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Working in Teams A Brief Introduction

Working in Teams A Brief Introduction. The Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication ENGINEERING SERIES. Why Learn Team Skills? . Sample of Job Qualifications That Employers Requested : “Ability to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team setting”

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Working in Teams A Brief Introduction

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  1. Working in TeamsA Brief Introduction The Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication ENGINEERING SERIES

  2. Why Learn Team Skills? Sample of Job Qualifications That Employers Requested: • “Ability to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team setting” • “Ability to work with moderate supervision on multidisciplinary teams is desired” • “Possess good communication (oral and written) skills and be able to work well in a team environment” • “Must be a team player”

  3. 97 Why Work in a Team? Teams outperform their best member what ___% of the time? Especially if members are: • competent • motivated • diverse • trained Michaelsen, L.K., Watson, W. E., & Black, R. H. (1989)

  4. What Is a Team? A diverse group of people who: • share leadership responsibilities • work towards a mutually defined goal • are interdependent • work within larger group or system • have created an identity

  5. Team Goals Member Member Member Task Functions Maintenance Functions A Successful Team • Accomplishes team goals • Balances task and maintenance functions through effective communication Lumdsen, G, & Lumdsen, D (1993)

  6. Team’s Task and Maintenance Functions Task Functions • Accomplish the task (giving or seeking info, evaluating, elaborating, etc.) Maintenance Functions • Build relationships between members (establishing norms, gatekeeping, supporting, etc.)

  7. Resolve Maintenance Problems • Don’t try to solve difficulties in the way your group performs (maintains relationships) by altering the way you do your task. • Don’t think, “I’ll show him how it feels to get things at the last minute. I’ll just wait to deliver my portion of the report until 2 hours before we have to hand it in!” • Do say, “Armand, we need to talk about delivering things to one another. Let’s set aside about 20 minutes on the agenda before we go on to other issues.”

  8. Makes decisions collectively Collaborates; no power hoarding Appreciates debate or differences Balances participation Stays focused on goals Engages in open communication Supports one another Creates strong team spirit What Tips the Balance Between Average and Excellent? Adapted from: Lewis, P., Aldridge, D., & Swamidass, P. (1998)

  9. Good Engineering Teams • Make sure everyone knows the task/goal • Plan realistically • Make sure roles and norms are understood • Help each other meet group goals

  10. References • Michaelsen, L.K., Watson, W. E., & Black, R. H. A realistic test of individual versus group consensus decision making. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74(5): 834-839. • Lewis, P., Aldridge, D., & Swamidass, P. M. (1998) Assessing teaming skills acquisition on undergraduate project teams, Journal of Engineering Education, 82, pp 149-155. • Lumdsen, G, & Lumdsen, D. Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership, 4th ed.Wadsworth Publishing (2003).

  11. Lead through Excellence in Engineering Communication • More resources are available for you • under “Engineering Communication” at Connexions at http://cnx.org • at the Cain Project site at http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~cainproj • in your course Communication Folder in OWLSPACE.

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