Effective Teams: Managing Diversity of Problem-Solving Style (a worked example)
Problem A: The task at hand
Problem B: Clashes in personnel
Group 1: Dysfunctional Team – Problem A is being side-lined & Problem B has the upper hand, is obvious & harmful.
The team has been brought together by the Board. Each person has been sent by their Department to represent their Department on the cross-functional team. The team leader and her deputy have had no say in the selection of the team members.
All team members are excellent at their job, are well trained, experienced and work at a high level.
The task is: ‘Digital Transformation – Throughout the Company’
Revolutionise our use of IT to bring about increases in efficiency, productivity, morale and safety.
Each person present was there to represent their Department’s interests – they are motivated by what their Department Head has asked for, not what their cross-functional team leader wants.
The team leader has started on the back foot, with long-standing arguments and conflicting needs between the Departments. This is compounded by the very wide range of different KAI preferences. Marketing refers to the Finance Department as ‘bean counters’. Finance think that R&D spend, spend, spend on ‘chasing the moon’ ideas. Production believe that Marketing, R&D and IT have no idea about efficiency, control & organisation. HR is caught between them all. Engineering wish that everyone could be moderate, taking a sensible middle-way, like them!
Here are the team members, with their KAI preference in brackets:
| Leader (92) | Deputy (120) |
| Finance (48) | HR -1 (58) |
| Production & process (68) | Engineering (90) |
| HR -2 (98) | IT (110) |
| Marketing (127) | Product Development/R & D (138) |
Average – 95, range 48 – 138
The result – complete lack of direction; low morale and lack of engagement. The team fragments – each going their own way.
Group 2: Functional Team – Problem A is being tackled well, and Problem B is hardly noticeable.
The team has been brought together by the Board. Each person has been sent by their Department to represent their Department on the cross-functional team. The team leader and her deputy have had no say in the selection of the team members.
All team members are excellent at their job, are well trained, experienced and work at a high level.
The task is: ‘Digital Transformation – Throughout the Company’
Revolutionise our use of IT to bring about increases in efficiency, productivity, morale and safety.
The first thing the team leader did was a KAI session, to get insight into how each member of the team likes to work, what they are likely to find easy or hard, due to their KAI preference. They now have an understanding how people who are different from themselves tick, and so, know how to approach and deal with these individuals with respect, using the language they like, and provide the information they need in the format they require.
From here they each volunteered for a team role which is essential to success and works to their preference and which they are likely to do well.
They agreed their terms of reference, set the team objectives and how they are going to measure success.
Here are the team members, with their KAI preference in brackets:
- Team Leader (92)
- Deputy, naturally very sociable, has volunteered to be the ‘bridger’ (120)
- ‘The Minute Man; budget & meeting planner (48)
- Health & Safety Officer (58)
- Process Implementor (68)
- Project Manager: creating the RoadMap & overseeing implementation (90)
- Communications/Change Manager: getting adoption companywide (98)
- Project manager & implementation trouble-shooter (110)
- The Marketing & PR Director – external comms (127)
- R & D and “Challenger” – ‘I-can’t-see-the-box’ person, there to help ‘break-through thinking’ (138)
Average – 95, range 48 – 138
Result: Objective is likely to be achieved. The team works together for the benefit of all. Each feels a part of the team, is valued and has contributed.