Bob Travica

MIS 2000

Class 11

Group Processes and

Group Support Systems

Updated Feb. 2015

Bob Travica

Outline

• Workgroup (Team) Concepts & Project Team

• Team Life Process

• Group Support Systems

• 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; se

Ch. 10).

- Task: What needs to be done- Work roles: Who does what- Timeline: Start and end point, landmarks, schedule

• Workgroup defined by:

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- Success conditions: member composition, communication, leadership

- 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)

- Members depend directly on each other – interdependence: can be sequential, parallel, & reciprocal (process coordinaiton aspect).

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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.

•Collocated and Distributed team

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Team life process

• A set of complex activities (phases) from team formation to team’s delivery of product and disbanding. Cyclical process.

• Each complex activity is a process in itself:

1. Set team task & team

2. Establish team roles & leadership

3. Create project schedule, Set communication channels

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Developing/Using Group Mind

1. Forming

3. Norming4. Performing

5. Disbanding 2. Storming

Focus of GSSFocus of GSS

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Team life cycle (cont.)

4. Performing phase – most imporatnt;

Execute project activities Socialize Deliver product

- Group mind may develop – better performance

5. Create final reports & close project

Developing/Using Group Mind

1. Forming

2. Storming

3. Norming4. Performing

5. Disbanding

Focus for IS

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Group Support Systems

• Support the Performing phase (sub-process) in the team life cycle.

1. Project Management System (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 activities. Activities employ team members, and are timed. People get paid at a certain rate, and PMS calculates the pay, variance from budget, etc. (next slide).

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Output from PMS showing plan and execution of a project.

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ActivityTime

PeopleJohn

Jean

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.

John

Jean, AlexAlex

Inventory Management System

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2016 2016 2016 2016 2016

Project Management System: Gantt Chart

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– Boeing-Rocketdyne’s 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 outcomes.

• GSS supporting the team: Internet Notebook (repository of design documentation with online access via laptops, email notifications on project progress tracked, hypertext links on learning sources).

• Functions that required more time & effort were used less – surprising to management.

Internet Notebook PMS

Documentrepository

Linked learning sources

Linked learning sources

SCHEDULE

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• 2. File Sharing System - Google docs, drop boxes; included in other GSS

• 3. Application Sharing System - Sharing screens and programs; e.g., engineers cooperating on the same diagram.

Group Support Systems

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Facilitator – Moderates thesession

Decision makers – team or ad-hoc group

Group Support Systems

4. Workflow Support System - Electronically connecting individual tasks in a process; see case in Chapter 10

5. Teleconferencing Systems - Meeting at distance; videoconferencing, private email, el. bulletin boards, chat – communication syste4ms serving dispersed groups

6. Group Decision Support System - Group brainstorming and option selection via GDSS. Parallel and reciprocal coordination.

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• Team of our time! YOU will work in it!

• 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 Effective communication is the key to sucess

Distributed Teams

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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: interdependence, synergy, composition, communication, leadership.

• Project team plays key role in project-driven organizations.

• Team life cycle is a process that consists of five phases (sub-processes).

• GSS types are: Project Management System, File Sharing System, Applications Sharing, System, Workflow Support System, Teleconferencing System, & Group Decision Support System.

• In a distributed (virtual) team members work at different locations and face particular challenges.

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