Sunday, November 7, 2021

Prompt No. 2: Team Mental Models

Teams and their structures are important in so many ways and team mental models play a

role in those structures. They help to facilitate functions and operations to effectively work

together and ensure each member is on the same page (Thompson, 2017). Additionally, these

models can provide a mental organization to the individual to accomplish personal tasks to tie in

with the team’s ultimate goals (Thompson, 2017).

Being that most people use these models daily but don’t even realize it, including my

own unawareness, Thompson’s explanation of each helps to explain and understand the study

behind them. The timing of this course and chapter is impeccable to my current involvement in a

recent team I have joined in a new job position I accepted as a transaction coordinator for a

“Mega Agent” real estate team.

Despite being a part of the team for one single week thus far, my training schedule proves

that the position is going to require a strong mental model along with a very task-oriented

approach. The team is made up of the broker/CEO, one listing agent, two brokers agents, an

executive assistant, and myself. All of us but one brings in a healthy real estate background to

the table to act as an informational foundation. From there, I have had to shift gears in my real

estate brain from being the agent, C-System, to the coordinator, X-System, way of thinking

(Thompson, 2017). Now the deliberation and processes that aren’t so cut and dry belong to the

agents, as they build their database through personal touches and brainstorm to decide what

keeps the clients coming back. Their C-System eventually brings them under contract and then
enters my X-system side of the team. I am greeted with documents, Trello lists, spreadsheets,

emails, communication across many different platforms, and agency demands to close a

transaction. As these two systems meet, we successfully close real estate by relying on our team

and sub-teams and their required mental models. I believe because of the adequate amount of

communication, small team numbers, close-knit office space, and knowledge for the business,

our representational gap is very slim (Thompson, 2017).

Prompt No. 3: Individual vs. Group Decision Making

Based on the text and logical thought, I believe that groups decision-making is

significantly stronger than individual decision-making, in a majority of circumstances. Individual

decision-making has a plethora of biases one could demonstrate during the individual decision-

making process. An individual's clarity, cross-checking, and sounding board are not present

during the process and could limit accuracy when performing a demonstrable task (Thompson,

2017). Of course, not in all situations is a group the best option for decision making. In my

opinion, in some occupational fields, while support is necessary, the individual may have the

specific knowledge of a specific case where it should be handled by that person.

Group individual transfer and its suggestions are where I lie my confidence in group

decision-making over the individual. The idea is that groups hold individuals more accountable

during their tasks which relate directly to the team's structure (Thompson, 2017). Additionally, it

is more likely for individual knowledge to be confirmed and validated when run through a group

before the individual uses it in a decision-making process. Going back to my current team

involvement, it would be unorganized, exhausting, and unsuccessful to attempt to run the team

without all the hands-on deck. Statistically speaking, groups are favored over individuals as well.

Research and formulations present strong numbers and percentages that heavily support
successful and efficient outcomes when groups work well together (Thompson, 2017). Not to

mention the risk of decision fatigue when group presence is lacking.

One thing people might experience with both groups and individual decision-making

processes is that they prefer one over the other, while in most cases groups are probably more

necessary. I have been required to join and be a part of several groups throughout my OGL

degree. When beginning the forming process, I tend to feel apprehensive and overwhelmed.

However, in going with the theme of groups ranking higher, my experiences mostly have

positively made the course objectives clearer and more effective.

 References

Thompson, L. L. (2017). Making the Team (6th Edition). Pearson Education

(US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780134484952