Bob Travica
MIS 2000
Class 12
Group Processes and
Group Support Systems
Updated Feb. 2014
Bob Travica
Outline
• Workgroup (Team) Concepts
• Project Team
• Group Support Systems (Types, examples)
• Team-Based Organization (case of Protegra)
• Distributed Teams
• Summary
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Workgroup Concepts
• Workgroup or team:
- Collection of people working together on a specific task for a
defined period of time.
- Team is an organization in small with a shorter life span.
- An organization can be team-based (e.g., Protegra; slide 8).
•
Key aspects:
-
Task: What needs to be done
Work roles: Who does what
Timeline: Start and end point, landmarks, schedule
More…
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- Members depend directly on each other – interdependence: can be
sequential, parallel, reciprocal.
-
Group could do more than an individual – synergy
But there may be problems in teamwork:
- some members do not put in their part (free ride)
- members accept mainstream thinking without reasoning
(groupthink)
- Success conditions: member composition, communication, leadership
-
Team types based on location: same location (collocated team) vs.
different
(distributed team)
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Project Team
• Project Team (PT) is a kind of team that performs in
fundamental production processes (see case later).
• PT has a key role in project-driven organizations
(research, marketing, construction, public accounting,
software development)
•
PT has lots of autonomy as it manages work, money,
time.
•
PT disbands when project ends.
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Team life cycle
•
A set of complex activities (phases) from team formation to team’s delivery of
product and disbanding.
•
Each complex activity is a process in itself:
1. Set team task  Define goals and timeline  Allocate budget  Select members
2. Align on mission  Define roles  Establish leadership
1. Forming
5. Disbanding
Focus
for IS
4. Performing
2. Storming
3. Norming
Developing/Using
Group Mind
3. Create project documentation (charter, plans, timelines)  Make appointments 
Set communication means
More
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Team life cycle (cont.)
4. Execute project tasks  Socialize  Deliver product
- Execute project activities: a sub-process of connected work activities
that are constrained by a precise timeline and budget allowances. *
5. Create final reports  Reflect on & Record experiences  Close Project
1. Forming
5. Disbanding
Focus
for IS
4. Performing
2. Storming
3. Norming
Developing/Using
Group Mind
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Group Support Systems
• Support the Performing phase (process) in the team life cycle.
1. Project Management Systems (PMS): Protegra – see slides; PMS
covers: activities, people, time, financials (tracking work hours,
expenses), management of versions of developed software, and
sharing of project documentation.
A team project is planned as a process that consists of tasks. Tasks
employ team members, and area executed in time. Costs are
incurred for people and material resources used in tasks.
Data diagram
for project plan
Project
contains
Task
deploys
has
Account
allocated to
employs
Employee
Resource
More…
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Activity
Time
John
John
Jean
People
Jean, Alex
Alex
Money: Hourly rate is entered in a separate sheet for each person, and the system multiplies
it by planned time entered in this sheet. With the progress function, the budget balance is tracked.
PMS generates many reports automatically.
Output from PMS showing plan and possibly execution of project.
This output can be presented as the standard process diagram.
More…
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– Boeing-Rocketdyne - Internet Notebook PMS
• Project: Developing an economical type of rocket engine in 10
months
•
Distributed team made of engineers from Boeing and two partners;
Very successful outcome: new engine design, much simpler and
cheaper to make; project under budget.
• GSS supporting the team: Internet Notebook (repository of design
documentation with online access via laptops, email notifications on
project progress, hypertext links on useful learning sources).
• Functions that required more time & effort were used less documenting new knowledge and indexing the documents. This
outcomes ran against managers’ expectations.
created in
Project
Document
Rocket
Engine
Project
tracked via
Email
supported by
Linked
learning
source
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Group Support Systems
• 2. File Sharing (e.g., Google docs, university class support
systems; used also in PMS and in knowledge management
processes)
• 3. Application Sharing (sharing screen and programs; figure
below); engineers and other professionals using visual
expression.
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Group Support Systems
4. Workflow Support Systems *
•
5. Communication for collaboration and knowledge sharing
• (e.g., private email, el. bulletin boards, chat)
6. Group Decision Support System (group brainstorming and option
selection via GDSS; fig. below). Used extensively at IBM. **
NOTE: This system also belongs to decision making systems.
Facilitator –
stirs the
session
Decision makers –
team or ad-hoc group
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Team-Based Organization
•
Team-Based Organization is one in which project team is the basic unit.
In contrast, in other types of organization the basic unit is department.
•
Research organizations, public accounting, consulting, software.
•
Company Protegra – Winnipeg-based, consulting on management and
IS (software creation).*
•
Project team at Protegra has 3-5 members. Team roles** are divided
but key decisions are made collectively. This is part of Protegra’s
culture.
•
Other cultural beliefs and behaviors: professionalism, fair contribution to
project work, open communication, knowledge sharing, respect for
others.
More
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Distributed Teams*
• Challenges for distributed teams:
o Aligning workflows over space & time; IS for communication and
work support are necessary
o Following same values and norms
o Maintaining trust in others and their work
o Time synchronization
o Effective communication; should be approached as process at
detailed level (timing, turn taking, checks, effectiveness for all
involved – many customers); selection of channels should fit task
(systems-supported vs. face-to-face)
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Summary
•
Workgroup (Team) is a Collection of people working together on a specific task for a
defined period.
•
Some key aspects for teams: interdependence, synergy, composition, communication,
leadership.
•
Project team plays key role in project-driven organizations.
•
Team life cycle is a process that consists of five sub-processes.
•
GSS include project management system, file sharing, applications sharing, workflow
system, communication systems & Group Decision Support System.
•
Team-based organization is one in which project team is the basic unit (differentiate
from org. using team as a work method). Culture and systems support crucial.
•
In a distributed (“virtual”) team members work at different locations.
•
To align distributed team's workflows over space and time, culture and communication
processes & systems are crucial.
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