Team Formation: The Good, The Bad, and the Very Very Ugly

Teams Team Not all teams are the same Formulation Group of ‘xxx’ at a point in time joined together to get something done Sled dogs, teams of horses/oxen on farms, humans (sub-specie – UW students) Not all teams are the same Academic course teams, teams while on co-op, after graduation Have different structural characteristics Have different issues to consider for formation, team building Formulation The individuals The policies, structure, ‘rules of engagement’

Academic Project Teams Start/finish within term boundaries (capstone – two terms) Everyone starts/finishes at same time Have short term impact/risks Have decision making, accountability, responsibility Have no real authority structure – all are peers Are part-time – e.g., 10-15 hours per week if capstone, less if other type of course Can often pick team members, some profs make ‘good’ teams for you Different goals to some degree – just pass, ace it, commericialize

Co-op Teams Rarely will start/finish in a term Picking up where others left off, leaving stuff for others You will be managed as a risk if you are not a returning student Likely to be a ‘junior’ member, not a leader Not likely to be attending ALL meetings, seeing ALL decision making processes Not likely to have a ‘vote’, not a peer Do not have to live with decisions long term

After Graduation Different ‘lengths’ – can be 2-3-5 years long, even longer Different impact, issues – what if project fails, wreaks havoc? Agendas - career – team lead, mgr, sr mgr, director, vp, c level Possibly different ‘joining’, ‘leaving’ times Impact organization and other team members in big ways More involved in decision process, meetings, but not a peer with all Have to live with decisions long term More politics

Point… Do not assume all teams are the same Do not assume that you will learn EVERYTHING about teams while a student, or on coop Do not assume that you REALLY understand ‘full-time’, real teams based on what you see or experience Just because you are a good team player on one type of team does not mean that you will automatically be a good team player on another

Good team formulation – Top Ten Objective based team design and criteria What the team has to deliver at the end and along the way What skills, knowledge and expertise are needed during the journey Everyone understands their role, responsibility, deliverables – does their job, not someone else’s Everyone respects, helps others – works as a team – no lone wolves, no rogues, no prima donnas, no egos Everyone has a chance to contribute (in their own way), learn, and improve – e.g., personal goals Team is not rigid and will adjust and adapt as needed along the journey

Good team formulation… Some degree of democracy and respect for opinions and suggestions, but decision making recognizes ownership, accountability at the end of the day Team design allows for risks, redundancy, succession, and does not rely on one white knight Team personnel are worthy and vetted wrt skills, knowledge, experience, expertise Team personnel have good work ethic, can be trusted, they understand and accept what accountable, reliable, and responsible imply, avoid or handle conflicts in a professional, effective way Has time to practice and become a team before the ‘big show’

The Bad and the VERY VERY Ugly… The BAD – when 3-5 are not going your way The VERY VERY Ugly – when all 10 are going the wrong way

How Have Student Teams Screwed It Up? Caveat – there are exceptions to everything I say/observe Made a team based on living arrangements Made a team based on study buddies Made a team based on friends Made a team based on taking advantage of someone But, who knows, you might be lucky… do you feel lucky? Need some level of objectiveness – friends etc. can get messy

How Have Student Teams Screwed It Up? Did not pick a suitable topic based on the team’s ability – if team is given Did not pick a team based on the objectives – if team is freedom of choice Did not understand criteria by which they would be judged Because of above point, picked topic they liked, had experience with, would like to learn about – did not think about what they had to ‘demonstrate mastery of’ Not the right number of resources, or did not know how to use the resources they had Did not build team with ‘slack’, did not include ‘risk’ in team design

How Have Student Teams Screwed It Up? Everyone thinks the same Some same is ok (standards, goals), too much same in problem solving, analysis is not always good Too many bosses Need one boss, one main designer Everyone else is not THE designer, not THE boss Did what? Distributed roles Rotated roles No roles

Reality 101… If you do not have the perfect team – ?/10 Plan Mitigate Deal with it early, not later If you have the perfect team – 10/10 Relish it, embrace it Do not waste it Such an experience does not happen too often