| Course | COM 140 Managing Performance and Developing Teams |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 6 |
| Paper type | Team formation plan |
| Length | About 1,015 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for COM 140 Module 6
Ninety Days to a Working Team: Forming and Developing a Returns and Refurbishment Team
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
COM 140: Managing Performance and Developing Teams
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Ninety Days to a Working Team: Forming and Developing a Returns and Refurbishment Team
Returned items are an expensive problem for Ridgeline Outdoor Supply. At the Aurora distribution center, six people currently inspect returns one at a time and sort them into resell, discount or discard. Only about 35% are resold at full price, partly because nobody is responsible for cleaning or fixing items that could be made sellable with small repairs. The center manager has approved a new returns and refurbishment team that will take each item from inspection through cleaning, minor repair and repackaging. Module 5's analysis showed that the old returns group was not a real team; the new one is designed to be. This paper plans how it will be formed and developed.
Designing the Team
The team will have six members: three current returns inspectors, a maintenance technician skilled in small repairs, a packer and a team lead chosen from the inspectors. Each item moves through all three stages, so members depend on one another. The team's shared goal is to raise full-price resale from 35% to 60% of returns within six months while keeping customer complaints about refurbished items below one percent.
How Teams Develop
Tuckman (1965) reviewed fifty articles on small group development and proposed that groups pass through four stages. While forming, people work out what the job is, size one another up and probe the limits of acceptable conduct. In storming, conflict emerges over the task and over roles and influence. In norming, the group develops cohesion and agrees on standards and roles. Once performing, the group spends its effort on the work itself, and roles bend to whatever the job needs. Tuckman's model has been widely used, and it helps managers anticipate that early tension is normal rather than a sign of failure.
The new team is likely to storm over standards. Inspectors used to quick decisions may clash with a technician who wants to repair everything, and the packer may resist delays.
Choosing the Lead
The team lead matters more in a new team than in an established one, because the lead's early behavior sets patterns the team will copy. The center manager chose the lead from the three inspectors after asking each to describe how they would settle a disagreement between an inspector and the technician about whether an item could be repaired. The inspector chosen proposed testing the item together and photographing the result for the guide, which showed a preference for shared standards over personal authority. The lead will receive two coaching sessions with the center's training coordinator in the first month.
The Midpoint
Gersick (1988) studied eight project teams in detail, from their first meeting to their deadline, and found a pattern different from Tuckman's sequence. Each team quickly established a way of working in its first meeting and kept it until almost exactly halfway through its allotted time. At the midpoint, teams experienced a transition: a burst of change in which they dropped old patterns, engaged with outside supervisors and adopted new approaches, which they then followed until the end. The midpoint worked as an alarm clock that made members aware that time was limited.
For the new team, this suggests scheduling a deliberate review at day forty-five of the first ninety days, when the team is most open to changing how it works.
The Team Charter
| Element | Content |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Turn returned items into products customers are happy to buy at full price |
| Goals | 60% full-price resale in six months; complaints on refurbished items under 1%; 25 items per person per shift |
| Roles | Team lead sets daily priorities; technician decides repairability; inspectors grade condition; packer owns presentation |
| Norms | Any member can stop an item for a second opinion; disagreements on standards go to a shared photo guide; no one leaves a problem item for the next shift |
| Check-ins | Ten-minute start-of-shift huddle; weekly results review |
Team Building That Works
Klein et al. (2009) conducted a meta-analysis of team building interventions and examined four components: goal setting, interpersonal relations, problem solving and role clarification. Team building had a moderate positive effect overall on cognitive, affective, process and performance outcomes. Goal setting and role clarification had the strongest effects, while the effect of focusing on interpersonal relations was smaller. Effects were larger for bigger teams, though some estimates rested on few studies.
The plan follows that evidence. The first team session, a half day, focuses on agreeing the goals, writing the charter and clarifying who decides what, rather than on social activities.
Handling the Storm
The plan expects the storming Tuckman described and prepares for it. Disagreements about whether an item is worth repairing will go to the photo guide and, if the guide does not settle them, to a quick test: the technician spends no more than ten minutes, and the item is graded on the result. Disputes about pace between the packer and the others will be raised at the daily huddle, not in the aisles. The manager will treat early conflict as a normal part of the team finding its standards and will step in only when a disagreement turns personal.
