Question

There are many contributing factors that will determine the success of a group. These factors include group size, homogeneity or heterogeneity of group members, competition with other groups, perceived or measured success, and exclusivity. Craig Paiement also states that homogeneous teams are predicted to be more effective due to the commonalities that they share. However heterogeneous groups can improve effectiveness by encouraging mutual learning or increasing the group's variable strength. Please share a time when the above factors contributed to either the success or failure of a group you worked in within an organization and explain why you believe those factors contributed to what happened.

Answer 1

The success of the group depends upon multiple factors as mentioned like group size, homogeneity or heterogeneity of group members, and exclusivity.

Group Size: Group size has a great impact on the success of the group. The size also depends on the scale of the business. If the business is small and in growing phase, the size of the group needs to be small because decision making needs to be quick and turnaround time must be faster for any activity. Every member would have a great sense of ownership. If the group is large for such business, there is a big impact on decision making and there could be a feeling of redundancy. In my organization that was somewhat smaller in scale, there were multiple groups out of which some were small and some were big. The smaller ones had been able to create impact whereas the bigger ones were not able to react. The major reason was bigger teams were more bureaucratic and as the scale was lower, the number of activities and detailing of each activity was lower though number of people were more. However, when the company grew in scale and the work demanded each activity to be more detailed and thorough, the right structure needed to be brought in and hence the time with a larger as well as right size was able to perform well. The important factor to determine size is to have the right structure where each person has clear defined roles and responsibilities, and each person should be thoroughly engaged in his work and also they must have the chance to add value on their own.

Homogeneity and Heterogeneity: Homogeneity and heterogeneity in the group is always important. The must-have homogeneous feeling among the group is the sense of ownership towards the business. All members of the group must have the common end purpose for working in the company or the group. In my organization, all the teams are aligned towards the single goal – the business of the company and high customer satisfaction. So all members, no matter how different they were, work towards this common objective and this could be visible in all of their actions and decisions. As Craig mentioned about the commonalities they share, this is also important factor because they will be better able to understand each other and all the communication must be clear among them.

Heterogeneity is also important at the same time because that brings dynamism to the group. If all members think in the same direction, then the probability of success is low because the group is not able to bring in any other perspective for any decision. In our team, there are people who are highly business oriented and entrepreneurial, some of them are high on creative side and others are highly organized and structured. Because of this, many decisions have been taken that are creative, structured as well as has an element of risk for better returns. The blend was perfect for the organization. Though looking this from outside, it may seem that there would be conflicts in the group. But because all the members had one single objective and each member is aware of this feeling, the team has been able to gel well despite their heterogeneous personalities.

Exclusivity: Exclusivity is also highly important to the success of the group. The feeling of exclusivity depends on the differentiation that the team is able to bring in that would help their group feel aspirational for others to join. For example, the product development team was able to bring in new initiatives and innovations that drove revenues for the company, there was a sense of exclusivity among the group and the group always had the drive to do something different to feel differentiated.