Wageman Questions

CH4.  Ch. 4. In Chapter 4, Wageman et al. (2008) explain their view about getting the right people on your team. Please share your own experience in the composition of teams and contrast them with Wagemans' et al. (2008). What is a derailer? Why should you avoid derailers in your team as much as possible? What interpersonal skills are vital to get a successful group work experience?

In chapter 4 they talk about getting the right people in your team. Their view was having a structure of the organization and the importance of leadership roles. And as soon as you made clarity for your strategy and the operating model and role then you can analyze your team if changes are needed. Then your team can stabilize and set boundaries that will benefit the team for the future.

A derailer is somebody that prevents progress and has weaknesses that they do not want to improve. They lack focus, not a team player, not trusted. You should avoid derailers in the team to that work can get done. I you allow them on the team be prepared to be slower than a snail. Interpersonal skills patience, good ethics, and trust.

CH5. “[A]lthough team members were excellent individual performers and good leaders in their areas of responsibility, they had no experience collaborating as a leadership team. They were clear about the team's purpose, but they did not have a common understanding of the work they had to do to make it happen. They did not understand the tasks that the team needed to accomplish. What's more, they did not know how to conduct themselves in a way that fostered teamwork. The team's norms, or rules of conduct, were not helping” (p. 113).  Does this situation sound familiar to you? Consider Wageman et al. (2008) observation and discuss if you agree or disagree with the role of structure. How do you create, model, and enforce structure?

Structure is very important in a team, I agree with wageman it enriches everyones capacity to work together and stick to the common goal. Without structure it degrades the quality of the team. Team tasks, norms and size is the three key parts for the team. A rich task is more effective than a modest task in which will breakdown the structure. Norms are also critical in order not to drift focus on the task at hand. From an engineering perspective there is an engineering code of ethics that all engineers should know. This is the norm for the safety of the people. The size of a team is equally important. In engineering small teams are important to stay focused organized and reduce coordination problems. Even if those teams are part of a bigger team. For example NASA, Thousands of engineers are working together but breaking down the problems will lead to smaller teams.

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