LEARNING TEAMWORK

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LEARNING TEAMWORK- EXPERIENCE FROM STUDENTS IN
PROJECT COURSES Madelaine Engström Teaching
Learning 3 June 2004
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GROUP PROCESS
Process
Input
Output
Individual Level factors (e.g. pattern of
member skills, attitudes, personality
characteristics)
Performance Outcomes (e.g. performance
quality, speed to solution, number of errors)
Group Interaction Process
Group Level factors (e.g. structure, level
of cohesiveness, group size)
Other Outcomes (e.g. member satisfaction, group
cohesiveness, attitude change, sociometric
structure)
Environment Level factors (e.g. group task
characteristics, reward structure, level of
environmental stress)
McGrath(1964)
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DEFINITION OF AN EFFECTIVE AND WELL WORKING GROUP

• -the members in the group have necessary
  knowledge and competence
• -the goal of the project is clear for everyone
• -a good atmosphere in the group exist because the
  group take their time to handle conflicts if they
  appears
• -individual differences is accepted
• -there exists a well function team communication
• -the group listens to everyone
• -the decisions in the group are handled by
  discussion until consensus is reached
• -the group evaluate their work continuously and
  is self-critical
• Richard Y. Chang

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WHY CONFLICTS WITHIN A TEAM?

• Unclear roles within the team
• Disagreement about the working methods
• Disagreement about the project objectives
• Disagreement about the responsibilities
• Disagreement about the level of ambition
• Disagreement about facts
• Richard Y. Chang

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NUMBER OF STUDENTS ANSWERING THE QUESTIONNAIRE

• Queens university, Belfast 10
• University of Auckland 20
• MIT 20
• Chalmers 11
• LiU 31
• KTH 9
• DTU 42
• ______________________________
• Total 143 students

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• 1
• Yes, teamwork provided a realistic engineering
  environment for students to learn about work
  integrating cooperation (MIT)
• What were the learning objectives?(MIT)
• Yes, achieved the objectives outlined. The team
  environment allowed for the viability of designs
  to be argued and to learn from each others
  backgrounds and areas of expertise (University
  of Auckland)
• Yes, our group has been very good and we have
  learned a lot, not only from books but also from
  each other (LiU)
• I have learned a lot, principally by things that
  didnt work well (LiU)
• Not at all. It felt like an ordinary group work
  but larger" (Chalmers)

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RESPONSIBILITY
9
RESPONSIBILITY

• 2
• Unfortunately I dont think so. I worked with a
  person who didnt seemed to be very interested in
  the project task. I didnt talk to the rest of
  the group about this since I didn't wanted to be
  unkind to this person(LiU)
• Yes everybody had earlier experience from other
  project courses (LiU)
• Yes I think so. Everybody wanted to deliver a
  good result (KTH)
• Everybody did what they were expected to do but
  some worked more than the others which made the
  others look lazy(KTH
• Yes, but to varying degrees(MIT)
• Yes but obviously some people took more
  responsibility than others. This mostly had to do
  with who had previous knowledge of the teams
  task (MIT)

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INFLUENCE THE DECISION MAKING
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INFLUENCE THE DECISION MAKING

• 3
• I initially found I had to speak out forcefully
  to have my opinions heard. This seemed to happen
  when the boys got onto a roll with the design
  etc. By the end, all members thoughts were
  listened to with equal respect (University of
  Auckland)
• Most of the time my influence over the team was
  severely hindered by my lack of information in
  electronics compared to other team members (MIT)
• No, some people were too stubborn and maybe not
  used to listening to others opinions (MIT)
• Yes if I could present a good argument (KTH)
• Yes it has been easy to influence the group's
  decisions. Unfortunately it has not always been
  obvious what decisions have been made (LiU)
• Yes but it was difficult (Chalmers)

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EXPRESS OPINION
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EXPRESS OPINION

• 4
• Yes we had meetings once a week where everybody
  had the opportunity to give their opinion (LiU)
• Definitely! I have been given and taking (KTH)
• Yes, I just had to be strong and make my
  opinions heard. You have to prove to the males
  that you have valid points and then they will
  respect your opinion (University of Auckland)
• Yes the communications channels were always open
  for comment(MIT)
• Yes, but I wasn't always listened to (MIT)
• Yes sufficient opportunity to express personal
  opinions..wheter opinions were listened to or not
  is a different story(MIT)
• Yes but not that much (Chalmers)

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HANDLE DISAGREEMENTS
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HANDLE DISAGREEMENTS

