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

2. The Power of Teamwork

3. 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)

4. 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.

5. Effective Team Practices
Common goals
Equitable workloads
Mutual accountability
Collegial Environment

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. Being Effective as a Team Member

11. Being Effective as a Team Leader