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Intrapersonal and cognitive skills in members of self-directed work teams: An exploratory study
Abstract
Complex conditions in the popular work place mechanism of Self-Directed Work Teams require many skills of team members. Adult Cognitive Development studies skills that deal with complex ideas and finds their development in some adults, always in predictable patterns. This naturalistic, exploratory research investigates the existence, characterization, development and importance of nine cognitive and intrapersonal skills found in both work place literature and adult cognitive development literature but not uniformly emphasized in training offered to team members. The skills include Systems Thinking, Integration and Synthesis, Taking the Perspective of Others, Analysis and Diagnosis, Recognizing, Identifying and Dealing with Feelings, Willingness to Disagree with Authority or Majority, Ability to be Flexible, Ability to Deal with Ambivalence, and Ability to Assess and Take Risks. This research investigates use of the nine skills through observations of team meetings in two distinctive work places. Observed uses of the skills were confirmed through interviews with team members which also explored skill development. Interviews with team leaders established their sense of importance of the skills. Major findings include: (1) Use of six of the skills is widespread. (2) Characteristics of 248 skill instances offered a basis for determination of sequence of skill development. (3) "Learning From Models" and "Reflection On Experiences" were credited by team members for development of their skills. School experience and training programs were not significant sources of development. (4) Most of the skills were considered important by the people responsible for the teams. Unexpected findings include: (1) Some team members without higher education evidenced skills at a level expected by Adult Cognitive Development theories only of those with higher education. (2) The team itself was cited by members as having positive developmental effects. (3) The interviews in which team members reflected upon their skills development proved developmental, strengthening the findings that reflective thought constitutes a significant pathway for development of the nine skills under consideration.
Subject Area
Occupational psychology|Developmental psychology
Recommended Citation
Glaser, Judith Schmidt, "Intrapersonal and cognitive skills in members of self-directed work teams: An exploratory study" (1994). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9420628.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9420628