Teams at Work

My original stance to this question was an astounding NO. I've operated under the general belief that putting multiple brains together will produce a superior product. I agree with Pace (2006), working in a team can add an element of fun, collaboration and motivation. (Pace, 2006 p. 47-48).

After some additional research, I've had to challenge my own thought process. An interview listed in the Harvard Business Review (2009) states that teams often disappoint. It is mentioned that there are several obstacles in the way of collaboration. It is a misconception that teams that work well and collaborate together also are more productive. But, studies have shown that this is not the case. They reported the exact opposite effect. The study showed that when teams become comfortable, they become more accepting of others idiosyncrasies and performance lags. Basically, each team member gets to know the strengths of the rest and perhaps doesn't contribute as much when they did when the team was formed.

One suggestion provided to keep a team working at peak performance is to add an unexpected member to the mix. The new team member needs to provoke a different way of thinking. Perhaps, they ask questions that reintroduce the root cause of the team. Their position is to specifically challenge the thought process and to spark a new energy or creativity to the team.

My instinct still looks at teams and believes that there is value in having a group of people work together to complete a task. I immediately think of my dentist and the tech that supports him. I never hear the dentist ask for the next tool, the tech innately knows what needs to be completed in order to ensure that the dentist has what he needs to be successful. I feel the same way about leaders within my own team. If we didn't work this closely together, then I would think that our process wouldn't work as well. That efficiency would be broken and that the system would lag as a result.

I need to challenge this theory. I plan to conduct my own experiment of team dynamics. I will invite a member from a different area to participate in a team project and ask them to question the processes and review the results.

References:

Coutu, Diane (2009, May). Why Teams Don't Work. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from:

http://hbr.org/2009/05/why-teams-dont-work/ar/1

Dr. Pace, Joe (2006). The Workplace: Personal Skills for Success. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin