IT Project Performance

Question 1

What are three structural factors for teamwork?

Answer 1

Task interdependence: putting people together to work
Goal interdependence: having an overall common purpose
Being mutually accountable

Question 2

What are two key teamwork skills?

SLYKE, TRIMMER, KITTNER (2004)

Answer 2

Interpersonal

• Trust/acceptance
• Communication
• Collaborative problem-solving
• Conflict resolution

Self/project management

• Goal setting
• Planning
• Task coordination
• Performence management

Question 3

What is the classic team effectiveness model by CAMPION ET AL, 1996?

Answer 3

Job design: participation, task variety, task sagnificance, etc Interdependence: task and goal interdependence, interdependent feedback and rewards
Composition: heterogeneity, flexibility, size, preference for teamwork
Context: training, managerial support, communication between teams
Process: social support, workload sharing, communication within the team
contribute to effectiveness criteria productivity, satisfaction and manager judgements.

Question 4

What is the input-process-output model by MCGRATH (1964)?

Answer 4

Input: task design, team composition and diversity, organizational, context, etc
Team process: objectives, decision making, leadership, conflict, etc
Outputs: performance, team member satisfaction and growth, etc

Question 5

Describe the team development curve by TUCKMAN (1965)?

Answer 5

y - team effectiveness
x - performance impact

forming -> storming -> norming -> performing -> adjourning

Storming has the most negative impact on performance because there differences and conflicts start appearing

Question 6

In what kind of teams do breakthroughs occur?

Answer 6

Team that have a high funtional diversity, but they also have a high failure rate

Question 7

What is the problem with teams that have low functional diversity?

Answer 7

These teams are more likely to succeed, but they bring less value to the company

Question 8

What is psychological safety?

Answer 8

Whether others give you the benefit of the doubt when you take a risk, a positive effect on innovation

Question 9

What is reflexivity?

Answer 9

Teams that take the time to reflect on the process and perform better

Question 10

In what situation do teams not work?

Answer 10

• Using a team for work that would be better done by individuals
• When team members are managed as individuals
• Conflicts between team members on who the authority, imbalance in doing things together
• Disruption of existing organisational structures
• Challenging objectives with no organisational support
• Assuming that team members have all skills they need to work well as a team

Question 11

What issues can teams have?

Answer 11

Groupthink - achieving consensus is more important than the quality of the decision
Risky shift - the group agrees on something riskier than they would have decided individually, less creative
Egocentric behaviour - individuals refuse to consider opinions that counter their own
Status effect - the views of senior executives are valued disproportionately
Communication bias - the weight given to contributors is influenced by differences in ability to communicate
Satisficing behaviour - making minimally acceptable decisions

Question 12

What are changes that can be made to a team?

Answer 12

Addition, subtraction or replacement of a single member
Multiple team members are replaced simultaneously
new people are distributed simultaneously to multiple teams
New team to address a problem or an opportunity
Simultaneously staffing multiple new teams
Reconfiguring members into possibly new teams as a result of redesign, mergers or downsizing

Question 13

What is the definition of a team?

Answer 13

A team consists of two or more individuals who interact, and have a common goal, are brought together to perform tasks that are relevant to an organization, are interdependent in terms of workflow, goals and outcomes, have different roles and responsibilities, and are linked to a broader organisational system

Question 14

What are the aggregation processes in what ways do team members’ characteristics form the team composition?

Answer 14

Compositional - averages of the characteristics, all aspects are weighted equally
Compilation - contributions of the characteristics vary, weighed differently

Question 15

What is KSAO?

Answer 15

Knowledge, skills, abilities and other

Question 16

Describe Individual-focused models and 2 ways how team members’ KSAOs fit to the job demands?
MATHIEU ET AL (2014)

Answer 16

Focus on individuals, jab requirements and on team-related KSAOs, and seek to fit the member’s KSAOs to the job demands.

Traditional Personnel-Position Fit: each position in the team is treated as an individual job in an organization, the team context and relationships are not formally considered, assumes that the effectiveness of the team depends on how suited each member is for their position, essentially relies on the competence of the individual.

Relative contribution: contribution depends on the lowest or highest ability, some members have a disproportionate influence on team function.

Question 17

Describe team-focused models.

MATHIEU ET AL (2014)

Answer 17

Team profile: team members’ KSAOs are considered collectively, rather than for a specific position, particular knowledge/ skills are needed somewhere in the team, and possible fault lines. The division into subgroups, the more divisions, the less effective the team.

Personnel model with teamwork consideration: considers teamwork skills as well as individual competence, based on averages.

Question 18

What is surface-level diversity?

Answer 18

For example, demographics, show their effects on the project in the early stages.

Question 19

What is deep-level diversity?

Answer 19

Personalities, beliefs, etc. are more pronounced in the later stages.

Question 20

What are the four ways of task/workflow interdependence?

Answer 20

Pooled - the least interdependent, highly individual.

Sequential - the quality of each member’s work depends on the previous member, performance is limited by the weakest member or by the KSAOs of the members in the most central position, relative contribution model is the most relevant.

Reciprocal - work flows back and forth in predictable patterns.

Team/intensive - the most interdependent, all members have multiple links with each other, complex relationships, personnel model with team considerations and team profile models are the most relevant.

Question 21

What is a sequenced selection strategy?

Answer 21

Fill out crucial positions first and then round out the rest of the team.

Question 22

What is team cluster hiring?

Answer 22

Hiring an entire team at once is easier to optimize team composition for the entire team than to replace an individual.

Question 23

What is a partial replacement?

Answer 23

Newcomers tend to replace their predecessors, leading to lower team performance.

Changing teams produce more ideas coming from stable members, while newcomers introduce creativity.