change it on the basis of communication with others, ability to objectify
issues irrespective of who holds them, dilution of status and prestige, time
and patience to get all the resources out into the open and get them
integrated into a fair outcome. The list is not conclusive, but it suffices to
show the difficulties encountered in integrative teamwork.
As difficult as this style is, it has much more potential to it than the
dictatorial and compromise styles can ever have. It is a learning exercise for
the team members: the resources of the team members are now greater than
without and before the teamwork, as they have all gained in learning from
one another. It makes the 100 per cent solution possible. The team has added
value. In this style the different views do not divide people; rather they pose
a problem that the team members share. Integrating is time-consuming,
but the time spent in this style has a better return than in dictating and
compromising. It is possible to learn integrative teamwork. This learning
diminishes time needed for the integrative outcome.
Integration is not, however, always only positive in its consequences. There is
evidence to show that in well-integrated teams the members may share not
only their resources, but even their their blind spots. Janis[2] coined the
concept “groupthink” to point out the inability of a cohesive group to see and
accept critique and optional views. Groupthink has been shown to be a factor
in major catastrophes and fiascoes such as the disastrous failure of the space
shuttle Challenger, when it was destroyed soon after it was launched[3].
Synergistic teamwork
In synergistic teamwork the team creates something new and more than the
addition of the individual resources would be. The outcome is something
that no team member possessed before and without the teamwork. This was
borne in the process of teamwork, when the combination of the members’
resources exceeded the input. In creative work views are combined in a
unique way, and this is precisely what synergistic teamwork is about.
It could, equally, be called innovative teamwork.
In synergistic teamwork the outcome exceeds the 100 per cent of the input to
the teamwork. It is the most productive style. At the same time, it is the most
rewarding to the team members. It is of paramount importance in
knowledge-intensive business (see Nurmi et al.,[4]). It is not an easy style to
apply. Sweeney and Allen[5] studied teams of excellent performance. They
observed that these kind of teams did not come into existence as a result of
intentional management, but they seemed to grow spontaneously from a
fertile breeding ground. The breeding ground can be fertilized by
management but apart from that, management has little to say in igniting
the process nor getting it to sparkle once it has started. These innovative,
synergistic groups were characterized by a high level of enthusiasm,
motivation and commitment, experimenting, an inside jargon that the
outsiders found difficult to understand, the fusion of work and leisure,
pride in the team and indifference to rules. It also appeared that these kind of
groups did not maintain their level of energy for long, but in due course they
tended to dissolve as spontaneously as they appeared.
Relatively stable high-performing teams have been observed at least in
artistic team performance. Murnighan and Conlon[6] concluded that