Inter-team Learning LO4788

Con Kenney (ckenney@worldweb.net)
Thu, 11 Jan 1996 00:53:53 -0500 (EST)

Replying to LO4762 --

Thijs Homan writes:
>Curently I am working on a research project which is focussing on a
>'cross-team'. A cross-team is a team with representatives of a number of
>departments. The goal is to increase mutual understanding (mutual:
>between the teams) and problem solving (coordination problems along
>departments like sales -> production ->back office). We are going to use
>L.O. -tools in the cross-team workshops to analyse these problems and find
>practical solutions. The time between the workshop-dates is used to
>communicate with the 'own' departments of the participants of the cross
>team; ask for suggestions etc. We want to research how learning takes
>place (both in the cross-team and in the departments which are represented
>in the cross-team) and how the interventions in the cross-team and the
>departments help in changing the perceptions of all the people involved.

Chris Meyer in his book Fast Cycle Time argues that cross-functional teams
may not be effective for learning. He suggests "multi-functional" teams
instead. In his view cross-functional teams break down because of the
divergent interests of the organization sub-units that the individuals
serve. Much better, he says, is for a team to have a common goal, shared
workspace, fulltime participation, and separation from other organization
sub-units. Then, it is possible for team members to learn from each other
and collaborate on creating value.

My own experience with cross-functional teams is that they become polite
opportunities for posturing. Unless the team produces deliverables, the
value to participants and other stakeholders is likely to be small. If the
team deliverable is to inform many constituencies about a complex issue,
perhaps its impact could be measured through surveys, interviews, and
focus groups. Hope this is useful.

Con Kenney

>
> I AM LOOKING FOR METHODS FOR MONITORING
> AND MEASURING THESE CHANGES
> IN PERCEPTION.
>
>How to measure the thought process during a cross-team workshop, for
>instance? And how to measure the effects in the participating departments?
>Knowing what is going on in the minds of the people involved can give an
>indication on the effectiveness of the interventions. Does anybody have
>experience with this?

--
ckenney@worldweb.net (Con Kenney)