Think Tanks
How to Recruit, Train and Equip Teams to Solve Problems--and How to Know When to Use Them
By Tina Coleman
You have a business problem that needs to be solved. Would you be better off asking a team or an individual to come up with a solution?
According to Michael McNeese, Ph.D, author of Socio-Cognitive Factors in the Acquisition and Transfer of Knowledge, published in the journal, Cognition, Technology & Work (2000), it all depends ... McNeese, associate professor at Penn State's School of Information Sciences and Technology, says his study revealed that there are several factors that make a problem more suitable for group consideration, as well as factors that render a problem more suitable for assignment to an individual.
"We discovered that individuals tend to focus closely on the details and the facts when working alone, learning more about the overall problem elements, whereas groups tend to focus more on discussion and on the hardest parts of the problem. Group members tend to monitor each other in their thinking and decision-making, something individuals tend not to do.
"Groups would also use one another as kind of external memory storage, whereas individuals had to go back and look up information" related to the problem at hand, he says, "so groups were freed up to do more planning, discussion, strategy formation and to focus a lot more on the most difficult elements of the problem. Groups did better at solving the more difficult aspects of the problem and looking at strategies, and that typically leads to better solutions."
Sounds like teams are the way to go? Hold your horses...
The Power of One
In learning about a problem, McNeese says, individuals did better from a memory standpoint, in utilizing all elements of the problem. So individuals are better suited to handling highly perceptual kinds of problems--well-defined challenges managers can present by saying, "here's the area, here are the constraints and this is what we want you to do."
"At the heart of this is the mathematical time/rate/distance problem," he says. You remember those, certainly: The Central Pacific Railway began laying track in 1863. They averaged 8.75 miles of track per month. The Union Pacific Company, which began laying track in 1865, averaged 20 miles of track per month. A photo shows the two companies meeting in Promontory, Utah, as the 1,590 miles of track were completed. When was the photo taken? How many miles of track did each company build? Who took the photo and what type of painkiller is most effective against the headache you'll get working out the correct answer?
"Individuals often focus on the math, but often don't know what the goals are," says McNeese.
Problems that are ill-defined--with a lot of paths between input and output, with interdependent sub-problems and sub-goals that must be distilled, with several steps and a variety of constraints--would be better assigned to a group, says McNeese. (Just think how we could have benefited from doing the Math section on our SAT's as a group!)
The Value of Teamwork
The results of this study give managers a way of breaking down work into units or tasks to assign to teams or individuals, says McNeese. It also makes an argument for managers ensuring that their people have a great deal of perceptual input to use when problem-solving as opposed to only facts and figures. After all, experience is by far the best teacher. "Who learns more about gardening, the guy with his hands in the dirt actually doing it or the guy reading a book about it?" McNeese asks. Those who learn by doing are more likely to retain the information and to use what they've learned later on.
Glenn Parker, a team building consultant and co-author of Team Workout: 50 Interactive Activities (AMACOM, 2001), says managers will be better off assigning a problem to a team under the following conditions:
- When there is not clear expert to select from the pool of individuals.
- When there is no clear-cut answer to the problem (i.e., the problem is not a question of facts or company policy or law ...).
- When commitment to the solution is essential--when there must be group buy-in to the decision or solution.
Parker says group problem solving offers several advantages. More people equals more ideas, he says, citing as beneficial the clash and interplay of ideas between people with varying interests, ideas, experiences and backgrounds. Cross-functional teams are becoming more frequently used as companies really begin to understand the value in using groups of people with different skills, expertise and styles to solve problems, he adds. Also, a learning community develops within groups as its members help each other to understand a given problem from a variety of perspectives. Team members inform one another about the impact that solutions under consideration will have on departments other than their own. Additionally, team members learn problem-solving skills and learn how to work with a team.
The brainstorming process that occurs in groups also adds an essential element to problem solving, says Parker. For instance, one team member may say eggs are good, but ham and eggs are even better. Finally, the more involvement people have, the more committed they will be.
Elements of Teamwork
Some people just don't function well in groups, says Parker. They may be shy or introverted, and will likely allow themselves to be dominated by stronger personalities on the team. These "stronger personalities" must not be allowed to dominate the process. Managers need to make certain teams include a facilitator or leader to manage the process so all members are involved and monopolizers are kept at bay.
It's crucial, also, to develop a good problem solving statement that makes it clear to the team members exactly what their goals are.
Managers, to ensure the success of their teams, should support the process by understanding that it takes time to solve problems. Patience is key, as is communicating that understand and patience to the team. Managers must make certain their teams contain the right people and a sufficient number of people to solve the problem successfully, and must provide adequate financial resources. They must show interest in their team's progress and bestow recognition on its members.
"People look for these kind of things," Parker says. "If their manager displays interest, they will be more motivated and committed to the process and more willing to learn."
Reprinted from Business Travel Executive, May 2001. Team Workout is available from AMACOM, American Management Association, 1601 Broadway New York, NY 10019, 800-714-6395, http://www.amacombooks.org/.