Developing effective team players with good interpersonal skills Andrew J Johnstone Engineering Education Conference Tuesday 25 th July 2006

Agenda Group projects Preparatory learning for students Gathering and giving feedback Outcomes and conclusions

Group projects - overview Enable students to: –Practise application of taught material –Develop team working and interpersonal skills 20% of MSc degree, lasts 3 months Typical group size 10-15, from many countries Sponsored by companies, and important to them Range of projects in Manufacturing Department

Group projects - management Initial meeting: sponsor, faculty, students Two phases; presentations and reports at end of both Faculty observe, students lead Roles of Leader/Deputy Leader rotate each week; all students take both roles Formal weekly meetings with minutes Formal feedback given at end of each phase

Preparatory learning for students

Needs of team (Adair) Individual needs Group needs Task needs

Roles in team (Belbin) Plant Shaper Resource-investigator Monitor evaluator Team worker Implementer Completer finisher Co-ordinator Specialist

Developing skills Managing meetings Communicating Listening Assessing others and giving feedback Applying reflective practice (Kolb)

Gathering and giving feedback

Data gathering – faculty NameMeetingsPresentations & reports Lead roles Idea generation Effort AXBBAACBBB 00C00CCDC CCDXCDDDD A = excellent, B = good, C = OK, D = weak, 0 = no input, X = absent Example of comments on individuals Very good at saying OK or great idea, but appears to say much more than he does. Sometimes asks questions in an apologetic way.

Data gathering - students On selves –Pen picture –Own grade On rest of group –Ranking –Strengths, Areas for Improvement (AFIs) –Value as a team member

Students on students feedback NameStrengthsAFIsValue as team member (1 high, 5 low) X Fun to work with. Always cheerful. Does the minimum, no depth to work, weak on detail. Says he will complete things then doesnt. 5 Y Good ideas. Very polite. Too quiet. Clearly intelligent, but needs to have a greater personal impact. 3 Z Reliable, and hard worker. Good on details. Narrow minded. Arrogant. 2

Structure of feedback sessions Student talks about their experiences – successes, difficulties, learning Feedback from faculty and other students presented and discussed to assess validity of comments Approaches to developing AFIs explored Student asked for feedback on support/direction provided by faculty

Outcomes and conclusions

Outcomes Performance of students invariably improves significantly during second phase of projects Sponsors happy with deliverables Heavy workload on faculty Positive feedback regularly received from alumni Opportunities to improve development process

Conclusions Good teamworking and interpersonal skills can be developed by: –Understanding team needs and roles –Learning and developing basic skills –Receiving feedback on performance More time and research needed to maximise development of students