Team Learning Theoretical Perspectives

Three Streams of Team Learning

The three streams of team learning include learning curves in operational settings, psychological experiment on team members, and coordination and learning processes in teams (Lapré & Nembhard, 2011). In the 21st century, team learning has proven to be effective because it could be deployed in attempts to leverage knowledge and streamline working operations in organizational settings. Effective learning at the workplace can happen or occur when members are in more than one team. The concept of an individual being in more than one team is termed as cross fertilization across teams and helps in creating connections between one team and the other.

Learning curves is the first stream of team learning in an organization. According to Lapré, & Nembhard (2011) an individual only gains experience of a task as they continuously do the task. This stream of learning is realized through the concept of soft repeated adage. Soft repeated adage is realized through ‘practice makes perfect.’ Thompson (2012) effectively documented the concept of the organizational learning curve. He made a finding to the effect that when an organization doubled the manufacture of air frames, the labor hours decreased. This therefore means that the performance of an organization increased when there was improved performance. I also happen to be in agreement with the concept of the learning curve in any organization. This is more so the case given that when graduates are employed in my organization, they are seen as “green” individuals who need to learn the job. They undergo training and start working. Experience becomes the best teacher and after a while they can do an excellent job on their own.

The second stream of team learning is the coordination of team learning. In this stream, results of an organization are evaluated based on shared knowledge among team members. The sharing of skills, resources and context enables an organization to move forward. This stream of learning argues that employees should be in different teams to enable the sharing of knowledge and information. This brings us to the concept of “shared mental models”. In my organization, the operations manager had created a system of shared information whereby team members could leverage each other’s skills and abilities. The system was beneficial because I helped reduce redundancies in terms of knowledge and skill.

The third stream of team learning is the group process. It is important to note that according to Bell, Kozlowski & Blawath (2012) the group process may be defined as the behavior of individuals in a group. For a group to reach its ultimate goal, then it is everyone’s responsibility to use their greatest skills and charisma to make things happen. Every group in a team has a role and people may be charged with the responsibility of fully maximizing their potential. In an organizational setting, I believe that a leader should play their best role as a leader. Further, every individual in a team is required to do their part to ensure success and improved performance going forward.

Organizational Issues That May Constitute Barriers to Team Learning

One of the organizational issues from the Steiner article happens to be the disregard for team success. In a capitalistic society, every individual believes that they need to work on their own and build their portfolios (Bingham, Pane, Steiner & Hamilton, 2018). People in the office space believe that they should shine on their own and could, therefore, disregard team efforts, undertakings and success. The second organizational issue is complexity of the business structure. In the 21st century, when competition in the business realm happens to play out in the global arena, organizational structures (i.e. in as far as multiple divisions and subsidiaries are concerned) could become rather complex.