Innovations in Teamwork and Training for Team Innovation

Marc L. Resnick, Ph.D.Human Factors and Information Design

Bentley Universitymresnick@bentley.edu

@PerformSolhumanfactors.blogspot.com

Two Ways to View This Topic

Innovations in Teamwork

Training for Team Innovation

What is a Traditional Team?

Two or more people who: have a common and valued goal have specific roles or functions to perform interact dynamically, interdependently, and adaptively

Organizational Characteristics• reward systems• management control• resource scarcity• organizational climate

Individual Characteristics• situation schema• task KSAs• general abilities• motivation• attitudes• personality

Work Structure• work assignment• team norms• communication• structure

Team Processes• coordination• communication• conflict

resolution• decision making• problem solving• boundary

spanning• internal reward

system

Team Changes• new norms• new roles• new

communication patterns

• new processes

Team Characteristics• shared mental models• power distribution• member homogeneity• team resources• team climate• cohesiveness

Task Characteristics• task type• task organization• task complexity

Team Interventions• individual training• team training• team building

Team Outcomes• quality• quantity• time• errors• costs

Individual Changes

• situation schema• task KSAs• attitudes• motivation

Input OutputThroughput

Feedback

Situational Characteristics

• levels of stress• intergroup relations• competition• environment uncertainty

External

External Factors

Organizational Characteristics

Organizational Climate Team Reward Systems Team Autonomy Team Resources

Situational Characteristics

Organizational Strength Local Project Conflicts External Competition

Individual Characteristics Situation Schema KSAs Motivation Attitudes Personality

Team Characteristics Shared Mental Models Power Distribution Roles and Responsibilities Resources Climate Cohesiveness

Task Characteristics Task Type Organization Complexity

Team Interventions Individual Training Team Training Team Building

Team Input

Team Throughput

Team Processes Coordination Communication Conflict Resolution Decision Making Problem Solving Boundary Spanning

Practices Internal Reward System

Work Structure Work Assignment Team Norms Communication

Protocols Task Structure

Team Output

Team Outcomes Quality Quantity Errors Cost

Individual Changes Situation Schema Task KSA Motivation and

Attitude

Team Changes New Norms New Roles Communication

Protocols New Processes

Feedback

Special Kinds of Teams

VirtualTeams

ProcessNetworks

OpenTeams

What is a Virtual Team?

A team that operates across space, time, and organizational

boundaries uses technology to mediate communication and

collaboration

Typical Global Virtual Team

Culture A Culture B

Home Organization

Home OrganizationSatellite Office

Supply ChainPartner Z

Supply ChainPartner Y

Location 2

Location 1

Supply ChainPartner Z

Location 3

Location 4

Location 5

7 Time Zones

Why are Virtual Teams Important?

Virtual teams are becoming more prevalent 52% of companies use virtual teams in some or all

engineering projects 93% of companies expect virtual teams to become a

standard practice or increase significantly within five years Virtual teams are more likely to be globally distributed

and culturally diverse Support technologies are improving, but still do not

reproduce many aspects of co-location

Challenges of Virtual Teams

Logistics There is less opportunity for synchronous communication

and collaboration There is less opportunity for team building and joint

training Technology-mediated communication increases the

workload for managing and tracking activities Reduced interactions decreases understanding of common

objectives and goals Reduced interaction between team leader and members

decreases the quality of feedback and expectations

Challenges of Virtual Teams

Team Management Need for greater team autonomy increases the

need for effective team leadership Need for greater team member autonomy increases

the need for members’ ability to self-manage Team and team member autonomy increases the

need for and use of distributed leadership Formality of technology-mediated communication

increases the difficulty of conflict resolution and need for formal resolution processes

Team deliberations are degraded because of increased likelihood of cascades and dominance by extroverted members

Challenges of Virtual Teams

Technology-Mediated Communication and Collaboration:

Reduced social presence Limited bandwidth Degraded visibility of context Reduced frequency of interaction Increased formality

Challenges of Virtual Teams

Team Culture Initial trust is reduced by:

Reduced group identity Reduced cultural similarity

Ongoing trust is reduced by Reduced past collaboration Degraded interaction and collaboration

richness Mutual support is reduced by:

Reduced group identity Reduced frequency of interaction More competing projects

Social connection is reduced by Reduced opportunity for informal

interaction Reduced cultural similarity

Virtual Team Conflicts

Team Diversity

Functional Diversity

Cultural Diversity

Conflict Type

Task Conflict

Relationship Conflict

Tech-MediatedCommunication

LogisticsChallenges

Conflict Resolution

Consensus

Top Down

Avoidance

Conflict Attribution

Situational

Category

Personal

Task InterdependenceTask Routineness

Team Performance

Process Networks

Consumers

B2Bclient

s

B2Bclient

s

B2Bclient

s

B2Bclient

s

Orchestrator

Providers

SupportServices

product and service flows information flows

Clothing Staples

Consumers

Gap

Levis

A&F

H&M

Li & Fung

zippers, cloths, dyers,

sewers

accounting, regulation, IP, logistics

Why are Process Networks Important

Networks leverage scale, economics, capabilities, learning, and insight.

Networks optimize the balance of resources, capabilities, and speed to achieve flexibility, scalability, and innovation

Information and Communication Technology to support process networks requires big data, analytics, and cloud services.

Managing Process Networks

But: Managing complex interactions among inter-organizational teams is a fundamentally different process than managing traditional teams.

Trusted and secure databases, data policies, and data transfer

Performance metrics, standards, and incentives aligned with the network strategy and customer expectations

Clear process for recruiting and expelling partners and providers based on performance, process, and innovation

Open Teams

Opensourcing Crowdsourcing Smart Crowds

Coordinator

Open Team Examples

Opensourcing Crowdsourcing Smart Crowds

Linux Wikipedia Innocentive

Managing Open Teams

Opensourcing Crowdsourcing Smart Crowds

• Modularization

• Evaluation

• Moderation

• Metamoderation

• Integration

• Announcement

• Instruction

• Stratification

• Parceling

• Integration

• Contestification

• Recruitment

• Instruction

• Evaluation

• Iteration

Training for Team Innovation

The External Environment

Unfortunately We Tend to Take the

Easiest Path

Ideal Team Collaboration

Managing Innovation Teams

Innovation Process Funnel VOC Generation Development Filtration Adaptation

Team Organization Recruitment Process

Handoff DFM

Management Techniques for Innovation Teams

Innovation performance management systems Innovation social graph flow Innovation team building and strong ties Innovation creativity and problem solving

Thank you!!