1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU1 Teamwork

1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU2 Class 7 outline  Teamwork from your freshman year  Teamwork perspective  Team writing Ref: Finkelstein Ch20

1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU3 Teamwork - Background  In 2010 Teamwork is a main focus. Casey Stengel  “Gettin’ good players is easy.  Getting’ them to play together is the hard part.”  (From FEH lecture - H191 feh.eng.ohio-state.edu) Previous Teamwork experiences almost all student have encountered  Sports Teams  Church Groups, Scouts, etc.  High school groups  College classes (some – OSU freshman year)

Teamwork in the workplace  Teamwork vs. independent work Individuals (say 10 employees)  10 x single individual output = accomplishment Team of 10  Individual performance + assembly effect – process loss  In almost all cases Team of 10 output > output of 10 individuals  The assembly effect > process loss  The sum of the whole is greater than the parts. By being a team you compound the achievements of the entire team. 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU4

An Effective Team  “A small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.” -- Katzenbach & Smith 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU5

Teamwork perspective  In the past Mostly worked by yourself – typically part of a group and group had tasks to accomplish. These tasks were assigned to individuals of the group according to some parameter, hopefully skills.  R&D Engineer at Kodak – most of tasks were individual – some were with another engineer Met periodically to review performance on the tasks.  Has evolved to a significant employment of teams Design of Boeing 787 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU6

Group has tasks/objectives  Group works on tasks. Individual are assigned sub-tasks whose accomplishment contributes to the accomplishment of the objective(s).  In most cases, when working on tasks you are actively working with other in your group.  Many projects have subgroups distributed around the world.  Do you know of any such projects? 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU7

Modern projects  Boeing 787 Design and created by teams from around the world. Imagine scheduling a meeting with members from the US, India, Great Brittan, and Germany (different time zones – what is the best time for the meeting?).  Class input for other projects/designs 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU8

Team writing  When working on a project as a group, the “group” produces the report.  Parts of the report are written by the various group members.  Usually have a single person who assembles the report.  A team produced report should be of higher quality than if only generated by one person. 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU9

Team writing (2)  Also call group writing.  A “good news-bad new” scenario Good news – several people with varied backgrounds and skills. Bad news – several people with varied backgrounds and skills.  To be good news you need to be part of a team vs. part of a group. (Individuals have to put their ego on a shelf and work constructively.) 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU10

Team writing process  Requirements Determine what has to be done to solve the problem Ascertain the kind of document needed Specify document themes and organization  Preliminary Actions Designate a leader and provide adequate authority and responsibility Determine specific resources (skills, data, and material) needed Assign sub-teams and/or individuals to provide the focus needed 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU11

Team writing process (2)  Document Production Define specific writing responsibilities and schedules. Task team members to produce draft inputs for their area. Edit and revise inputs as needed Consider the overall effectiveness of the document Conduct a final review of all aspects of the document (done by all team members) Deliver as required 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU12

Tools assist team documentation  Software systems are now in place to assist teams in generating team documentation. Handle tasks such as revision control Multiple users editing on same file in real time Some systems  Google docs, Subversion, DocBook, Central Desktop Subversion – open source Revision Control System  Multi-channel publishing in.pdf Adobe Technical Communication Suite 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU13

xTRA documentation guidance  Document the work as you go so writing the final report is not going to be more than to organize your notes.  Use a hard bound notebook and take/make notes as you go.  Keep in a format that allows you to actually use them. You notes should have value!!  DON”T PUT IT OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU14

xTRA documentation requirements  Keeping a notebook is a fabulous habit to get into.  And it can pay big dividends  Patentable work require documentation Patent lawsuits over who is awarded a patent have come down to such notes – Patent Law was recently changed (early 2011 to who filed a complete patent application first)  With change in law the following is not legally important but still a good practice. Notes should be dated If this is work that could be patented at some point, you include the date on each page. A hardbound notebook is required so that pages cannot be added later. Have the first page, after dating, singed by you and if possible a witness. Periodically do this as the work proceeds, although a witness is not all that important after the initial one. 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU15

Problems will occur  As with all team efforts – problems do occur. Illness Personality clashes Etc.  How best to deal with these? Everything above board When you have something come up, such as illness, make sure the team knows. PROBLEMS KNOW CAN BE DELT WITH! Personality clashes best dealt with in a full team meeting led by a team member not part of the clash. 1/18/09 - L7 TeamworikCopyright Joanne DeGroat, ECE, OSU16