This document discusses innovations in teamwork and training for team innovation. It begins by describing traditional teams and their characteristics, such as shared goals and roles. It then discusses factors that influence teams like organizational culture and individual traits. The document also covers different types of teams including virtual teams, process networks, and open teams. It notes challenges that these new team structures present and how they can be managed, such as through leadership, trust-building, and coordination. Finally, it discusses how to train teams for innovation, including managing the innovation process and using techniques like performance metrics and team-building.
On National Teacher Day, meet the 2024-25 Kenan Fellows
Innovations in training
1. Innovations in Teamwork and
Training for Team Innovation
Marc L. Resnick, Ph.D.
Human Factors and Information Design
Bentley University
mresnick@bentley.edu
@PerformSol
humanfactors.blogspot.com
2. Two Ways to View This Topic
Innovations in
Teamwork
Training for Team
Innovation
3. 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
4. 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
5. External Factors
Organizational Characteristics
Organizational Climate
Team Reward Systems
Team Autonomy
Team Resources
Situational Characteristics
Organizational Strength
Local Project Conflicts
External Competition
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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
10. What is a Virtual Team?
A team that
operates across space, time, and organizational boundaries
uses technology to mediate communication and collaboration
11. Typical Global Virtual Team
Culture A Culture B
Home Organization
Home Organization
Satellite Office
Supply Chain
Partner Z
Supply Chain
Partner Y
Location 2
Location 1
Supply Chain
Partner Z
Location 3
Location 4
Location 5
7 Time Zones
12. 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
13. 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
14. 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
15. Challenges of Virtual Teams
Technology-Mediated Communication and Collaboration:
Reduced social presence
Limited bandwidth
Degraded visibility of context
Reduced frequency of interaction
Increased formality
16. 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
17. Virtual Team Conflicts
Team Diversity
Functional Diversity
Cultural Diversity
Conflict Type
Task Conflict
Relationship Conflict
Tech-Mediated
Communication
Logistics
Challenges
Conflict Resolution
Consensus
Top Down
Avoidance
Conflict Attribution
Situational
Category
Personal
Task Interdependence
Task Routineness
Team Performance
20. 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.
21. 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
29. Managing Innovation Teams
Innovation Process Funnel
VOC
Generation
Development
Filtration
Adaptation
Team Organization
Recruitment
Process
Handoff
DFM
30. Management Techniques for
Innovation Teams
Innovation performance management systems
Innovation social graph flow
Innovation team building and strong ties
Innovation creativity and problem solving
But unfortunately, we tend to stay in our comfort zones. Let me remind you of the old story of of the police officer on patrol at night who came across a drunk staggering around under a lamp post and asked, “Excuse me sir but what are you doing?”. The drunk said, “I’m looking for my keys,” and the officer responded, “but you keep going round and round in circles underneath that lamp post, which don’t you look somewhere else?” The drunk replied, “Because it’s dark and I can’t see anywhere else!”Well, we all tend to do this when we’re trying to be innovative. We are prone to sticking to what we know and that probably means we’re missing opportunities, which is why open innovation is so important. Open innovation means bringing in people who can see areas that are dark to you reducing risks of missed opportunities. And that’s one of the things that we try to do for our customers these days.