Henry Tam

Team Assessment:

There are a total of 7 members in the team. All the members are from different backgrounds. As far as the team dynamics are concerned, it appeared that seven people on a team was on the higher side. As the team size increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage the group. Moreover, at the end, the team was not fully prepared for the HBS business plan contest

The team seemed very good on paper. It consisted of members with different backgrounds and varied areas of expertise. Although each of the members had experience working in various domains, and that the product was very intriguing, none of the members seemed to have a clear vison for the company. Furthermore, none of the team members had prior experience in drafting a business plan or growing a startup over their professional careers.

As far as the team formation was considered, it was evident that all the team members not present in the first team meeting. Roman was not present in the first meeting. Alex was introduced only in the second meeting and Dav was present in the third meeting. Henry was not informed about the introduction of Dav. Util the day of the meeting.

Henry and Dana felt that the brainstorming sessions were very lengthy and not effective, while the other members felt that these sessions were necessary. The norms were not explicitly defined and followed by all team members.

Root causes for failure:

The main cause for failure was that the there was no team leader in order to co-ordinate the activities and to monitor the teams’ progress. For diverse teams to click, effective communication is a must. The members did not communicate effectively with each other which led to misunderstandings. The team members also blamed each other in many instances. Secondly, the roles and responsibilities not assigned properly to any of the members. The team was divided into one main group (consisting of Igor, Sasha and roman) and subgroups (Dana and Henry). But, it was...