R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design #1 rule of classroom science: Don’t eat the experiment!

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Team Dynamics Rochester Institute of Technology Mechanical Engineering Department Rochester, NY USA

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Outline Motivation Teams you have been on? Activity What does this mean for MSD?

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Why are we doing this?

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design 4 Phases of Team Dynamics

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design 4 Phases of Team Dynamics Forming Storming Norming Performing

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design 4 Phases of Team Dynamics Forming – happening now Storming – unpleasant, possibly recurring, but unavoidable Norming – resolve the “storms”: trust, self- confidence, share responsibility and control Performing – “united we stand, divided we fall”: teams work together toward a shared vision of success

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Why are we doing this? Deal with the “storming” as efficiently as possible Provide you tools to identify and address problems before they become catastrophic

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Teams you have been on before…? How many have been on good teams? How many have been on difficult teams?

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Activity

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Objective: Build the tallest freestanding tower that can hold the most pennies, using the supplies provided Scoring: 1 point for each penny your tower holds Pennies must be added one by one Max 50 pennies per team Multiply your score by (1 + #inches >2) Truncate measurements: 2.5” tower has a multiplier of 1, 3.5” tower has a multiplier of 2 Measure height to the bottom of the lowest penny

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Rules Plan for 10 minutes Build for 5 minutes Build will be conducted without talking Use only the materials provided. Clean up when you are done! Pennies back in the ziploc baggies, remainder of materials in the trash.

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Observations From the teams? From the guides?

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design In MSD…

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Team Norms and Values Values: The sorts of behaviors your team values Norms: Definitions of acceptable and unacceptable levels of behavior Norms and Values are used to create an objective structure for peer evaluations.

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Values What are some aspects of appropriate team behavior that you think are important? Ex: My team members should all listen to good music. And have neatly trimmed hair.

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Norms How do you measure performance against those values? 1=Polly Wolly Doodle → 5=Beethoven’s 9 th 1= → 5=

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Sample from MSD 20Values%20and%20Normshttps://edge.rit.edu/edge/P13031/public/Team% 20Values%20and%20Norms Standard information provided to MSD teams. What MSD staff felt was important/appropriate. Teams are encouraged to modify as appropriate.

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Why is this important? Everyone knows what’s expected of them Negative elements of peer evaluations can be objective and constructive, not personal attacks Conflict will happen – think about how to deal with it before it starts!

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design YOUR Team Values & Norms Are a means for objective, constructive discussion on how your team can function more effectively Must be developed with endorsement from the entire team in order to be useful Will be used as the basis for regular peer evaluations at the end of each phase

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Also consider team roles You can’t all be leaders You can’t all be followers You are all engineers Know your strengths and weaknesses

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Project Roles Team member Project Manager Lead Engineer Facilitator Purchasing Communication

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Team Member Regardless of any other title you may or may not have, every student on the team is responsible for Participating in the design effort Contributing to project scheduling and risk management activities Documenting their work on EDGE Participating in design reviews, paper, and poster assignments Playing nicely with others

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Project Manager In addition to being a team member, the project manager is responsible for Maintaining documentation consistency and integrity Ensuring that the team follows processes Coordinate project scheduling, risk management

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Lead Engineer In addition to being a team member, the project manager is responsible for Interface requirements between subsystems Tracking cross-subsystem engineering requirements

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Others… Facilitator: coordinate peer evaluations, serve as an objective party to keep work on track, ensure that each team member’s opinions are heard, mediate disputes Communications: Point of contact between team and guide, customer, design review attendees Purchasing: Maintain BOM, handle purchases

R. I. T Multidisciplinary Senior Design Remainder of class Develop a set of team values and norms Consider team roles Review customer requirements with team and guide Review draft engineering requirements with team and guide Consider follow-up with customers/stakeholders Prepare for Week 3 Problem Definition Review