TEAM BUILDING
What is a cross-disciplinary entrepreneurial team?
People with different but complementary functional skills working toward shared business objectives.
What is a job description?
A document identifying a position's title, responsibilities, expected outcomes, working conditions, and required skills.
Name the three leadership styles presented in the lecture.
Autocratic, Democratic, and Laissez-faire.
Name two material employee incentives.
Any two of the following:
Salary or wages
Performance bonuses
Sales commissions
Financially valuable benefits
What does KPI stand for?
Key Performance Indicator.
Name the four main questions an entrepreneur should consider before hiring.
What tasks must be completed?
What skills are required?
How much working time is necessary?
Can the business afford the position?
What are the six stages of the recruitment workflow?
Identify Need → Define Position → Attract Candidates → Evaluate Candidates → Select → Integrate
What is the main difference between management and leadership?
Management organizes and monitors work, while leadership provides direction, influences employee behavior, and encourages commitment toward shared objectives.
Name three non-material employee incentives.
Any three of the following:
Recognition
Constructive feedback
Professional development
Employee participation
Greater autonomy
Supportive work environment
Opportunities for responsibility
Identify four important elements of effective delegation.
Any four of the following:
Clear task definition
Responsible person
Expected outcome
Appropriate resources
Necessary decision-making authority
Deadline
Performance review
A startup needs a website developed once. Should it consider an employee, partner, or contractor? Explain.
A contractor, because the work is a defined specialized project rather than necessarily an ongoing organizational position.
You are interviewing a café service assistant. Give two job-related questions that would help evaluate the candidate.
How would you respond to an unhappy customer?
How would you organize several urgent tasks?
A manager involves employees in discussing customer service improvements. What leadership style is demonstrated?
Democratic leadership, because employees are invited to contribute to decision-making.
A company rewards employees only for the number of orders completed. What potential problem does this create?
Employees may prioritize speed or quantity while giving insufficient attention to service quality.
A café completes 46 of 50 orders on time. Calculate the on-time order rate.
On-Time Order Rate = (46 ÷ 50) × 100
On-Time Order Rate = 92%
A café owner is an experienced chef but cannot organize daily operations effectively. Who might be an appropriate first hire, and why?
An operations manager may be appropriate because the founder's main skills gap concerns organization, scheduling, and operational coordination.
A manager publicly humiliates an employee after an error. Identify the corporate culture problem and explain a better approach.
Public humiliation undermines respect and dignity in the workplace. The manager should correct the problem respectfully, explain expectations, and support employee improvement.
During an urgent equipment-related operational problem, why might an autocratic or directive style be more suitable than a lengthy group discussion?
Immediate decisions and clear coordination may be necessary. Directive leadership can be appropriate when the situation requires rapid action.
The presentation cites an exploratory study involving 614 managers. Can we conclude from the supplied information that one incentive package is always superior? Explain.
No. The presentation provides the research scope and topic but does not establish that one particular incentive package is universally superior.
A café achieves 92% on-time delivery against a 95% target. What is the performance gap, and should management automatically blame the employee?
Performance Gap = 95% − 92% = 3 percentage points.
Management should not automatically blame the employee. The manager must investigate possible causes, including operational problems, unclear responsibilities, insufficient resources, or coordination difficulties.
A startup needs continuous customer service, occasional legal advice, and a co-owner willing to share venture responsibilities. Identify a suitable relationship for each need and justify your decisions.
Customer service: Employee, because the work is ongoing.
Legal advice: External specialist or contractor, because it requires specialized professional services.
Shared venture responsibilities: Partner, because the arrangement involves shared business interests.
A café hires an employee without a job description, provides no integration, and later complains about poor performance. Identify three management failures and propose corrections.
Management failures:
Unclear employee responsibilities.
Weak recruitment preparation.
Inadequate employee integration.
Corrective actions:
Prepare a clear job description.
Evaluate candidates according to job requirements.
Explain working procedures and expected outcomes.
Provide appropriate support and review performance.
A business faces an emergency, needs team ideas for process improvement, and has an experienced specialist working independently. Select a leadership style for each situation and justify the differences.
Emergency: Autocratic or directive leadership because immediate decisions may be necessary.
Process improvement: Democratic leadership because employee participation can provide useful ideas.
Experienced specialist: Laissez-faire leadership because the employee has the capabilities needed to work independently.
Leadership should be adapted according to urgency, employee competence, and coordination requirements.
Design an employee motivation approach for a café with low recognition, weak feedback, and concerns about service quality. Include material and non-material elements.
A suitable approach could include:
Fair and financially sustainable compensation.
Performance incentives that consider service quality as well as output.
Recognition of good work.
Constructive and regular feedback.
Employee development opportunities.
Clear performance expectations.
The approach should connect employee motivation with organizational objectives.
A small business has unclear responsibilities, inconsistent performance reviews, and repeated customer service delays. Design an integrated process using delegation, KPIs, and HR improvement.
Clarify business objectives.
Define employee responsibilities.
Delegate tasks with appropriate authority and resources.
Establish relevant KPIs.
Review actual performance.
Investigate performance gaps.
Provide feedback and training.
Improve the operational process.
Repeat the performance management cycle.