Running head: ESSAY THREE 1

Essay Three: Internal Team Dynamics & Decision Making

BIS 343
Reading Essay #3
Lindsay Snowden
November 5, 2017
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Essay Three: Internal Team Dynamics & Decision Making

Prompt #1: What practices are not effective when trying to avoid the

common information effect and hidden profiles (3 points)? What practices are

effective (3 points)? Contrast the suggestions in Chapter 6 in the MTT text

regarding the common information effect and hidden profiles with your own

team-based experiences (4 points).

The practices that are not effective when trying to avoid the common information effect

and hidden profiles include increasing the amount of discussion, increasing the size of the team,

increasing the information load, separating review from the decision, pre-discussion polling,

and accountability (Thompson, 2018, pp. 153-154). Practices that are effective include leaders

who are efficient at information management, redirecting and maintaining the focus of the

discussion to unique information, approaching the task as a “problem to be solved”, not a

“judgement to be made”, considering alternatives one at a time, suspending initial judgement,

building trust and familiarity with team members, ranking rather than choosing, virtual

teaming, minimizing status differences, communicating confidence, practicing team reflexivity,

and utilizing defensive vs. offensive orientation techniques (Thompson, 2018, pp. 154-158).

My current manager is effective at managing information. She does well to guide our

large team of employees to not repeat information whether it’s during a meeting about a specific

incident, or a team meeting about the store. She does well to guide team members away from

restating known information and redirects focus to unique, important information. Another

great technique that she employs in our store is minimizing status differences (Thompson, 2018,

p. 157). While she makes it known that her lower management is in charge when she is not there

and that they are to be respected, she likes to make sure that all team members have the same

important information. I’ve found this to be useful particularly when there is conflicting
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information and we can poll the group to come to a consensus about which information is true.

This way, there is no hidden information or one person does not hold powers over the others

because of hidden information. My manger calls herself an “open book” and shares any

information with any member of the team. This seems to work for our store.

Prompt #2: Give some examples of team mental models (ones you hold

currently, or have held in the past), and discuss them. (10 points)

In an article in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Beng-Chong Lim and Katherine

J. Kline (2006) write that “mental models are organized knowledge frameworks that allow

individuals to describe, explain, and predict behavior” (p. 404).

The team that I’m currently a part of holds the mental model that if we improve our

friendliness, kindness, speed, and accuracy to customers that our customer service ratings will

go up. Our shared perception of how customer service works allows us to predict the behavior of

our customers. If we provide better service, our ratings will go up. If we provide poor customer

service, our ratings will go down. Through this shared perception we encourage each other to be

our best selves at work in order to provide better service to our customers. Another part of this

mental model is that if we give better customer service, then we get better tips. Because of this

shared mental model, we assign team members to roles where they will perform the most

optimally thus enhancing the customer service experience which in turn puts more money in our

tip jars.

Prompt #3: Do you think that individuals or groups are better decision-

makers? Justify your choice (5 points). In what situations would individuals be

more effective decision-makers than groups, and in what situations would groups

be better than individuals (5 points)?

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In my opinion, it depends on the situation whether or not groups or individuals are more

effective for decision-making.

The benefit of working in a group is that it offers an eclectic sample of perspectives which

provides information that may not have been known without the presence of other members.

Thompson (2018) suggests that groups are superior to individuals because of the “group-to-

individual transfer, in which group members become more accurate during the group

interaction” (p. 169). Making decisions in groups also allows individuals to keep each other in

check

The benefit of individuals is that sometimes a group can “go down a rabbit hole” in terms

of making a decision if there isn’t structure. Sometimes there are too many opinions or

viewpoints in a group and it hinders the progress or finality of a decision. Also, an individual

may be an expert in their decision making role and not need the input of others.

Examples of decision-making circumstances where groups would be more valuable than

individuals would be a jury, bodies of government with checks and balances, and a board of

directors for large companies.

Examples of decision-making circumstances where individuals would be more valuable

than a group would be a judge during trial, a manager making decisions for their company, or

personal decisions where the opinion of others is not required.

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Reference:

Lim, B., & Klein, K. J. (2006). Team mental models and team performance: a field study of the

effects of team mental model similarity and accuracy. Journal of Organizational

Behavior, 27(4), 403-418. doi:10.1002/job.387

Thompson, Leigh (2018). Making the Team: A Guide for Managers, 6th edition. Pearson.