Leading a Cross-Disciplinary Team in the Design of Assistive Technology Products for Older Individuals: A Leader's Experience
Ya-Hui Lee, Hsien-Ta Cha, Yi-Fen Wang
Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Society and Information Technologies: ICSIT 2024, pp. 59-64 (2024); https://doi.org/10.54808/ICSIT2024.01.59
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The 15th International Conference on Society and Information Technologies: ICSIT 2024
Virtual Conference March 26 - 29, 2024 Proceedings of ICSIT 2024 ISSN: 2771-6368 (Print) ISBN (Volume): 978-1-950492-77-0 (Print) |
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Abstract
This study examined the perspectives of a cross-disciplinary team leader involved in the design of technological solutions for elderly care. A qualitative research methodology involving a case study complemented by semi-structured interviews was adopted. Through purposeful sampling, a leader overseeing the academic research and industrial production aspects of a research and development (R&D) team was selected as an example Taiwanese team leader operating in diverse professional domains dedicated to the development of elderly care technology. Overall, the study findings indicate (a) the key role of cross-disciplinary teams in developing technological products for elderly care, (b) the complexities of reaching a consensus in cross-disciplinary teamwork, and (c) the effective strategies that leaders of cross-disciplinary teams use to overcome the aforementioned challenges. This study suggests that leaders of cross-disciplinary R&D teams play a pivotal role in smoothing interactions among team members with diverse backgrounds. They also assist in ensuring flexibility, thus enabling team members to recalibrate their positions and modulate the rigidity of their domain-specific knowledge during the process. This approach fosters a cohesive and productive environment for collaboration among members of cross-disciplinary R&D teams and helps team leaders lead their cross-disciplinary team and guide it to achieve excellent collective performance in R&D.
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