appreciation of gravity when hit by an apple whilst sitting next to an apple tree . Today ’ s working context has embraced the idea of team work much more strongly than ever before . Brainstorming sessions are made up of teams from different departments that generally number 5-10 .
Here are a few short-comings of teams , and may I add that reading through this took me back to my days in university when we ’ d work in groups ( 20 % of total grade was dependent on group work ): Social loafing : in a group some individuals tend to sit back and let others do the work ; Production blocking : Only one person can talk or produce an idea at once , while the other group members are forced to sit passively ; Evaluation apprehension : the fear of looking stupid in front of one ’ s peers .
I definitely very well related to the points above ; I recall one particular course I did in which we were four members but only 2 of us put in effort . The other 2 the entire
trimester did very little and yet they benefited from our efforts .
As I read through this I thought of another shortcoming of group brainstorming . I ’ ll describe it as I don ’ t have a particular term for it . If in the group one of the individuals was overly domineering , so much so that they were unwilling to listen to others ideas , if he or she suggested something that I felt was clearly wrong , I ’ d leave the situation be . And my reasoning would be very simple if the group fails , it ’ s the GROUP that has failed , not ME .
Malcolm Gladwell in his book ‘ Tipping Point ’ mentions that there ’ s little sense for moral responsibility in crowds primarily because there ’ s no particular person who can be blamed for immoral actions .
This of course is not to say that people should stop working in teams but rather to revise how it is done . Ideally before brainstorming sessions , people should work on their own and come up with their own ideas about how a particular problem can be solved .
This will prove useful during the brainstorming session because there ’ ll be many more ideas coming in to the basket as compared to waiting for the brainstorming session .
Secondly , groups shouldn ’ t be too large as it increases chances of social loafing and evaluation apprehension ; groups of 4-7 are ideal . Thirdly , during meetings , everyone in the team should be encouraged to speak up . This may require what I ’ d like to call , ‘ Lord of the Flies ’ strategy whereby some sort of object is passed round and the person who has it has to speak ( I mean it ’ s probably silly but hey I ’ m just saying !)
Finally , where possible companies should adopt ‘ flexible ’ open plans that offer a mix of solo workspaces , quiet zones , casual meeting rooms , reading rooms , etc . This way the company will benefit from the best of work done solo and in teams .
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