The Four Major Team Processes *

While key success factors build a team's capability, the translation of that capability into product results is through the execution of the four processes identified below. These processes are defined such that each represents a link in the chain from the creation of an idea to the actions that produce the desired results.

1. The Innovation Process: The ability of a team to generate new ideas, processes methods, tools, techniques, etc.
   
   
2. The Problem Solving Process: The ability of a team to identify the problem, and to generate alternatives for its solution.
   
   
3. The Decision Making Process: The ability of a team to make quality decisions by selecting the best alternative.
   
   
4. The Implementation Process: The ability of a team to plan and take effective action to get the intended results.

These major processes are indicators of the team's generic ability to generate ideas, solve problems, make decisions, and take action. For example, a team can generate ideas through brainstorming, lateral thinking, or the nominal group technique.

Team members working as individuals accomplish most of a team's work. The above processes are team processes and, while the team may not devote a large amount of its time to them, they play a very important role in determining team performance. Pareto's law would say that about twenty percent of a team's time may be spent on these processes, but they would produce eighty percent of the team results.

An IPT's overall competency in the above processes is essential for high quality results. Much of team learning may be directed to improving its ability to use the right process at the right time. Since each of these can be accomplished in many ways, a good team has a portfolio of approaches to tackle any issue or situation.

* NASA IPT Learning Campus, Version 5