Team Development

On Teams

This is an interesting checklist on teams, particularly about differences within teams based on an article by M.H. McCauley.

On Understanding	The more similarity between individual types on a team, the sooner the team members will come to understand each other - the more different the types, the slower the understanding.
Decision Making	Groups with very similar members will reach decisions more quickly but may make more errors because not all viewpoints are represented. Groups with many different types will reach decisions more slowly, and painfully but may reach better decisions because more viewpoints are included.
Allocating & Choosing Work	Team members may often choose tasks that fit the gifts of their type.
Leadership	Leadership roles may shift as the tasks to be done require the skills of different types on the team.
Being Different	The person who is the only representative of a certain type e.g. the only introvert, may be seen as 'different' from the other team members.
Conflict	Team members who come to appreciate and work with different types may help to diffuse conflict.
Personal Development	Successful teams with many different types promote the personal development of team members by encouraging learning from the gifts of other types.
Adjusting	Teams that are one-sided i.e. have too few types, will succeed if: team members use different types outside the team as resources, they make an effort to use their own less preferred preferences as the tasks require:
Being Heard in Teams	Extroverts may dominate discussions. and perhaps decision making, unless they make a special effort to involve introverts. Introverts on the other hand may need to make a special effort to be heard.
Decisions making	Good decisions will be made: when the basic facts and realities have been taken into account (sensing) when useful possibilities have been opened up (intuition). when inconsistencies or consequences have been analysed (thinking), and when important values have been considered (feeling).