Page - 1525 - in Book of Full Papers - Symposium Hydro Engineering

3.3. HUMANS IN SMALL GROUPS Over recent decades the principle of building winning teams has become an axiom that few people dispute. The belief that working in teams makes us more creative and successful has become one from which there is little dissent. And yet the Harvard Business Review recently identified a list of problems associated with people working in teams, which included:  The absence of a team identity such that there is a conflict between team and personal goals. Here individuals are described as being self-centred or half-hearted.  Difficulty in making decisions because of rigid adherence to individual positions  Poor communications including silence from some members and constant talking from others. Perhaps personality clashes.  Inability to resolve conflicts, perhaps because of heightened tensions or perhaps stubbornness  Lack of creativity prevents seeing problems as opportunities  “Groupthink” where the team is not open to discussing new alternatives but has a fixed view of a situation into which the members “buy in”  Ineffective leadership, perhaps by failing to convey a vision or failing to delegate. 3.4. HUMANS IN LARGE ORGANISATIONS The difference between small teams and large organisations is that the team may have little interaction with their senior management within a large organization. This presents new sets of problems that may lead to risks. Principal among these risks is the establishment of a culture which may not be appropriate for the organisation as a whole. Frequently this can be driven by inappropriate incentives. For instance, a large oil refining company rewarded their staff if no accidents had been reported over a period. Rather than report minor incidents there was a culture of not reporting them to avoid losing their reward. And so was lost valuable opportunities to identify ways of improving safety. Here is a good example of poor communications and the wrong incentives. The culture of an organisation is significantly set by its reward systems. Do the compliant get promoted do the dissenters get moved on? Does the Board of Directors want to know? Much evidence exists that reward systems are a strong indicator of the health of a safety culture. Where employees are rewarded for achieving no accidents, then no accidents are reported. Where they are punished for causing accidents, they will be hidden, or acts will be denied. What levels of training are available to front-line staff? 1525