Appreciating the Microcultures of a Product Development Team

Originally Published MDDI December 2003

Product Development Insight

Recognizing differences among team members can enhance team performance.

Richard Rosen
Battelle Memorial Institute

Much has been written about the style differences that exist between company employees who work in the general areas of research and development, manufacturing, sales and marketing, finance, and general management. Recognizing the communication differences that exist between such personnel is critical to success in the development and launch of a new product. As a manager of R&D or engineering staff responsible for new product innovation, you know that differences don't stop at departmental or functional area lines.

In the product development area, teams are most often comprised of interdisciplinary technical groups that collectively represent the technologies required in the end product. Consider a typical product development team for a new diagnostic instrument. Experts in biotechnology, chemistry, and microbiology combine with engineers in software, electronics and controls, mechanical, polymer, and manufacturing disciplines. They in turn work with quality system and regulatory staff to accomplish the program goals. 

Frequently, the only common bond existing between the members of these groups is one of analytical methodology or mathematical foundation. Yet all too often, the technical groups are viewed and evaluated collectively, without recognizing their inherent dissimilarities. So how can you prevent such differences from negatively affecting the team's performance?

Researchers have coined the term microcultures to acknowledge the differences in style, values, and communication preferences that exist among small groups within a company. While they exist on many levels, it is useful to focus on the microcultures that exist within technical disciplines of an engineering or R&D unit. When harnessed, the diversity of multiple viewpoints gives rise to innovative new-product ideas. However, an interdisciplinary technology team is equally fertile ground for communication problems and style differences, which must be properly managed to achieve product success.

Does This Sound Familiar?

Consider the following example to see if it has a familiar ring. Your company has several product development efforts ongoing in its product pipeline. One team is performing very well and seems to deal effectively with each unanticipated problem without missing a beat. A second team is struggling to make progress and frequently makes such statements as “It's software's fault that we're behind,” “The quality system is limiting our ability to make quick decisions,” “Don't blame the sensor; the assay doesn't behave like it is supposed to,” and so on. Yet, both teams work in the same company, use identical process systems and operating procedures, and are guided by the same business objectives. Why is there such a difference in performance? One explanation for the variation is ineffective interactions of microcultures within the two teams.

Research from well-known sources such as Myers-Briggs and “The Art of Thinking,” by Harrison and Bramson, have shown that individuals think and communicate from diverse perspectives. Appreciating and harnessing this diversity can be the source of high performance. Ignoring these traits can be the source of problems, at both the individual and team level.

Look for these warning signs that can indicate when a team or an effort is headed for trouble:

• A problem or conflict remains unresolved, despite repeated efforts to correct the situation.
• Disgruntled “finger-pointing” exists, embodied in statements such as, “Software is always our problem.”
• An individual becomes overly dominant, to the point of being disruptive, yet he or she is highly valuable and critical to the project's outcome.
• A project team reaches a stage of near burnout on a long, grueling project, and there is still considerable work ahead before it will be finished.
• A project seems stalled in a particular phase of its effort, despite good intentions and continued hard work on the part of the team.

Resources and Tools

It is important to recognize that technical team leaders have a long history of accomplishment as technical contributors, but often have little training in interacting with others, team dynamics, and appreciating how communication differences impact progress. 

Numerous points of view are sought in brainstorming sessions because of the value of diverse opinions and viewpoints. But in other team settings, managers are sometimes intolerant of certain types of communication or interactive styles because they seem disruptive or distracting. Team leaders should pay attention to managing the softer side of technical functions, and increase their listening and perceptive skills to help them more effectively manage an interdisciplinary team.

Here are some approaches to enhance a high-performing team, or to energize a stalling team. These approaches can also help when undertaking an effort where the parties or people are new and unfamiliar to one another.

• Conduct a session, through the human resources department or through outside facilitation, designed to raise the awareness of different styles of communication and interaction. Techniques such as Myers-Briggs type indicators and The Forté Institute are well-known and helpful in this regard.
• Set aside time at the outset of new projects to bring significant senior leadership together with the entire team, no matter how large, to express appreciation for the effort and to share background information that is important to the project.
• Wherever possible, bring customers and success stories directly to employees, so that individuals can remember who the real beneficiaries of your products are.
• Invest in training key team members, such as project managers, in leadership techniques and differences in communication style. Make accomplishing this training an element of their performance appraisal.
• Support efforts that encourage staff to appreciate diversity in all dimensions as it relates to their fellow coworkers.
• Conduct readiness exercises and focused workshops as projects progress through different stages to actively ensure that the staff works from common understandings, instead of differing interpretations of what is most important to the project's success.
• Establish safety-net programs that offer nonintrusive support systems from other teams, individuals, or senior management to create and sustain environments conducive to success.
• Perform surveys to provide fact-based benchmarks and serve as early-warning systems about trends that could be destructive to achieving goals.

A summary of these concepts is shown in Table I.

These concepts do not only apply to projects within your own company; they apply to company-to-company relationships as well. Statistics show that alliances and collaborations between companies rarely fail because of technical problems. The cause for failure almost always involves some form of communication breakdown. Likewise, strong strategic alliances perform well because there is an alignment of goals, an atmosphere of mutual trust, and an appreciation of each other's business constraints.

Conclusion

Raising awareness among R&D and engineering staff managers can have a significant impact on product development team effectiveness. Appreciating and harnessing the differences of multidisciplinary teams is a source of important innovation and progress, not to mention a way to provide a more fulfilling work environment for all involved.

A seasoned manager of a device R&D group once spoke at a conference on leadership and said, “Anyone can manage when times are good; the true test of leadership comes in the face of conflict, and how you respond and learn from those challenges.” It is risky to wait until problems arise and assume that your product development leaders are adept at mobilizing a diverse technical team to solve the problems. Taking steps to train team leaders about the dynamics of interdisciplinary microcultures is one case where an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure. 

Copyright ©2003 Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry