Teamwork references: Engineering by Design by Gerard Voland Creative Problem Solving, Thinking Skills for a Changing World by Edward Lumsdaine and Monika Lumsdaine

The Power of Teamwork

Why Work in Teams? Brain dominance controls our thinking preferences Herrmann’s Four-Quadrant Brain Model of thinking preference In what quadrants do you suspect engineers generally exhibit brain dominance? If the engineering design process is viewed as a creative process, at different stages of that process you require different qualities. conceptualization - right brain qualities (C and D) analysis and the decision process - left brain qualities (A and B)

Teams Have Advantages When Creativity Is Sought Teams combine the different backgrounds, experiences and thinking preferences of individuals Interaction among team members – other’s ideas are used as stepping-stones to more creative ideas Willingness on the part of a team to take greater risks By working in a well structured team you can combine differing backgrounds and experiences resulting in a much greater resource. You can also combine differing thinking preferences to end up with a “whole brain.” Methods to promote interaction among team members (i.e. brainstorming) are numerous and would require an additional seminar to demonstrate.

Effective Team Practices Common goals Equitable workloads Mutual accountability Collegial Environment

Common Goals All members of a design team first must agree upon a single problem formulation and a set of initial expectations so that everyone will be moving in the same general direction as the work progresses

Equitable Workloads Overall workload for developing a final design should be shared equitably among all members of the team Work should be divided into general and then more specific tasks Some tasks will require a coordinated effort by the entire team or a number of members, while the more specific or focused tasks can be completed by individual members Recognize that the work will be dynamic in nature, ever-changing, and likely necessitating changes to the assignments over time The design proposal and/or a Gantt chart can be used to assign tasks to team members and monitor progress

Mutual Accountability All members of the team must share responsibility for the completion of all tasks and the development of the final design Leadership and decision-making responsibilities should be shared among all members in order to increase each person’s motivation and commitment to the project and to enhance the quality of the final design The team should establish expectations for individual and group performance Use peer appraisal (see example form ) to provide each individual and the team with feedback on performance such that corrective actions can be taken in a timely manner

Collegial Environment Teamwork is built upon the mutual trust and respect among all members The working environment must be one in which everyone feels comfortable about sharing an idea or opinion Each member must also realize that their idea may be justly criticized (and possibly rejected) by the team All criticisms must be constructive in nature and respectful of the person whose work is being criticized

Being Effective as a Team Member

Being Effective as a Team Leader