Problems of Group Work

1. Problems of Group Work Fall 2003 IST 331 Lecture 8

2. Groups • Groups are a major factor in problem solving in organizations today. • Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) looks at tools that help groups work more effectively

3. Groups • Technology to support groups • Support distributed groups • Make traditional, collocated groups more effective • Distributed groups are not as effective as those which are collocated

4. Groups • Goals of CSCW • Develop technology to allow distributed teams to work as if they were collocated • Help both collocated and distributed teams perform better

5. Groups • Combining individuals into groups often leads to poorer performance than would be expected – known as processes loss • People work less hard in teams than they do working individually • They fail to take advantage of the unique knowledge and skills in the group • Reach decisions without exploring many relevant alternatives • Difficulty coordinating their contributions • Diversity for which they were formed leads to dissatisfaction and conflict

6. Groups

7. Input-Process-Output Models • Useful frameworks for thinking about groups summarized by Steiner (1972), Hackman (1987), and McGrath (1984) • Models suggests that success of a group (outcome) • depends on inputs or resources (skills of members and tasks assigned) • and interaction among team members (smooth communication, competition)

8. Input-Process-Output Models • Outcomes • Often judge output of a group in terms of production outcomes • Acceptable to those who receive or review • Produced efficiently and effectively • Groups are successful if they meet their production goals

9. Input-Process-Output Models • Outcomes • Experimental literature shows that groups on average perform better than an individual • Produce more and better ideas • Solve problems more accurately • Use two basic mechanism • Aggregation • Synergy

10. Input-Process-Output Models • Group maintenance and member support • Groups need ability to work together in the future (maintenance) • Work without conflict over a period of time • Support members • Members more satisfied with their work • Group helping to meet personal career goals • Able to learn from each other

11. Input-Process-Output Models • Inputs • Inputs influence whether groups will be effective in achieving their goals • Inputs include personnel, task, and technology • Personnel – more highly qualified people will be more effective; diverse group has larger pool of ideas to draw upon

12. Input-Process-Output Models • Task – on average, groups do better than individuals based on the characteristics of the task • McGrath distinguishes tasks as • Generative tasks – brainstorming • Intellective tasks – answer math problem with a correct answer • Open-ended problem-solving tasks

13. Input-Process-Output Models • Technologies – includes both the ways in which groups and tasks are structured and the artifacts they use • Can be as simple as the office arrangements and physical proximity of members • Facilitates availability of relevant staff, competition, etc. • Distributed groups must make use of video-teleconferencing, e-mail, IM, shared files and databases • Have more trouble setting direction • More trouble coordinating their work • More trouble forming successful working relationships

14. Input-Process-Output Models • Interaction Process • The way group members interact with each other can directly influence group outcome

15. Input-Process-Output Models • Process Losses • Groups often perform worse than what theory suggests. Why? • Process Losses come through two processes • Miscoordination problems • Coordination consists of broad alignment of goals • Consists of detailed alignment of behavior • High coordination, more team output • Coordination is low, less group output

16. Input-Process-Output Models • Reductions in motivation • Sometimes working in groups motivates individuals, other times it undercuts it • Groups establish norms about how hard members should work: rate-boosters vs. slackers • Social Loafing – when people think that the outcomes of their efforts are being pooled with the efforts of others

17. Implications for system design?