Teams differ in terms of the tasks they are trying to accomplish and the roles team members play.
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Classes of Task
J. R. Hackman identified three major classes of tasks:
- Production Tasks - This means creating or delivering something, such as a product, service, plan, etc.
- Idea Generation Tasks - Creative tasks, such as idea generation or process refinement.
- Problem-Solving Tasks - Making decisions and developing plans of action.
Task Interdependence
Task interdependence concerns the extent to which members of the team rely on other members of the team for resources and support for the successful completion of tasks. For example, self-managed teams generally are generally more effective when tasks are highly interdependent.
There are three types of task interdependence.
- Pooled Interdependence - Team members work independently and later combine their efforts as the teams output.
- Sequential Interdependence - Team members cannot begin their tasks until other member's completion of their tasks. The output from the other team members becomes an input for the next members task tasks. The process is linear.
- Reciprocal Interdependence - Team members work together on individual tasks at each phase of completion. Members commit effort to each stage of work completion.
Outcome Interdependence
This is where rewards (rather than tasks) are dependent upon the performance of others in completing their tasks. The tasks are not interdependent, but the result is.
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A study of tobacco manufacturing plants in France found that the maintenance engineers had an inordinate amount of power, given their formal hierarchical status. Crozier concluded that, in this plant, the breakdown of the machinery was the only remaining uncertainty confronting the organization. The maintenance engineers were the only personnel who could cope with machine stoppage and they had control over the last source of uncertainty remaining in completed routinized organizational system.
Crozier's discoveries later were the basis for a formal theory about power from task interdependence.
Tasks interdependence occurs when two or more employees must depend on each other to complete assigned tasks. An example would be, an executive who has legitimate power over a subordinate, but because the executive must depend on the subordinate the get the job done correctly and on time, the subordinates also has power over the executive.
Power accrues to those organizational functions that possess the most potential for disrupting the productivity of others in the organization. Functions can differ in their ability to disrupt the work of other employees along five dimensions:
Centrality Centrality is the ability of a person to disrupt progress on task. Criticality Individuals (or groups) in an C F organization are critical if there are no available substitutes for the function or role they perform. Relevance Relevance has to do with the importance of the disrupted tasks to the mission of the E F organization. By way of contrast, a person's role or function in organization may be central, but only to minor goals of the organization. Visibility Visibility is a matter of whether actual centrality, criticality, and relevance are perceived as such by other organizations members. This E F suggests that individuals must cultivate other's appreciation of their power. Flexibility A job has flexibility if the jobholder has opportunities to make choices, innovate, and take the initiative. A role has flexibility if it provide opportunities to exercise power (by making choice) that accrues from centrality, criticality, and relevance.These five characteristics of roles and functions determine whether and individual's position in the flow of work in the organization will be powerful or not.
Within the manufacturing arena, the term “task interdependence” describes the manner in which different business units are reliant upon one another during the production phase. Pooled, reciprocal and sequential relationships are the three types of interdependent relationships.
3 types of task interdependence
There are three types of task interdependence for professionals, including:
Pooled
Pooled interdependence is when individual employees or team members work together to achieve a common goal. For example, in a software development team, there may be designers, developers and project managers. Each of these team members contributes something different to the project, but the project cant end without those mutual efforts. Pooled interdependence “pools” the collective skills and efforts of a team on an individual level to produce a final product. This method is common in technology, industrial and manufacturing environments and encourages both individual and team accountability.
Reciprocal
Reciprocal interdependence is when the final product depends on each department or persons individual contributions for completion. In this system, no one person can complete the ultimate goal or produce the product or service without the efforts of others. For example, a cake factory operates with reciprocal interdependence. The material handlers focus only on providing ingredients and tracking lot numbers, the mixers focus on mixing the ingredients to make cake batter and the bakers work the ovens and bake the cake batter. No one person can supply, mix and bake the batter, so reciprocal interdependence is crucial to operations.
Sequential
Sequential interdependence is when teams cant complete a task before they complete the previous task in the process. This system organizes team efforts in sequential order so that each step in the process depends on the efforts of the previous step. For example, assembly lines are the most common examples of sequential interdependence. Using an example of a vehicle manufacturer, the first person on the line might add a part to the engine, which then follows a sequential assembly order through ten more assemblers before completion.
What is task interdependence?
Task interdependence is a concept that describes two or more tasks dependency on one another to complete a goal or reach a milestone. For example, during the manufacturing process, the production, processing and shipping departments share task interdependence. The production team cant begin production without materials from the shipping department, the processing department cant package and process products without the production team and goods cant ship without the shipping department. Each daily task for those departments depends entirely on the completion of other tasks in an interconnected web of accountability and production.
Tips for using task interdependence
Task interdependence can offer several advantages to businesses, chief among them being team and individual accountability. Here are some tips for using task interdependence in small or large teams in various industries:
Focus on accountability
Interdependence depends on the accountability of each person in the team. All three types of interdependence can help encourage greater accountability, but its also important for team leaders, project managers and even team members to hold themselves and their teammates accountable. For example, if the first person in an assembly line is moving too slowly, they can affect the rest of the assembly lines productivity and minimize the teams production for the day. Leaders can hold team members accountable by identifying positive and negative efforts, giving praise for success and monitoring performance to ensure it meets company standards.
Improve team communication
To leverage task interdependence, its important to improve the teams communication efforts and ensure that team leaders are communicating expectations. Improve team communication by discussing the expectations and requirements for each task or project and monitoring the teams progress. Team members and leaders can express concerns or give praise via verbal communication and help establish a more open and supportive environment. Team leaders can set a positive example for better communication by practicing verbal and non-verbal communication and communicating frequently with individual team members and the group.
Use project management software
Project management software can help improve a teams interdependence and maximize its benefits. This type of software can monitor everything from employee tasks and goals to their individual and team progress to the communication between team members. There are hundreds of options for project management software available online, each with its own tools and benefits. Many of these platforms include internal communication tools for improving team communication and allow each team member to set specific goals within a project. These can also be helpful tools for professional development and better team management.
Eliminate or reduce obstacles
Many projects can encounter various obstacles which may slow production or affect the teams interdependence, but teams can minimize these occurrences. Eliminating obstacles means examining the teams production process and identifying the key obstacles they might face. Then, the team and its leaders can plan ahead for how they might address each obstacle, providing a standard blueprint that everyone on the team understands. For example, if the team knows a client changes their mind several times throughout their projects, they can prepare by creating multiple drafts and anticipating potential change requests, helping to minimize frustration and keep production active.
What is task coordination?
Task coordination is when a team coordinates within itself, with other departments or with external resources to achieve a task. This is similar to task interdependence, but differs in that task coordination is a collaborative effort, not a requirement. For example, a team could work together to complete a design, coordinating efforts between three designers, but those designers dont necessarily depend on one another to complete the project.
FAQ
What is task interdependence in conflict?
Even if they work independently, there are various consequences (positive or negative) that leaders should be aware of to create the most effective processes.
- Pooled Interdependence. This is the most open type of interdependence. …
- Sequential Interdependence. …
- Reciprocal Interdependence.
What is interdependence in an organization?
Another cause of conflict is task interdependence; that is, when accomplishment of your goal requires reliance on others to perform their tasks.