to give up half of their position
- Compete by letting the more senior team member's view prevail
Correct answer: Collaborate by facilitating a structured discussion to find a mutually beneficial solution
Collaboration addresses underlying interests and preserves relationships, making it most appropriate for ongoing team conflicts in a strategic context.
Question 2: Tuckman's model of group development includes the 'storming' stage. What is the PRIMARY characteristic of this stage?
- Team members are polite, cautious, and dependent on the leader
- Interpersonal conflict and power struggles emerge as roles are contested (Correct answer)
- Team achieves high performance with minimal supervision needed
- Team disbands after completing its objectives
Correct answer: Interpersonal conflict and power struggles emerge as roles are contested
Storming is characterized by conflict, competition, and interpersonal tensions as team members negotiate roles and working styles.
Question 3: Which talent development strategy focuses on broadening an employee's skills by rotating them through different roles within the organization?
- Succession planning
- Job enrichment
- Job rotation (Correct answer)
- Mentorship pairing
Correct answer: Job rotation
Job rotation develops versatile employees by exposing them to multiple functions, roles, and perspectives across the organization.
Question 4: A team is geographically dispersed across three time zones. Which practice MOST effectively maintains team cohesion and alignment?
- Relying exclusively on email communication to create a written record
- Establishing overlapping core hours and regular synchronous check-ins (Correct answer)
- Assigning a local team leader in each location to operate independently
- Reducing meeting frequency to respect different schedules
Correct answer: Establishing overlapping core hours and regular synchronous check-ins
Overlapping core hours ensure all team members can collaborate in real time, which is critical for maintaining cohesion in distributed teams.
Question 5: Psychological safety in a team, as researched by Amy Edmondson, primarily enables which outcome?
- Guaranteed conflict avoidance among team members
- Team members feel safe to speak up, take risks, and admit mistakes without fear (Correct answer)
- Leaders maintain tighter control over team processes and outcomes
- Higher individual performance through competitive pressure
Correct answer: Team members feel safe to speak up, take risks, and admit mistakes without fear
Psychological safety creates an environment where team members can express ideas, raise concerns, and learn from errors without interpersonal risk.
Question 6: When building a cross-functional team for a strategic initiative, a manager should PRIMARILY ensure that the team:
- Consists only of members from the same department to reduce coordination costs
- Has diverse expertise and clear decision-making authority across functional boundaries (Correct answer)
- Reports to multiple managers simultaneously for broader oversight
- Avoids including subject-matter experts to encourage creative thinking
Correct answer: Has diverse expertise and clear decision-making authority across functional boundaries
Cross-functional teams require diverse expertise and clear authority structures to effectively tackle complex, multi-disciplinary strategic initiatives.
Question 7: A manager is using the GROW coaching model with a team member. What does the 'W' in GROW stand for?
- Work
- Way Forward / Will (Correct answer)
- Weakness
- Workflow
Correct answer: Way Forward / Will
In the GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Will/Way Forward), 'W' represents commitment to action and defining the next steps the coachee will take.
CSM Team Building & Development 2
A strategic manager notices that two high-performing team members constantly clash on project decisions, slowing delivery.
Which conflict resolution approach is MOST appropriate for preserving both relationships and outcomes?