The given deadline change poses a major challenge in terms of a team’s resource management. There are five people within the group, where two people are analysts, two other people are responsible for interacting with clients, and one is the team leader, who also represents the key interests. Analysts are highly skilled in statistical assessment and critical evaluation of data acquired both online and through interactors or consultants. They are also proficient at implementing and utilizing various analytical programs to boost their capabilities. In the case of consultants, they mostly possess advanced soft skills, such as effective communication and sales. The team leader’s skills are more variant in comparison to others because the job requires the person to be proactive and manage the overall performance.
The deadline shift is significant, which means that there are not enough human resources to complete the project within the remaining timeframe. The team’s capacity can be boosted through the reallocation of already existing resources into the most critical areas. In the case of this team, the key deciding factor is analysis and final verdict, which is based on the consultant’s acquired data. Therefore, both the leader and non-analysts need to transition towards the analytics part to derive the proper solution based on the available information. It is stated that shared leadership can have a net positive effect on the team’s performance (D’Innocenzo et al., 2016). In other words, the data acquisition and collection aspect of the project can be condensed by terminating it earlier. One can argue that the already acquired data can be considered sufficient for making definitive conclusions and recommendations. However, the primary implication of such an approach is the loss of accuracy of information delivered to the clients. Margins from errors will be more significant due to a smaller pool of data, which is why the precision might be lost.
It is important to note the fact that there are inevitable costs associated with the deadline change. These are manifested in terms of the quality of the final product and the potential purchase of more expensive programs for analytics. In addition, it is possible that these costs can be incurred upon the clients if the supervisor’s request was due to them. If not, then these costs will be transferred to the organization and supervisor himself or herself in terms of the overall project quality.
Problem-solving in teams to meet the new project requirements needs to consider the limitations. In the given case, these are time and human resources, which means that constraints are substantial. Therefore, it is important to focus on the reallocation of already existing resources and prioritize the essential aspects of the project. To communicate the new requirements to the team, it is important to be open, honest, and direct, which will reduce the likelihood of in-team hostility and conflict due to pressure. It is stated that trust plays a central role in improving the group’s overall performance (De Jong et al., 2016). This is especially true during harsh and unpleasant conditions, where the stated metric can decline.
References
D’Innocenzo, L., Mathieu, J. E., & Kukenberger, M. R. (2016). A meta-analysis of different forms of shared leadership–team performance relations. Journal of Management, 42(7), 1964-1991. Web.
De Jong, B. A., Dirks, K. T., & Gillespie, N. (2016). Trust and team performance: A meta-analysis of main effects, moderators, and covariates. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(8), 1134-1150. Web.