Diversity amongst teams is important and necessary, but too much can cause problems. 5.11 is a growing company with client worldwide. They are fortunate to have both diversity in training and skills as well as personalities and demographics. These types of diversity can lead to functional and dysfunctional conflicts which can both be healthy to an extent. Each team member has a different specific skill set and have come from different places around the world. Having a diverse team when creating products they are able to have a wider range of ideas and views which helps them to prevent groupthink.
They are categorized as a self-managing or self-regulating team. They are primarily separate from the other departments. They are very autonomous and are responsible for managing how they will achieve their goals and meet deadlines. Although each individual has different expertise and strengths their work is very interdependent. When creating a garment they each work separately and once the item is complete they come together to critique and make sure it’s ready for the client. Their work is very tactical in nature but problem-solving and creativity both play important roles as well. For example, when they are asked by a client to create a hidden pocket or special buckle on a garment, creativity comes into play because the solutions aren’t always obvious. Alternately, they have to send the garments out to be put together and when the garments are returned, the team collectively and critically goes through it to assure it meets all specifications and functions as needed. If the garment doesn’t meet the standards they must put on their problem-solving hats to figure out how or what needs to be fixed and or adjusted.
5.11 is a very family oriented company and functions well internally. They spend lots of time together including holiday events. The team members come from different locations so they have become each other’s social network. They are a small and productive team but admit that have more hands would be beneficial to productivity. When it comes to recruitment, the design team takes it very seriously and makes it a collective effort. The work they do requires specific skills and recruiting is a major factor. Networking is a tool that the team uses faithfully because it allows them to find someone that would be a good fit for the team. They find that referencing someone they have previously worked with guarantees their skills, knowledge and abilities. In the recruitment process, Wendy prefers to make it group effort since all work so closely together.
Finance & Econ
511-design_structure_0.docx
