Have you ever reminisced about your best experiences in new product development teams. I have. I wanted to be able to explain why some experiences were outstanding.
Explicit coordination
Some organizations embraced a sequential development approach that transfered responsibilities from one group of specialists to another. Projects proceeded in mutually exclusive phases. Progress was assessed by management at predetermined times. This approach relied on central control and explicit coordination.
Explicit Coordination includes coordination via planning and coordination via communication which includes feedback processes, personal coordination, and the exchange of information (1)
Information was stored and knowledge was managed.
Typically, job classifications were used to select project resources. Sometimes, it was presumed that individuals were interchangeable if there was someone with a similar curriculum vitae in the talent pool.
There was tension between engineering and marketing. Sales and Marketing had different priorities. There were debates between individuals with titles such as Product Manager, Product Marketing Manager, and Product Owner. Within the 'research and development' group, some individuals considered themselves a Designer while others claimed the role of Developer.
Often, it was just logomachy - a dispute concerning words. The origins of the misunderstanding could be traced to experiences from another prevailing framework or another company culture.
Implicit coordination
Implicit coordination is a team interaction behavior. It is a process that takes place when “team members anticipate the actions and needs of their colleagues and task demands and dynamically adjust their own behavior accordingly, without having to communicate directly with each other or plan the activity”
When there is implicit coordination, individuals do more than just 'turn in their assignment.
When implicit coordination thrives, collaboration equity is maximized.
Collaboration Equity is the amount of positive value your NPD receives from the totality of your efforts to maximize collaboration effectiveness.
I prefer teams that are paragons of implicit coordination. The Rico et. al. article includes of model that details the contributions to team implicit coordination processes.
I will provide several suggestions to facilitate implicit coordination. I welcome your suggestions.
1. Ramon Rico, Miriam Sanchez-Manzanares, Francisco Gil, and Cristina Gibson. 2008. “Team implicit coordination processes: A team knowledge-based approach.” Academy of Management Review, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 163-184.
