Five new systems heuristics to analyze small group teamwork

Abstract

Small groups are the most common of all organizations. In this thesis we apply a systems architecture approach to small group teamwork in order to study small groups. We propose five new systems heuristics and use these heuristics as lenses to view small groups. We make use of concepts from systems and complexity theories in order to come up with these heuristics. With each heuristic, we provide literature review both from systems and small group perspectives. We find that in many cases there is sufficient literature available to support application of each heuristic on small groups, but in some cases the literature is scant. We further apply these heuristics to small group work in a movie called "Twelve Angry Men" to provide an application example of these heuristics to analyze the work of a jury group presented in the movie. We find that each heuristic within its scope is able to provide significant insights into the working of the group. We finally provide guidelines for how these heuristics can be used for the practice of leadership in small groups. We report that each heuristic covers different aspects of group life and together can be used to analyze group work in details. Understanding group work in real time opens up opportunities for a member or members to influence the work and thus help practice leadership.