Extreme Teaming by Edmondson Amy C.;Harvey Jean-François;Chesbrough Henry W.;

Author:Edmondson, Amy C.;Harvey, Jean-François;Chesbrough, Henry W.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Published: 2017-08-23T00:00:00+00:00

DIAGNOSING INTERFACES FOR KNOWLEDGE-SHARING

In addition to framing cross-boundary work as a resource to cultivate an environment in which people felt that their input was valued, we observed that project leaders focused on identifying and managing interfaces throughout their projects. Extreme teaming required transferring not only information, but also translating different interpretations and transforming individual interests to build shared meaning and understanding. We found that leaders would plan for specific moments during which intense cross-boundary work was needed, and strategically organized for these encounters. In some ways, they were curating a repertoire of knowledge-sharing needs and opportunities.

Just as in a relay race, exchanges of the baton between project participants were crucial to the outcomes in the projects we studied. The identification and orchestration of interfaces between project participants who did not know each other well and worked in different fields could easily make the difference as to whether development activities were transferred effectively from one group to another, or from one process stage to another. Recalled the director of the real estate company in Project Bianca: “We gave ourselves a methodology on which the various professionals could rely to execute their project. […] We knew when new input would be useful.” Added the director of the software company involved in the project: “Intermediation became more and more prominent for me. My main role during projects was to have good timing to jump in and provide intermediation between [the software company] and [the real estate company] professionals.” Project Sofia’s leaders similarly assured a smooth transition through the different stages of development by instituting a formal process of knowledge translation.

With more complex products, multiple design streams may develop concurrently, requiring leaders to identify touch points between project participants to orchestrate their respective activities. Among the challenges faced during Project Willa were integrating and coordinating the project’s many interfaces, which involved multiple stakeholders and oftentimes conflicting demands. Coordinating requirements for all stakeholders was a complex task that required a delicate balance. Project leaders introduced a strategy for “interface management” that divided the final product into “volumes” based on physical and time boundaries set forth in a project volume register, each volume of which was “owned” by a subproject team (empowering decision clusters, as illustrated with the next activity). An interface occurred when anything touched or crossed a boundary between volumes. High- and low-level interfaces were distinguished and captured in a register, and coordination meetings involving all relevant parties were regularly held. Orchestrating interfaces in such ways led to a more efficient and better-coordinated design process that promoted optimal use of materials and improved execution.

For key meetings, Project Anna’s leadership insisted on inviting certain professionals from the several involved organizations, and suggested, and sometimes even requested, that project participants work in locations in which they would directly interact with one another. Similarly, “the project as we know it today,” explained a director from the architecture company working on Project Willa, “is the result of architects and engineers working side by side at key times in the project.

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