Multidisciplinary teams: they’ re huge for your success.

Multidisciplinary teams

Today we are talking about teams  to discuss in more detail the idea of multidisciplinary teams, one of the key points when developing the methodology of Design Thinking in the implementation of a project.

An example that perfectly illustrates our commitment to this type of team is the case of Barbara Beskind, a woman who began as a designer at Ideo when she was 90 years old.

She is a member of the team of creators of this company in which she designs and also plays a key role in relation to products made for the elderly, as she provides the vision of the users themselves with regard to the products being designed.

This is just one example of the formation of multidisciplinary teams where people with different profiles are incorporated to contribute to their vision throughout the process.

In this specific case, the vision and direct communication of the product user is also incorporated into the team, which greatly enriches the entire design process.

Currently, it is impossible to master all the areas that are necessary to carry out a project, whether it is in the social, educational, industrial or health field, etc.

The advantages of multidisciplinary teams

Each one of us has a greater facility or capacity to do certain tasks or work disciplines and we can contribute a lot when we are part of a work team, even if we feel very different from the rest of the group.

The search for complementarity not only improves the final result but also optimizes the resources used in the process.

All of this increases the probabilities of success and above all, increases the learning of each of the team members, since listening to the perspectives of other profiles makes our minds more flexible and helps us “get out of the box”.

The benefits of working with multidisciplinary teams are provided by the interactions between the members of the team.

They usually do not establish hierarchy levels, which requires that the leader/s that appear must manage well the organization of tasks, times and debates, to be able to extract all the benefits that can give of if this type of work groups.

On the one hand, the diversity of points of view contributed by each of the members improves consecutively the result achieved in each phase.

When it comes to a problem or a decision, having different perspectives accelerates or anticipates future problems and possible scenarios, facilitating decision making based on more complete arguments.

 in this type of work teams usually appear the phenomenon of synergy.

In each interaction or meeting of the team, much more information is generated and more valuable than what each of the members would contribute individually, which is, without a doubt, a good argument to bet on them.

In this way, better results are achieved, since by working with teams made up of professionals from different disciplines, the quality of the work is increased.

The contributions of each member of the team can be complemented by the others, thus managing to tackle the project in question from an integral perspective.

In relation to decision-making, multidisciplinary teams provide added value since decisions, which must be reached by consensus, are handled and valued from different perspectives.

Furthermore, in general terms, these teams are an efficient means of carrying out projects and tasks. Their formation creates a collaborative scenario that allows people from different areas to exchange information, develop new ideas, solve problems and coordinate complex projects.

At first, it is more time consuming than a more homogeneous group task (because of the establishment of links and types of interactions, because of the debate on the different points of view of the problem, because it is more difficult to reach an agreement among the members, etc.).

However, in the following phases, time and consequent costs are reduced by anticipating future problems to which solutions are put earlier.

In addition, the distribution of tasks according to discipline helps to reduce the time spent on researching unknown areas, thus ensuring a better outcome.

As you can see, the benefits derived from working in multidisciplinary teams are many and compensate for the difficulties that may arise during the same. We are clear about this, and you?