Communication and Collective Intelligence

Discussion 1

The other team communication problems that might rise in any organization are failure in either focusing and listening, cultural difference, attitude and ego issues, Hierarchy problems and so on. All these can lead to a disaster. Some possible errors that may arise in a team communication system are Language difference/barriers, Gender differences, personal values, professional educations, preferences and requirements, schedule differences, education norms and issues like inter-professional and intra-professional conflicts. In a diverse team complex duties, payments, rewards and decision making are few possible biases that may arise.

In any team or an organization inability to listen can play a major role in any team related disasters. The main Thumb rule is never interrupting a speaker while speaking, and do not distract them with eye gestures like rolling eyes or not paying attention while speaking (Frigotto, Rossi 2012). A team must be explained about the importance of listening and being attentive and what would be the possible drawbacks of it. Also using language that is not understood by anyone may also become a team communication disaster and may lead to many communication challenges. With the growth in remote and teams working from various time zones there is a need to for proper approach to language

From exhibit 6-1, the possible cause of communication failure as well as decision making failure is the team size. Having a team of five number of team is ideal. This increases team collaboration, strengthens communication among the team members and prevents social loafing. Having workflows and Kanban boards provides better visibility of tasks. Practicing authentic communication and creating a communication friendly environment might prevent problem from raising.

Few symptoms of group think are morality, pressure, invulnerability, rationale, stereotypes etc. This can negatively impact the team from taking bad decisions due to lack of opposition and overconfidence (Geramian, Abraham & Ahmadi, 2019). Lack of feedback, creativity and overlooking will lead to poor decision making and impacts the organization from taking optimal solutions.

References:

Geramian, A., Abraham, A., & Ahmadi Nozari, M. (2019). Fuzzy logic-based FMEA robust design: a quantitative approach for robustness against groupthink in group/team decision-making. International Journal of Production Research, 57(5), 1331–1344. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1471236

Frigotto, M. L., & Rossi, A. (2012). Diversity and communication in teams: Improving problem-solving or creating confusion? Group Decision and Negotiation, 21(6), 791–820. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-011-9250-x

Discussion 2

Part 1: Sharpening the Team Mind: Communication and Collective Intelligence A. What are some of the possible biases and points of error that may arise in team communication systems? In addition to those cited in the opening of Chapter 6, what are some other examples of how team communication problems can lead to disaster?

When determining the possible biases and points of error that may arise in team communication systems, it is pertinent to recognize the importance of communication in this type of environment. The use of effective communication is key when organizing a team with conflicting or busy schedules. In doing so, the team will be able to better align tasks necessary to complete a project. However, in organizing team communication, the various biases and points of error that can occur should be recognized. This will allow the team leaders, or team members in charge of communication, to be proactive rather than reactive when addressing these potential issues.

One example of how team communication problems can lead to disaster is through cultural differences. If a team is located in various geographic locations and the work culture is influenced by the location it could cause misunderstanding between each team. This would be a result of different societal and workplace expectations.

Another example would be friendliness among team members, which would entail all team members feeling as though they belong as part of their team (Kent State University, 2017). Furthermore, communication problems can lead to disaster based on differences in team members’ attitudes and egos. If the team members differ greatly in this respect it can create animosity between the members. This can also result in a breakdown of communication because the members would tend to avoid communicating with one another.

B. Revisit communication failure examples in Exhibit 6-1. Identify the possible causes of communication or decision-making failure in each example, and, drawing on the information presented in the chapter, discuss measures that might have prevented problems from arising within each team’s communication system.

One of the possible causes of communication or decision-making failure his lack of clarity when explaining a thought. It is of the utmost importance to be able to clearly communicate to one’s team about important updates or specific protocols that must be followed (Kent State University, 2017). Furthermore, along with facilitating clear communication, the team members need to ensure that they have properly understood the information given to them. It is also important for proper documentation to be made when discussions like this are occurring to ensure that there is some type of reference material in case confusion occurs in the future.

Another possible cause of communication or decision-making failure is a lack of routine checking on the effectiveness of the current communication system. By instituting reviews of the communication process, it will allow team leaders to address issues that are creating communication barriers. For example, if each team member is located in a different time zone, time conflicts may arise. Therefore, team leaders should take an availability inventory to ensure that the scheduled meeting times work best for everyone.

Part 2: Team Decision-Making: Pitfalls and Solutions A. What are the key symptoms of groupthink? What problems and shortcomings can arise in the decision-making process as a result of groupthink?

One of the key symptoms of groupthink is that a team may feel comfortable thinking outside of the box. Due to the larger size of the group, it encourages individuals to speak up regarding their own ideas. However, although groupthink can encourage out of the box thinking, it can also cause team members to blindly follow one another (Bouygues, 2019). Additionally, groupthink could pose restrictions on specific proposals because the whole group does not agree (Bouygues, 2019). Groupthink limits the ability for individual decision-making because of wanting to forgo conflict if someone speaks against the status quo.

B. Do you think that individuals or groups are better decision-makers? Justify your choice. In what situations would individuals be more effective decision-makers than groups, and in what situations would groups be better than individuals?

