Team Role FAQs: Synchronisation

Why is ‘synchronisation’ so important to team work - wouldn’t it be better if we concentrated on our own tasks or on using the behavioural approaches that are our individual strengths?

The principle of synchronisation applies primarily to discussions and interactions between team members. The absence of synchronisation can waste time, cause frustration and reduce the quality of the final decision.

For example, one stage of the MTR-i-based decision-making methodology is ‘Curator’, which involves clarifying the problem and gathering relevant information. When the team is ‘clarifying a problem’, it is often disruptive to the flow of the discussion if a team member starts suggesting new, radical solutions at the same time. For optimum team performance, all team members need to clarify/agree what the problem is before moving on to brainstorming of solutions.

Synchronisation is similar to the concept De Bono introduced of wearing of different ‘hats’ for different thinking modes. Using synchronisation, when the team is making a decision or problem solving, the whole team start with the Curator role, and then move on to the next role (eg: scientist).

If team roles are not used synchronously, the discussion isn’t being moved forward, it is being held back. The interventions of asyncronous team members are disruptive to the flow of the team. And it reduces team productivity because it has a negative impact, cancelling out the positive efforts of other team members. In addition to poor team performance, it can also lead to individuals getting frustrated, miscommunicating, and generating conflict that goes unresolved.

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