Consider the proposition that success can be as problematic for organisations as failure, with reference to groupthink (Janis 1972) and The Icarus Paradox (Miller 1992).
Modern organizations require that its member should function as a team specifically because effective decision-making has team-based consensus processes as its basis. Another reason behind this is that teamwork is increasingly becoming necessary to get jobs done and reward individuals in the process. As a perpetual learner, individual member is regarded as important element in achieving effective organizational growth and improvement. A team is simply defined as a cooperatively functioning group and teamwork as the work produced by such group. Management theorists predicted the future of organizations will depend on team-based and self-managed teams’ initiatives. Teams will exhibit the highest degrees of interdependence that heavily rest on teamworking. Team building development then is necessary (Miner, 2005).
Cooperation, communication and interconnections between individual team members and inter-teams should be enhanced in such a way that people will add value to organizational processes hence contribute in acquiring the so-called competitive advantage. Intervening a team meant to improve inherent goals, structures, procedures, cultures, norms and interpersonal relationships. The three situations – simple, complex and problematic – that calls for a need of team interventions conforms with different levels of observable inefficiency that in a way or another affects the performance of the individual member, the team itself and the organization in general (Parker, 2008). The elements which determine the cohesiveness and groupthink are goals and norms intrinsic for the team, individual and team-related needs, homogenous members, decision-making patterns, leadership and size of teams. Every individual at work can be far more productive when complete responsibility of the quality and productivity was realized.
Further, it is a common knowledge that teams has an integrative nature because of the tendency to be more flexible, innovative, permeable, responsive and adaptive. Nevertheless, teaming could be tough to incorporate and sustain. What is most important is the team development process that will involve all team members from identifying objectives and priorities to improving communications, performance and relationships to dismissing unhealthy competitions within the team (Enos, 2007). The first article that I will discuss centers on three key issues concerning organizational teamworking: social skills, personality characteristics and teamwork knowledge. The second article deals with generic teamwork skills and how it affects cognitive and skills-based outcomes while the third article discusses how to effectively coordinate the works of the teams through realizing the importance of organizational communication.
Collective intelligence when applied to teams could successfully drive team performance and productivity. The two most important elements for achieving this are collaboration and interdependence. Both can leverage the combination of individual wisdom in order to generate new solutions. The teams’ interactions are effective sources of fresh ideas that each team member and the whole team could commit to and thus improving the performance. When a team utilizes collective intelligence, there could be an increased in sense of ownership about decisions and the commitment to agreements; an advanced realization of the potential pitfalls and the subsequent actions to respond to them; an acknowledgement of the flexible efforts that comes from the team members whom are committed to the team’s success; a process of generation of fresh and innovative ideas emerged through the collective knowledge of the members and a transformation into a high performing group from a moderately successful team (Gordon Cone, 2007).
Collective intelligence prevents the occurrence of groupthink as it enables the teams to subscribe to productive group processes that produce intercreativity and constructive outcomes. The motivators behind collective intelligence that push members to devote their best are openness and interlocking success. The concept of openness reflects that each team member is contented at verbalizing their thoughts while inquiring into the thinking of other members. The condition of interlocking success lies in the idea that every individual’s success depends on the achievement of others. To wit, there could be no successful team member unless other team members are successful. Their shared purpose, initially, must hone collective intelligence within the team since collective intelligence already exists. The need for the teams if to emancipate such intelligence by means of removing barriers and not just imposing a process enforces all to adhere into (Ibid).
When collective intelligence if fully internalized in teams, then they would be able to apply their knowledge or leaning on problem solving; further learning and perception and beneficial application of such knowledge. In addition, the teams could acquire strategic skills necessary for action planning, coordination and mobilization of resources. Such actions that the teams might dwell into are those that are reliable, measurable and are appropriate-to-context. In meeting the needs or accomplishing the goals of the teams, each team would have the ability to alter existing conditions and respond and adapt to changing conditions through the functioning of the combined wisdom. In effect, there would be the possibility of envisioning and accurate estimation of effort and scenario creation that works that are founded on sound reasoning and logic and accurate integration and synthesis; hence, informed and evidence-based decision-making.
References
Enos, D. L. (2007). Performance Improvement: Making it Happen. CRC Press.
Miner, J. B. (2005). Organizational Behavior I: Essential Theories of Motivation and Leadership. ME Sharpe.
Parker, G. M. (2008). Team Players and Teamwork: New Strategies for Developing Successful Collaboration. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
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