Joe's Jottings
Jottings Number 65, Reply A, by Bill Harris:
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 96 14:52:04 -0800
You struck a sensitive chord with #65 (Quality of Life) and how to work
with people. I led an experiment for the last couple of years which
involved sociotechnical systems design and Chris Argyris's action science
as the key management approaches to a particular project. I chose those
approaches because I believed in their utility and business potential in
general and in their particular applicability to the project at hand.
Stress had been high, communications needed improving, and the
responsibility of the group was not one I understood well. Over the course
of the project, we evolved into a rather open, self-directed work team.
Without using those terms, we did emphasize centrality, competence, control
and commitment. For much of the project, the team felt (and truly had)
ownership for their results and for their team health. What they did
looked like empowerment to me.
I believe this did increase the quality of our work life, but don't be
fooled: this was some of the most difficult and challenging work I have
done. I believe significant parts were quite challenging for the other
team members, too, as we were all growing quite rapidly. However, there
was a great feeling of satisfaction at seeing the results and knowing how
they were accomplished. Moreover, we all began to feel that the
constraints under which we worked were either imposed by the nature of the
job or by the coordination required between team members, not imposed
externally. That did remove one level of anxiety. The action science
approach gave us ways to address communications issues which had hampered
productivity and increased stress in the past.
We didn't follow sociotechnical systems design processes very formally.
I've since seen an article by Fred Emery, one of the founders of that
approach ("Participative design: effective, flexible and successful, now!",
Journal for Quality and Participation, January/February 1995, pp. 6-9) that
indicates he's moved on to a simpler approach which he believes to be more
fruitful. As he says, "the critical questions in the design of effective
organizations were:
1. What decisions about control and coordination of work were
necessary for effective group working?
2. To what extent can these decisions be located with the group doing
the work?"
One other point to consider when you start upon such an experiment:
consider what comes afterwards. Shortly after this project was completed,
we reorganized, and that group of people is working for a different manager
now. He has chosen a different, valid management approach, and I have
observed that the change has been stressful. Perhaps I should have
reminded the team at the beginning of the project that change happens and
that the "social contract" they had with me was not permanent. If the
environment changed, they would need to use what they had learned to adapt
to the changed environment.
Regards,
Bill
--
Bill Harris Hewlett-Packard Co.
R&D Productivity Department Lake Stevens Division
domain: billh@lsid.hp.com M/S 330
phone: (206) 335-2200 8600 Soper Hill Road
fax: (206) 335-2828 Everett, WA 98205-1298
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