The Ninety-Day Plan
In the first two weeks, the manager attends every huddle, helps the team settle its first disputes about standards and builds the photo guide with them. From weeks three to six, the manager steps back to weekly reviews. At day forty-five, the manager runs a midpoint review: the team compares results with goals, revisits the charter and decides what to change. From day forty-six to ninety, the team runs its own reviews. At day ninety, the manager and team review results and decide whether the team is ready to set its own goals for the next quarter.
Conclusion
Tuckman prepares the manager for early conflict, Gersick shows why the midpoint is a natural moment to change course and Klein and colleagues show that clarifying goals and roles is the most effective team building. A charter written by the team and a plan timed to its development give the new team its best chance to perform.
References
Gersick, C. J. G. (1988). Time and transition in work teams: Toward a new model of group development. Academy of Management Journal, 31(1), 9-41. https://doi.org/10.2307/256496
Klein, C., DiazGranados, D., Salas, E., Le, H., Burke, C. S., Lyons, R., & Goodwin, G. F. (2009). Does team building work? Small Group Research, 40(2), 181-222. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496408328821
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384-399. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0022100
Reading the COM 140 Module 6 assignment instructions
Forming and developing teams is the subject of COM 140 Module 6, and students usually plan how a new team will be formed and helped to perform. Your Module 6 page is the authority on format; the team here is invented. Explain why the team is being formed and how it differs from the group before it. Describe how teams develop over time. Write a team charter with purpose, goals, roles and norms. Plan team building based on evidence of what works. Time the manager's support to the team's development, and say how expected conflict will be handled. Cite research in APA 7 form.
How the COM 140 Module 6 example is put together
The new team will take each returned item from inspection through cleaning, minor repair and repackaging, aiming to resell 60% of returns instead of the current 35%. Tuckman's Psychological Bulletin article reviewed fifty studies of small groups and proposed the four stages of group development. Gersick's Academy of Management Journal study of eight project teams found that each worked in a stable pattern until about halfway through its time, then made a burst of changes. Klein and colleagues' Small Group Research meta-analysis compared four components of team building: goal setting, interpersonal relations, problem solving and role clarification. The charter table sets the team's purpose, goals, roles and norms. The ninety-day plan starts with a half-day session on goals and roles, schedules a review at day forty-five to use the midpoint transition and plans a final review at day ninety.
Where the marks sit in the COM 140 Module 6 rubric
Team formation plans in this course score well when they explain how teams develop and time the manager's actions accordingly. This example uses Tuckman to anticipate early tension, Gersick to plan a deliberate midpoint review and Klein and colleagues to focus team building on goals and roles. The charter is specific and was drafted with the team. The plan explains what the manager will do at each point, rather than leaving development to chance. Linking the team's design to Module 5's test of what makes a real team keeps the course work connected. Preparing for storming with specific rules for settling disputes shows the plan expects conflict rather than hoping it will not come.
Common COM 140 Module 6 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Team formation papers often describe Tuckman's stages without using them to plan. Say what the manager will do at each stage. Another weakness is team building that focuses on social activities alone; research suggests that clarifying goals and roles matters more. Write a charter with specific goals and norms the team agrees to. Plan for conflict rather than hoping to avoid it. Use the midpoint of the team's first period as a deliberate point to review and change. Finally, explain how you will know the team has reached a stable, productive way of working. Choose the team lead with care, since a new team copies its lead's early habits.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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COM 140 Module 6 questions, answered
What does COM 140 Module 6 usually ask for?
Aspen's COM 140 covers forming and developing teams in this module, so a plan for forming a new team and helping it perform is typical. Review your classroom prompt.
What are Tuckman's stages?
Forming, storming, norming and performing, described by Tuckman in 1965 from a review of studies of small groups.
What is the midpoint transition?
Gersick found that project teams often work in one pattern until about halfway through their time, then make a burst of changes and work in a new pattern.
Where can I find a free COM 140 Module 6 sample paper?
The example above plans the formation of a returns and refurbishment team with a charter and a ninety-day plan.
Does team building work?
Klein and colleagues' meta-analysis found that team building had a positive effect, with goal setting and role clarification the most effective components.