Kaitlin Whalen

Arizona State University

OGL 343: Social Processes in Organizations

Prof. Gustafson

October 21, 2020

Prompt #1: Discuss the three essential conditions for successful team performance described by

Thompson (6 points).  Are there other essential conditions that you think should be included in

this list (2 points)? Thompson further discusses social loafing, sucker aversion, and free riding as

threats to team performance.  These three behaviors are often cited as reasons why people do not

like teamwork.  What causes social loafing (2 points)?  How do you think the best way to combat

this problem is in a team setting (2 points)?  Discuss your thoughts here in light of your own

experiences (3 points). 

Expertise, engagement, and execution make up the three essential conditions for success.

(Thompson, p. 114).

Expertise involves team members having KSAs or knowledge, skills, and ability to

handle the project they are completing (Thompson, p. 115). An important step in expertise is for

the leader to delegate each task to the team member whom is most capable of completing it

(Thompson, p. 115). I currently work as the director of a children’s facility where my team is

expected to make class quality a priority and handle conflicts within the facility. Because we

work with kids, it is essential to maintain knowledge associated with not only leading the class,

but spotting the children on various skills, speaking with confrontational parents, and dealing

with discipline when needed. Training is extensive to ensure all ground is covered, but it is well

worth it in the end. As the leader of this team, I delegate specific tasks such as social media,

administrative work, and coordinating events to the team member that best meets the

requirements of each task.

 Engagement involves maintaining motivation (Thompson, p. 118). At my facility, we

strive to increase motivation of our team members by using reward systems and showcasing

exceptional performance. We also always have two staff members teaching classes because

motivation to perform well is increased when other team members are present. As the leader of

the team, I know intrinsic motivation is often greater than extrinsic. I hire additional team

members only if their personal goals align with the organizations. Because we work with kids,

every team member has a goal of increasing their knowledge of educating children. Most of my

team are college students in school for elementary education, others are past physical education

teachers or coaches. We care about those whom we teach which creates intrinsic motivation for

each member.

Execution is the final condition needed to be successful. This refers to collaboration

among the team members to perform the responsibilities needed for success (Thompson, p. 126).

As the team leader, I maintain an open-door policy where team members can bring individual

ideas and encourage participation among our group. Our team goals are posted on the wall in our

facility office to keep everyone on track and aware of the standards they are required to meet.

We also hold a team meeting in person once a week to ensure we are staying on track and

everyone is on the same page with facility operations.

It is true that teams need knowledge, motivation, and collaboration skills to achieve team

success, however a factor not mentioned is acquiring the necessary resources. A team can have

all of the knowledge, motivation, and execute flawlessly, however if they do not have the

necessary resources or funds to accomplish the task, they will not get far.
 A large risk involved with the formation of teams involves social loafing. This suggests

that individuals tend to work less hard when in a team environment (Thompson, p. 120). This is

not only a fear for teams, but within the world. Social loafing is also a large political issue. Many

politicians disagree with increasing community welfare because they feel individuals will take

advantage of the programs and not work to earn their living. In the team atmosphere, we can

limit social loafing by discovering core motivators of each individual within the team and

combining their personal goals with the team goals. We can also make each team member’s

contributions easily identifiable. When team members know others can see what work they are

putting in, they are more likely to care and work harder on their tasks (Thompson, p. 124).

Utilizing a reward system, having an evaluation of performance system in place, and reducing

team sizes can also reduce social loafing (Thompson, p. 126).

Prompt #2: Thompson highlights 4 performance criteria in chapter 5.  By performance criteria

she is referring to those factors used to evaluate the success or failure of a team effort.  After

watching the TedTalk below discuss these four criteria in evaluating whether or not you think the

teams in Engineering Without Borders were successful in their endeavors to provide clean

drinking water (15 points)?

It was incredibly inspiring hearing the passion behind David Damberger’s words

regarding developing a system to provide clean water to those in need. Although I do believe his

team failed on this project, they were successful in other ways. There are four elements used to
assess if a team’s efforts were a success or failure. These include productivity, cohesion,

learning, and integration (Thompson, p. 128).

Because Damberger did not learn from previous mistakes, the productivity of this project

was damaged. Productivity is sometimes considered the most prominent factor when determining

success (Thompson, p. 128). This factor includes having a clear and concise goal and

acknowledging if the team reached it (Thompson, p. 128). Damberger’s original goal was to

provide clean water to the Indian school system. He failed to acknowledge the need of

maintenance and did not adapt his goal to the needs of those he was trying to help. Therefore, his

team failed in productivity.

The second element, cohesion, refers to the team’s ability to work together to reach the

goal (Thompson, p. 129). Cohesion did not seem to be an issue. Considering the first goal of

creating the water-catching structure was accomplished, the teamwork was a success. The failure

was due to their goal, or productivity. They failed to realize their actual goal was to provide

water for an extended amount of time. Therefore, even with strong cohesion, the team is capable

of failure.

Learning, the third element, involves the team maintaining a growth mindset and helping

each individual remain challenged yet satisfied (Thompson, p. 130). Rather than focusing on the

team as a whole, this element breaks the team into individuals and focuses on each person

involved to ensure they are personally developing new skills and being challenged (Thompson,

p. 130). Based on the video, what appears to be the team goal is providing a water system to

those in need, however there is a larger issue of showing the importance of the “non-sexy”

necessities to reach their goal. The team is being challenged by attempting to reach this goal, and

through Damberger’s passionate words, you can tell he is satisfying a personal need.
 Lastly, integration is the fourth element of success. This is the factor where Engineering

Without Borders thrives. They know their larger goals and seem determined to accomplish them.

The organization’s goals closely align with the team’s goals and they are utilizing other

companies to learn from their mistakes. They believe failure is necessary to succeed and will not

stop utilizing their resources to continue attempting to reach their larger goals. Although this

team failed in the project of providing clean water to African and Indian communities, they did

succeed in realizing new goals and discovering potential new strategies to accomplish them.
 Works Cited:

Thompson, L. (2017). Making the Team: A Guide for Managers (6th ed.). Pearson.

(2021, April 21). Learning from failure | David Damberger | TEDxYYC. YouTube.

https://youtu.be/HGiHU-agsGY