• 5
• We usually discussed the concerns and tried to
  understand the problem etc. A compromise was
  usually found (University of Auckland)
• Usually constructive debates about the
  advantages and disadvantages of a proposed idea
  allowed the consensus to agree upon the best
  course of action (MIT)
• Disagreements were few. Mild discussion would
  ensue. In some cases, disagreements were handled
  by team members ignoring each other(MIT)
• First a discussion then people have done as
  they wanted (KTH)
• Just a small disagreement which we have solved
  by discussion (KTH)
• There have been conflicts, no one has cared been
  dealing with it(LiU)
• Either ignored them, or discussed them"
  (Chalmers)

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ADDITIONAL SUPPORT

• What additional support should have been given to
  solve conflicts
• in the group?
• More tutor involvement 14
• Adequate 10
• More distinct project tasks 2
• An expert on group dynamics 3
• More obvious project goals 2
• Supervision and guidelines 18
• Formal roles 4
• No need for support 28

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ADDITIONAL SUPPORT

• What additional support should the team have
  needed in order to reduce conflicts within the
  team?
• A tutor who can give good advice and answer
  questions (LiU)
• A person who is more of an expert on this type
  of question. We should have a course in group
  dynamics since we are not used to working in
  teams(LiU)
• Should have been a tutor in project work and not
  only a tutor for the project task (LiU)
• A team leader (Chalmers)
• A strong project manager, otherwise none(KTH)
• The work plan should have been more controlled
  by the teacher(KTH)
• A little more guidance at the beginning of the
  project and after switching teams. Conflicts
  usually resulted because we were unclear of what
  was expected of us and what resources we may have
  had (MIT)
• I thought that our mentors did a very good job
  in providing support (MIT)

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PERSONAL EFFORT
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PERSONAL EFFORT

• 7
• I did my best to keep my team on track (MIT)
• I think I contributed well to team discussions
  and did a good job of completing the tasks that
  were assigned to me (MIT)
• I tried to ensure we followed all the processes
  correctly and presented the final presentation to
  a high-quality" University of Auckland)
• Could have been more resolute as a team leader
  (KTH)
• I think I have contributed a lot. With the
  technical part and also with efforts to make the
  team work (LiU)
• Could be better. Had a tendency to forget about
  other peoples part in the project (Chalmers)

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TEAM CONTRACT
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TEAM CONTRACT

• 8
• Just to ensure everyone came to team meetings
  (University of Auckland)
• The contract describes our working routines and
  we have had no problems with them so we have not
  been forced to use the contract(LiU)
• We wrote one in the beginning and we have
  followed it (LiU)

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LEARNING TEAMWORK

• What is the most important knowledge you gained
  from
• working in a team?
• University of Auckland
• To manage time more efficiently and delegate out
  tasks to achieve this
• MIT
• How to deal with people who don't know how to
  work in a team
• Chalmers
• To handle different personality styles
• LiU
• I have become better at communication and I
  understand how important it is to have good
  communication in a team
• KTH
• To compromise and be sensitive but also to make
  your own voice heard

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LEARNING TEAMWORK

• Students are not used to working in teams and
  work independently even if it is a group task. It
  is important that the students meet project
  courses early in the programme" (LiU)
• It is good working in a team to solve a problem
  (University of Auckland)
• Teamwork is a very important part of the
  programme. I think you learn even more if you are
  forced to work with persons you dont know.
  Important that the project has a clear task
  (LiU)
• If everyone in a team wants to get a good result
  everybody will contribute with something
  good(KTH)
• Overall I had a very positive experience working
  in a team in this course. I felt that there were
  times when there was disorganization or confusion
  but those times were also valuable learning
  experience (MIT)
• I thought that these teams were very poorly
  organized and lacked structure(MIT)

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STUDENT SKILLS OBTAINED BY TEAMWORK

• Communication skills
• Time planning and organization
• The importance of all team members agreement on
  the project goal and the working process
• Collaboration with different personality styles
• How the individual affect the team process

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IDENTIFIED PROBLEMS

• Varying previous knowledge
• Dissatisfaction with other team members work
  effort
• Tutors/supervisors weak guidance and accessible
• Unclear objectives for the project task
• Unclear working models
• Knowledge of handling conflicts in group
• To large groups (9 persons or more)

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METHODS TOO STRUCTURE AND TO
HANDLE CONFLICTS

• Group contract
• Clear project model (ex, LIPS)
• Formal roles in the group
• Clear project goals and objectives
• An interested and educated tutor/supervisor who
  can support the team and its work