Working as a Team

ENG 100 Lecture 2

Jeanne Ferrante

Recommended Textbook:
Engineering Your Future, 4 th Ed., W.C. Oakes, L.L. Leone, and
C.J. Gunn, Great Lakes Press (2004), Chapters 11-15
(On Reserve in Science & Engineering Library, Not required)

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 Agenda
• Why Have Teams

• Getting Started on Teams

– Define the Context
– Establish the Rules
– Designate Responsibilities

• Communication

• Stages of Team Development

• Next Agenda 2
 Why Have Teams?

• Society & technology are complex

• Require interdisciplinary knowledge
• Advantages in diversity
• One vision, many hands
• Shared responsibility
• Timing is essential

3
 Top 10 Characteristics a Recruiter Looks For

1. Communication skills

2. Honesty/Integrity

3. Teamwork skills

4. Interpersonal skills

5. Motivation/initiative

6. Strong work ethic

7. Analytical skills

8. Flexibility/adaptability

9. Computer skills

10. Self-confidence
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 Getting Started: Define the Team Context

• Who is the customer?

• What is the product?
• How is it evaluated?
• What are the resources?
• How long do we have?
• What are the benefits?

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 Getting Started: Designate Responsibilities
• Who will lead?
• Who will facilitate? Team
Leader
• Who will coordinate?
Team Facilitator
• Who will keep records?
• Who will interface? Project Leader Project Leader

• Who will advocate? *

Webmaster

Document

Corporate
Financial

External
Liaison
Liaison
Keeper
Student
Officer

Advisory
Liaison with
Group Community
Representative Client

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 Getting Started: Establish the Rules

• How often, how long, and when will we meet? Who

sets the meeting agenda?

• How are decisions made?

• What level of commitment is expected?
• How are tasks assigned?
• How are results evaluated?
• How are conflicts resolved?

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 • Why (not) hold a meeting?
• Who attends?
Productive • How is the meeting planned?
Meetings • Taking minutes
• What is discussed?
• When is it over?
• Meeting evaluation

8
 Team Discussion

• From your experience, discuss and list 3-5

characteristics for
– Holding an effective meeting
– Participating effectively in a meeting
• Points to consider:
– When (regular vs. as needed)
– Who
– What/Why
– How
– How Long
• Coordinator and Record keeper from last time,
Presenters should rotate

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 Communication: The Elevator Speech
• Example: for an interview
• Focus
– List 5 strengths pertinent to the job
• Experience, traits, skills
• What do you want the interviewer to know about you
after you leave?
• Scripting
– Begin with past experience and proven success
– Mentioning strengths and abilities
• Attention to details, follow through, …
– Concluding statement about current situation
• “looking for a company where I can have a positive
impact on xxx”
• Practice 10
 A Few Points on Giving a Presentation

• Beginning, Body, and • Gesture

Summary – Some for emphasis
• Self-confidence – Some to be avoided
– Don’t apologize. (playing with the pointer,
etc.)
– You know more than
the audience. • Voice
• Face the audience – Loud enough
• Make eye contact • Clear enunciation
– Holds audience’s • Within time limit
attention. – +– 1 min. in 20-min. talk
– Scan the audience. – +– 10 sec. in 1-min. talk
– Especially important • Practice, practice…
when you use
PowerPoint
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 Hearing Vs. Listening

• Listen: Pay attention

– What is the main point of the speaker?
• Ask Questions
– Shows you have paid attention
– There are no stupid questions…
• Provide constructive criticism to the speaker
– “I have a doubt about….”

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 A Few Points on PowerPoint Slides

• Beginning, Body, Summary

• Show progress
• Use pictures and graphics to illustrate your points
• Avoid too much information on one slide
• Avoid too many words on one slide
• If you use graphs, label your axes
• Use large enough fonts
• Avoid too many colors
• Talk about everything on the slide
• Don’t just read from your slide

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 Some Points on Writing
• Active sentences
– More concise and forceful than passive sentences
– “It has been shown that plasma damage increases with an
increase in dc-bias. In contrast, it is known that plasma
induced damage can be reduced with a decrease of dc-
bias.”
– “An increase in dc-bias increases plasma damage, and a
decrease (of dc-bias) reduces it.”
• Conciseness
– Sentences no more than 25 words
• Avoid run-on sentences (split into 2)
• Spell-check
• “a” vs. “the” (general vs. specific object)
• Reflective writing is more personal (like a journal or
diary). 14
 Final Exam: Project Presentation
Each team will develop a proposal for a potential project that would
be beneficial to society or a specific non-profit agency or
organization.
• Final report
– Write a proposal, one per team, to get funding for your proposed
project
– Decide on which real agency/foundation you want to submit your
proposal
– Proposal format
• 5-page limit
• Single space, Times New Roman, size 11-12 font
– Due date: Friday, March 17, with your notebook
• Final presentation
– When: 8 – 10 am, Wednesday, March 22
– 10 min. each team
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 Homework # 2
Due Wednesday, January 18
1. Prepare a one-minute elevator speech about yourself to
present to your team at your first meeting. Hand in in class.
2. Meet with your team, present your elevator speeches to get
acquainted. Pick your team’s Leader, Facilitator, Coordinator,
and Record Keeper. Identify a potential project, which will
be the subject of your final report and presentation. Leaders
to hand in the team assignments and results. Coordinators
to paste the team attendance sheet into the coordinator’s
notebook and keep it updated every class.
3. Write in your notebook about the dynamics of your team’s
process for choosing leaders: how and why were the leaders
chosen? Report in class on Wednesday, January 18.
4. Meet with your team, and prepare a one-minute elevator
speech about the team project. The team reports to class on
Friday, January 20.

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 Team Discussion

• Set up a meeting time for your team.

• Discuss what potential ideas, non-profits or organizations

you might consider for your project, in preparation for your
next meeting.

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 Stages of Team Development

• Forming: “Nice to Meet you, not sure why we’re here,

it looks like a lot of work!”
– Leader encourages equitable participation, begin focus on project
• Storming: “Do I HAVE to work with this team???”
– Leader helps team to focus on strengths, not weaknesses, in working toward the
task at hand
• Norming: “Maybe we will be able to pull this all
together, if we stop fighting and listen to each
other….”
– Collective decision to behave professionally, and agree to norms
– Leader and others may have to facilitate towards group accountability
• Performing: “We’ve got a great plan, and everyone is
pulling together….”
– True teamwork and cooperation, members individually committed, multiple
leaders
• Adjourning: Goal accomplished, Project Over
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 Next Agenda:
Project Management

• Discuss Dynamics of Picking Team

Leaders

• Planning
• Work Specification and Assignment
• Scheduling and Planning Tools
• Next Agenda

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