Team Basics

Working group. A working group consists of members who interact primarily to share information, best practices, or perspectives and to make decisions to help each individual perform within his or her area of responsibility. 

They contrasted this loose association with a team, which they defined somewhat differently (p. 45)  

A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. 

The key elements of becoming a team are contained in the definition. Recall that a team is 

who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach 

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In the initial thiocyanate-complex Hquid—Hquid extraction process (42,43), the thiocyanate complexes of hafnium and zirconium were extracted with ether from a dilute sulfuric acid solution of zirconium and hafnium to obtain hafnium. This process was modified in 1949—1950 by an Oak Ridge team and is stiH used in the United States. A solution of thiocyanic acid in methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) is used to extract hafnium preferentially from a concentrated zirconium—hafnium oxide chloride solution which also contains thiocyanic acid. The separated metals are recovered by precipitation as basic zirconium sulfate and hydrous hafnium oxide, respectively, and calcined to the oxide (44,45). This process is used by Teledyne Wah Chang Albany Corporation and Western Zirconium Division of Westinghouse, and was used by Carbomndum Metals Company, Reactive Metals Inc., AMAX Specialty Metals, Toyo Zirconium in Japan, and Pechiney Ugine Kuhlmann in France. 

Organization Level Principle Process Focus Basic Team Structure Performance Issue Focus Typical Quality System Focus Ideal Quality System Focus... 

At Bhopal, there had been changes in staff and reductions in manning, and the new recruits may not have been as experienced as the original team. However, I do not think that this contributed significantly to the cause of the accident. The errors that were made, such as taking protective equipment out of commission, were basic ones that cannot be blamed on inexperience of a particular plant. 

Much of the following section discusses the basics of establishing and working with intracompany, multidisciplinary teams. If you are familiar and experienced with this approach to problem-solving, you may wish to skip to Section 3.4, Define Company-Specific Attributes."... 

From the traditional HF/E perspective, error is seen as a consequence of a mismatch between the demands of a task and the physical and mental capabilities of an individual or an operating team. An extended version of this perspective was described in Chapter 1, Section 1.7. The basic approach of HF/E is to reduce the likelihood of error by the application of design principles and standards to match human capabilities and task demands. These encompass the physical environment (e.g., heat, lighting, vibration), and the design of the workplace together with display and control elements of the human-machine interface. Examples of the approach are given in Wilson and Corlett (1990) and Salvendy (1987). 

This technique sets out to collect data about near-incidents or critical events that have been experienced by the operating team but that are unlikely to be documented. The basic premise of the technique is that events that could have led to serious consequences would tend to be remembered by the workers. Through individual or group interviews, significant events are recalled which are then analyzed in order to generate useful information about the difficulties involved in the performance of a task, the adequacy of the operating procedures, any problems with the equipment or control panel design and so on. The technique can be used in three areas ... 

Flexibility and adaptability are basic requirements for a coordinated team... 

It is therefore vital that a sensible cost plan be prepared and agreed at the earliest possible stage. Obviously, an owner will prepare rough budgets when considering basic project viability, but as soon as he is able, he should obtain advice from his selected team. 

When the nucleus of the project team is assembled, its first order of business is to clarify the project and arrive at agreement among team members about the project s definition and scope, as well as the basic strategy for carrying it out. An orderly process can guide you through these steps. The following sequence of activities will get your project smoothly under way ... 

Chemists teamed the basic composition of siik many years ago, but the reasons why this macromoiecuie is so strong, yet fiexibie, are stiii not fuiiy understood. Recent studies indicate that the secret ties in the way the chains of this protein nestie together. Current research efforts focus on using techniques of genetic engineering to repiicate naturai spider siik on a usefui scaie. 

Agenda 6 The last agenda consists of a team review and approval of a write-up that documents the final test design The documentation must Include the consensus factorial table, hierarchical tree, and mathematical model used to fit the predicted values In addition, the documentation must Include all basic arguments and considerations, even if these considerations do not appear in explicit form in the final design The specific reasons for excluding certain test... 

The main advantage of this approach is that the design team can keep control of the basic decisions and interact as the design develops. By staying in control of the basic decisions, the intangibles of the design can be included in the decision making. 

For further discussion of this topic, see Research Teams and Partnerships Trends in the Chemical Sciences, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1999 Reducing die Time from Basic Research to Innovation in die Chemical Sciences, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., in press, 2003. 

The basic concept behind HAZOP studies is that processes work well when operating under design conditions. When deviations from the process design conditions occur, operability problems and accidents can occur. The HAZOP study method uses guide words to assist the analysis team in considering the causes and consequences of deviations. These guide words are applied at specific points or sections in a process and are combined with specific process parameters to identify potential deviations from intended operation. 

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