CSM Team Building & Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which team development intervention is MOST effective when a team has unclear goals and members are unsure of their individual responsibilities?
- Team social events to build personal relationships
- Role clarification workshop combined with goal-setting sessions (Correct answer)
- Personality assessments such as MBTI to understand preferences
- Increasing team size to distribute confusion
Correct answer: Role clarification workshop combined with goal-setting sessions
When ambiguity exists around goals and roles, structured clarification sessions directly address the root cause of team dysfunction.
Question 2: According to Belbin's Team Role theory, which role is MOST critical when a team needs creative ideas and innovative solutions?
- Implementer
- Completer-Finisher
- Plant (Correct answer)
- Monitor-Evaluator
Correct answer: Plant
Belbin's 'Plant' role is the creative, idea-generating team member who provides imaginative solutions to difficult problems.
Question 3: A high-performing team begins showing signs of complacency and stagnation after a period of success. The BEST strategic response is to:
- Replace low performers with new team members immediately
- Introduce stretch goals and new challenges to re-energize the team (Correct answer)
- Reduce performance metrics to lower pressure on the team
- Dissolve the team and form new cross-functional groups
Correct answer: Introduce stretch goals and new challenges to re-energize the team
Stretch goals challenge complacent teams by raising the bar, restoring motivation, and driving continuous improvement.
Question 4: Situational Leadership theory, developed by Hersey and Blanchard, suggests that effective leaders should adapt their style based on:
- Their own personality type and natural leadership preference
- The organization's strategic plan and annual budget
- The follower's level of competence and commitment for the specific task (Correct answer)
- The number of direct reports they manage at any given time
Correct answer: The follower's level of competence and commitment for the specific task
Situational Leadership prescribes matching leadership style (directive vs. supportive) to the follower's task-specific development level.
Question 5: A newly formed team that includes members from different national cultures experiences repeated miscommunications. Which FIRST step should the strategic manager take?
- Replace culturally different team members with local hires
- Establish explicit communication norms and create space for cultural orientation (Correct answer)
- Appoint the most dominant cultural group's members as team leaders
- Limit communication to formal written reports only
Correct answer: Establish explicit communication norms and create space for cultural orientation
Establishing explicit communication norms and cultural orientation helps bridge differences before they escalate into deeper dysfunction.
Question 6: In the context of team building, 'norming' according to Tuckman refers to:
- Establishing performance benchmarks relative to industry standards
- Team members developing cohesion, agreeing on norms, and resolving earlier conflicts (Correct answer)
- Managers imposing rules and procedures on the team externally
- The process of removing underperforming team members
Correct answer: Team members developing cohesion, agreeing on norms, and resolving earlier conflicts
Norming is the stage where the team establishes shared expectations, resolves conflicts from storming, and begins to function cohesively.
Question 7: Which approach BEST describes 'servant leadership' as applied to team development?
- The leader prioritizes their own vision and directs the team with authority
- The leader focuses on removing obstacles and developing team members to reach their potential (Correct answer)
- The leader delegates all decisions to team members without providing guidance
- The leader monitors performance metrics closely and rewards only top performers
Correct answer: The leader focuses on removing obstacles and developing team members to reach their potential
Servant leadership inverts the traditional hierarchy by prioritizing the growth, well-being, and effectiveness of team members over the leader's own agenda.
CSM Team Building & Development 3
Which team development intervention is MOST effective when a team has unclear goals and members are unsure of their individual responsibilities?