Engin 103

Teamwork -Case Study #1

Engin 103 team 12 consists of 4 members: A, B, C, D. During Project 0 A acted as the team’s leader, he sent out an email regarding the project, only B replied so he thought C and D are not interested in participating, he scheduled meetings with B and they both completed part I of Project 0. During Part I presentations, A and B performed the PowerPoint presentation, while C and D did not participate since they felt they did not contribute to the project being presented.

C and D wanted to change the team, they said they felt left out, were not given a chance to participate in the project. The instructor encouraged the members to try to work together and give it a second chance. In Project 1 member C tried to be more responsive to the team leader, B, and participated as much as possible in the team meetings. At one point D was told to build a part, which will be connected to the team device, for Project 1 presentation. D asked if the team could finish their part then give it to him, he will build his part and connect to the whole system. He asked to have it by 1pm on a Wednesday before the presentation. The team did not think they could have it by that time, also they thought D did not need their part to complete his part, they never communicated their decision back to D. D traveled to the meeting place and waited for an hour on Wednesday afternoon to get the team system, nobody showed up. B, A, C completed the project on their own the night before the presentation, and gave D a poor grade for his participation.

The team improved slightly when C became the leader. However when Project 2 was completed, A, B, C wanted to change the team, they were afraid D would “revenge” by giving them a poor performance grade when he will be the leader for Project 3. D maintained he will promote participation after a meeting with the instructor. Five minutes before the presentation, A and B were still skeptical on D’s promises, and since he did not show up yet, they were afraid their grades will be affected because D will not deliver as ‘he did not in the previous projects’, they thought. However D showed up on time and delivered the presentation using inputs from all members of the team.

Team leaders: Take a look at the Elements of Teamwork Checklist below, discuss with your team to select which one element would have helped Team 12 the most, type in the corresponding box below, save the file as “teamwork1.html”, then upload it to the team’s “files” folder in the server via ftp://www.student.umb.edu

Team #		Case Study #1 Teamwork element
Section 1	Section 2
1	1
2	2
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	7
8	8
9	9
10	10

Teamwork -Case Study #2

Engin 103 team 13 consists of 3 members: A, B, and C. The team met and worked on Project 0, everyone did a little bit on their part. When the presentation is due, the member who has the PowerPoint presentation is missing.

Team leaders: Take a look at the Elements of Teamwork Checklist below, discuss with your team to select which one element would have helped Team 13 the most, type in the corresponding box below, save the file, then upload it to the team’s “files” folder in the server via ftp://www.student.umb.edu

Team #		Case Study #2 Teamwork element
Section 1	Section 2
1	1
2	2
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	7
8	8
9	9
10	10

Elements of Teamwork Checklist

By Joanne Fortuin, Northern Albert Institute of Technology, Alberta, Canada

COMMUNICATION

	Excellent: Free, open expression of ideas and feelings at the right times with no fear of embarrassment or reprisal.
	Poor: Stifled, close to the vest, guarded. Lets the other person start the communication.

PARTICIPATION

	Excellent: Full Contribution, reaches out to lend a hand, readily available.
	Poor: Lack of initiative to help the other person? not around when needed, begrudging contribution.

GIVE AND TAKE

	Excellent: Open to compromise, flexible? Recognition that it is sometimes better to give in than be "right".
	Poor: Stubbornly dug in on own viewpoint, uncompromising, always right, never wrong.

LEADERSHIP

	Excellent: Promotes team actions and decisions, recognizes he/she needs the team, and lets each member know where they stand. Team members support his/her suggestions.
	Poor: No leadership initiated. Reacts rather than acts. Poor or reluctant support of ideas.

ORGANIZATION

	Excellent: Knows their responsibilities. Provides structure to accomplish team goals.
	Poor: Unclear of responsibilities or doesn't care about responsibilities.

PREPARATION

	Excellent: Did their homework. Research was thorough, especially as it affects other team members.
	Poor: Team progress was held up because of participant's lack of preparation. Consistently dropped the ball.

PROCEDURE

	Excellent: Lives by the ground rules and procedures. Functions smoothly, works with the team.
	Poor: Absence of order, operates on their own rules, progresses from crisis to crisis.

CAPABILITY

	Excellent: Members have confidence in participant and can rely on performance.
	Poor: Mediocre "Class C" player not interested in becoming "Class A".

COMMITMENT

Excellent: Participant rallies to the goals. Goals clearly defined in his/her mind.

Poor: Lack of awareness of, or resistance to, team goals.

PROGRESS

	Excellent: An attitude of action and momentum, makes suggestions of steps forward.
	Poor: Dead in the water ? "Everything is a drag" attitude.