What_Is_a_Team

Definition of a team The definition of a team is a group of people, each of whom possess particular expertise; each of whom is responsible for making individual decisions; who together hold a common purpose; who meet together to communicate, collaborate and consolidate knowledge. Keep that in mind – you’re working to achieve something as a group: • Together; • Everyone; • Achieves; • More! Becoming an effective team There are certain characteristics that you’ll find from any effective team. Remember these – perhaps even write them up on a sheet and put them up on the wall of your team meeting area. Of course you’ll have disagreements but if you try to remember these characteristics and their importance, you should survive the experience with your project and friendships intact. Characteristics include: • Trust – A firm belief in the honest and reliability of another individual or individuals; • Co-operation – The ability to work together with others in an attempt to reach a desired goal; • Support – The encouragement and/or help of someone in or toward the completion of a given task/goal; • Cohesiveness – A bonding or sticking together of individuals in a given situation. How to make your team work An effective team is one that works well together. It functions at its maximum potential when solving a design problem and thrives on the special capabilities of its individual members. One key characteristic of an effective team is a good supportive attitude among fellow teammates and team activities. Team morale and a sense of professionalism can be enhanced if team members agree upon some rules of behaviour. The following set of guidelines illustrates one possible approach to building an effective design team. Define clear roles Each team member should understand how he or she is to function within the team. The responsibilities of each individual should be defined before work begins on the project. Roles need note be mutually exclusive, but they should be defined so that all aspects of the design problem fall within the jurisdiction of one or more team members. By doing this, no problem will fall between the cracks during the design process. Agree upon goals Members of the team should agree upon the goals of the project. This consensus is not as easily achieved as you may think. One teammate may want to solve the problem using a time-tested, traditional approach, while another may want to attempt a far-out esoteric path to success. Define a realistic set of goals at the outset. If the design process brings surprises, you can always redefine your goals midway through the project. Define procedures Teammates should agree on a set of procedures for getting things done. Everything from documentation and the ordering of parts to communication with professors, clients and customers should follow a predetermined procedure. In that way, misunderstandings about conduct can be greatly reduced. Develop effective interpersonal relationships You must learn to work with everyone on your team, even with those individuals whom you may personally dislike. In the real world, a client will seldom care about any conflicts that occur behind the scenes. It’s a sign of engineering professionalism to be able to rise above personality clashes as you concentrate on the job at hand. Be nice. Be professional. Forbid name-calling, accusations, and assigning fault between team members. Define leadership roles Some teams work best when a single person emerges as a chosen leader. Other teams work better by consensus using distributed leadership or even no leadership at all. Regardless of your team’s style, make sure that the leadership roles are clearly defined and agreed upon at the start of the project. The advantages of working in a team There are many benefits to working in a team. Take combined skills for instance. A team has better combined skills than any one of its members. An idea expressed in a team can have a snowball effect, inspiring new ideas that the members might not have thought of on their own. They become a natural learning environment, training each other in new skills. You can also garner more information from working in a team. Team members with different backgrounds and skills can present a wider perspective on which to base decisions. Tasks are not overlooked or forgotten as they sometimes are when being approached by one individual. Of course, one important result of working in teams is the development of a high level synergy; the sum of the team’s efforts is equal to more than the sum of the individual parts. Often a team can reach heights unattainable by any of the individual members. The final thing worth noting is that working in teams allows for high motivation as the group feeds each individual’s needs to have personal significance; and the team reinforces each member’s sense of self. This encourages members to work hard for the benefit of the team – and the team is motivated because its members get their emotional and intellectual needs met by the team.