After working in environments that require individual work and group work, I feel that either can serve the purpose of effective decision-making. However, for this to remain true, it is important to understand the purpose and goal of the project. this is because some projects work better with multiple individuals while others require only one person’s attention. For example, when trying to schedule multiple people it may be more beneficial for one individual to gather the information and organize it. This contrasts with a group of individuals gathering various points of information that requires understanding the whole picture and not separate facets. On the other hand, groups would be more effective decision-makers when considering multiple proposals of how to effectively address a project’s goal.

References

1. Bouygues, H. L. (2019, April 20). The problem of groupthink: How to encorage more independent thinking. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/helenleebouygues/2019/04/20/the-problem-of-groupthink-how-to-encourage-more-independent-thinking/#63bc46962aeb

2. Kent State University. (2017, June 28). What do you lose when teamwork fails? The Center for Corporate and Professional Development. https://www.kent.edu/yourtrainingpartner/what-do-you-lose-when-teamwork-fails

Discussion 3

Communication between the teams presents different issues. Which also covers the results of increased recruiting and engagement, such as focusing on new hires and providing skilled staff development services, and information technology management. The specifics are as follows:

Don’t pay attention

            The key to victory depends on effective communication. Wide corporations are no longer building staff offices and will rather create joint workspaces for advocacy and innovation. Researches have shown that group work can be much more productive than working alone and give their attention is must essential.

Hierarchy Problems

            Workers can feel constrained about their inability and communicate with their boss. Maybe it’s secretly roaring about a specific topic, and only never proposing the matter. The correspondence too established indicates an analogous technique.

Culture Differences

            Individuals with shifting circumstances and national cultures keep the firm. Individuals tend to be interrupting their administration, or acting for others. When these diverse departments are coordinated, managers face marginal collaboration and team development problems (Gorman, Cooke, & Amazeen, 2010, pp. 296-298).

Team Communication Problems

            And part of which is intended to enhance the mechanism in which conversations are often performed via management as well as they do with the key feature of regular project management operations, using simple, non-specific means, like e-mail or likely databases. Poor coordination in the workplace is stressful and can lead to poor results, loss of cooperation, decreased productivity and decreased earnings. There are fortunately opportunities for successful communication and tension-raising. There is a chance that neither-one would recognize what they are required to do anything without effective development. Collaboration falls, as each runs towards their scamper.

            Communication and critical analysis on various meanings remain unclear. Providing inaccurate information and often using the wrong approach to collect data from the sales chain is a problem. One is to suggest that the content within the entire subject, which has excellent problem-solving capabilities, also improves ease. Eventually, viewers are overwhelmed with more details. (Klein, et al., 2009, pp. 184-187).

The increasing team has a range of techniques to use to resolve any problems that emerge in the collaboration network. The trick is to stay in the nature of someone’s emotions. A individual is always expected to be right about what they need to convey their goal. Such dialogue would provide the basis for having an inventive solution to make uncaring comments only.

Symptoms of Groupthink

Community thought is an interaction where enthusiasm for group consensus negates an individual’s innate intelligence inclination for existing approaches, an understanding of a situation, or a conclusive view of an undesirable one. Here are limited key symptoms:

Rationalization

            It happens as members of the group which influence themselves since it is the finest choice to obtain although there is proof of the opposite.

Complacency

The team continues layered after a few successes because each result they create is the best one as it’s no farther than the source.

Stereotyping

            The group could become an unneeded combining for other viewpoints, where they implement as having an extraordinary and inadequate set of morality and software (Rose, 2011).

Problems in the Decision-Making

Groupthink is an emotional occurrence that requires the strong stability of a gathering of partialities. The arrangement that everyone accepts and the agreement is made for the community. The fact is, while there are unwelcome applicants, no one can chose to be a mischief-maker and fight the programme. Thus, persons with conversation allowances sometimes express their complaints to the legislature, motivated by the accused’s supposed life frustration or incorrectness, even though, in that view, each plurality understands only one aspect is right.

            Collectively, initiative is taken to make the planning of systems more profitable for a single individual. In comparison, they ingest the promise of being more motivated and a mentor with a more positive position. Thus, an organized is thought to be as additional as the amount of its sections (Gorman, Cooke, & Amazeen, 2010, pp. 301-303).

Situations of Decision Making

Several organizations indulge in collective decision-making in improved integrity systems which contribute to intervention at large. This approach affects the shifting expectations of emotions, talents, talents, and moral judgment. In decisions, only one personal use is made and the dictator takes a higher degree. It plays a fast and distinct role, too. There’s a guy who takes responsibility for the intended outcome (Klein, et al., 2009, pp. 204-210).

References

Gorman, J. C., Cooke, N. J., & Amazeen, P. G. (2010). Training Adaptive Teams. Human Factors, 52(2), 295–307. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0018720810371689

Klein, C., DiazGranados, D., Salas, E., Le, H., Burke, C. S., & Lyons, R. (2009). Does team building work? Small Group Research, 40(2), 181-222. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220030881_Does_Team_Building_Work