Basadur simplex problem solving process

odule 1 - Background
Structuring Virtual Teams
Background Reading
Every team begins with a structure. Structure determines how the group works, how it is organized, and how it coordinates its activities. It also must be supported by the appropriate leadership style. The following background material will give you some tools to use when thinking about how to structure the team's work.

Team Process

There is no doubt that most teams engage in a process of creative work—often centered around solving some type of problem. Min Basadur, author of The Power of Innovation: How to Make Innovation a Way of Life & How to Put Creative Solutions to Work (2001), outlines an eight-stage cycle of creative problem solving that is applicable to both group and individual problem solving.

Some of the steps in Basadur's Simplex may be condensed in virtual teams due to faster pace: Problem finding, fact finding, and problem definition may be combined into an idea generation phase. Virtual teams may be more likely to be presented with a given problem, so less time is spent on finding the problem and more time on evaluating whether or not is it worthwhile to pursue. Thus, in a virtual team, the problem-solving process may look more like this:

Idea Generation
Development
Finalization
Closure
Just as with the eight-stage model, each step in this four-stage model must be executed competently for the team to function effectively. Read:

Aperian Global. (2012). Leveraging Diversity For Creative Solutions: Leadership Best Practices For Virtual Collaboration. Aperian Global. Retrieved from: http://aperianglobal.com/newsletter_archive/publications_newsletter046.asp

Work Design

Work design is concerned with how the team moves through these stages. It is generally accepted that there are three basic options:

Wheel design - In this design, the leader communicates with all group members, but individual members have little communication with each other. This design is particularly useful when decision making is centralized, there is permanent leadership, there is little task interdependence, and members have specialized expertise and high trust.

Modular design - This is perhaps the most commonly used design. In this case, the group meets to decide on task or project goals, work is parceled out to individuals, and then the group meets again to assemble the pieces. The advantages are that the task can be broken down, roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, there is no need for extensive feedback or cooperation, technology supports exchange of work, there is democratic decision making and accountability standards, and one person is ultimately responsible for assembling all pieces.

Iterative approach - With this design, work is drafted, presented to the team, feedback is given, the work is redrafted, presented again, followed by more feedback. This work design requires task interaction, sufficient time, high willingness to accept input and cooperate, honesty, open communication systems and norms, and work-sharing technology.

Leading Virtual Teams

Depending largely on the work design that is chosen, an appropriate leadership structure must be selected. There are basically four generic types:

Permanent - This leadership structure is associated with centralized decision making and a high degree of role differentiation (silos of expertise). The leader serves to integrate all work, and high interaction is needed between the leader and members, but not between individual members; hence there is low interdependence.

Rotating - Similar leadership roles are played by alternating team members. The team is characterized by a flat hierarchy, equal leadership abilities, high trust, low ego (the current leader must be willing to step down and submit to another leader), stability, standardized procedures and templates to insure consistency, and small size.

Facilitator or coordinator - In this case, no individual carries formal authority over the work product or team tasks. These teams are self-managing but need additional support (e.g., leading meetings, scheduling, or tech support). Most of these types of teams are project teams comprising members from various functions who have regular supervisors for daily work. They are characterized by equal status and high communication among members. It is essential for the facilitator/coordinator to have strong interpersonal/conflict/decision-making skills.

Leaderless - These teams are truly self-managed. All members have the same status, responsibilities are divided equally, and there is clarity of roles and high accountability. Power resides in expertise, decision making is democratic, and all members must possess equal commitment, shared outcomes, and high trust in each other.

Because virtual teams face the additional challenge created by spatial and temporal separation, any leadership role, whether shared or individual, requires that certain key processes are managed even more intensely than with the co-located team. These key processes include:

Building trust
Appreciating diversity
Managing the work cycle effectively
Monitoring progress
Enhancing visibility of team members
Ensuring that members benefit from the team
Read the following article (available in EBSCO - Business Source Complete Database) to learn how effective leaders of virtual teams approach these critical practices:

Malhotra, A., Majchrzak, A., and Rosen, B. (2007) Leading virtual teams. Academy of Management Perspectives, 21(1), 60-70.

Optional Reading
A synopsis of Basadur's Simplex model of group process can be found at:

The Simplex Process. A robust creative problem-solving process. (2007) Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_10.htm

Falconer, J. (n.d.) 10 free tools for collaboration. Lifehack. Retrieved from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/10-free-tools-for-collaboration.html

Case Article
Mapping out the creative process and work design approach. Retrieved from http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/46/07879711/0787971146.pdf

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