Teamwork

© 2012 Project Lead The Way, Inc.Introduction to Engineering Design

“When you're part of a team, you stand up for your teammates. Your loyalty is to them. You protect them through good and bad, because they'd do the same for you.”

- Yogi Berra

Teamwork

• A team is a collection of individuals, each with his/her own expertise, brought together to benefit a common goal

• Teams are often comprised of people who do not know each other and who must work hard to develop productive working relationships despite personal differences and cultural practices

What Is a Team?

• Shared workloads and responsibility• Broader diversity in knowledge and skill• More productive brainstorming• Chances for leadership and personal

satisfaction• Sense of belonging to a successful

process• Ability to accomplish more than if work is

done independently

Benefits of a Team

• Step #1: Team members identify the team’s mission– What does the team have to do?– How will the team accomplish the task?– What information is needed?– What resources are available?

Developing a Team

Design Brief

The Team’s Mission

This design process was developed based on the University of Maryland - College Park - IRB Research Project

• Step #2: Team members establish group norms– Develop guidelines, protocols, or rules– Establish norms as a team through

consensus– Regulate proper and acceptable behavior by

and between team members– Commit to follow these rules

“No design decision will be acted on before discussion with and consensus from all the team members.”

Developing a Team

• Create a list of norms by brainstorming with teammates

• Analyze each norm and discuss its impact on the team and the overall goal

• Identify key norms that everyone can come to consensus on

• Establish consequences if norms are broken

Establishing Group Norms

• Input from all team members• Team meeting schedule and project

timeline• Communication protocols• Conflict resolution protocols• Note: A copy of the established norms

must be provided to each team member

Typical Group Norms

• Step #3: Identify team members’ strengths and weaknesses– Team members list individual talents, skills,

and limitations– Team members identify job responsibilities– Each team member’s strengths are a support

mechanism for the other team member’s/members’ weaknesses

Developing a Team