7 Teams as Systems
Content in this chapter comes from the Open University at Open.edu. Working in Teams and Groups and Groups and Teamwork
Creating successful teams: A holistic view
Teams are systems. Thinking about your team as part of a system helps encourage members to consider the context in which they work. Systems are a group of interacting or interrelated elements that interact to form a unified whole. A system is surrounded and influenced by its environment. Systems are described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and expressed in its functioning. Systems are divided into three parts: inputs, throughputs and outputs. These highlight the different issues and activities teams and leaders needs to engage with or oversee during the life of a team.
The open systems approach to team work: Inputs, throughputs, and outputs
The systems perspective ask us to think of teams as part of the wider context of an organization or the community. Considering a systems perspective ensures that team-leaders can find the resources to help the team function successfully. A systems perspective asks: what needs to be controlled, monitored and/or influenced within and outside the team? At the same time, leaders needs to consider the team in terms task phases and processes, from start to finish. Considering how the team is developing, where the team is in terms of project development, and how the internal and external environment affect the team all improve team function.
A leader’s task is to understand, plan and monitor all these different processes. This seemingly complex and unwieldy task is easier to understand and manage when broken down into its component parts. The open systems model of team work can help to explain and characterize effective team-work processes (Schermerhorn et al., 1995; Ingram et al., 1997).
Schermerhorn and colleagues suggest that teamwork can be considered as a three-stage sequence: Inputs -> Throughputs -> Outputs. This is illustrated in Figure 2 below.
Inputs are factors which are controlled and influenced by management. (Throughputs) refer to the activities and tasks that help to transform inputs into outputs. They may have the greatest influence on effective team work as they include team processes such as developing and maintaining cohesiveness, and communication. They also involve task activities which get the work done and maintenance activities which support the development and smooth functioning of the team. Outputs are those (successful) outcomes which satisfy organizational or personal goals or other predetermined criteria.
Inputs
Inputs are often controlled or influenced by management. This may be the direct manager of the group or team or the result of senior management decisions and strategies. This means in practice that the way a team is put together and will function is influenced by the organization’s values, vision and strategy, and its practices and procedures.
Two main factors to consider at this stage are co