Questrom Team Learning

Student Resources
Advancing the Team

Set Your Team Up for Success

Effective teamwork requires that all team members work interdependently to accomplish the team’s goals. Team members collaborate, depend on, and are accountable to each other. However, interdependence does not mean that everyone is doing the same things.  You can’t have a hockey team where everyone plays goalie – you need different players, in different positions, with different responsibilities – all working together, understanding where their roles and responsibilities begin and end. That is interdependence. 

In order to do that well, teams need to establish clear systems and structures to guide performance. Once you have had a chance to get to know your teammates, your team needs to discuss what you intend to accomplish, how each member can contribute, and how you plan to communicate, share information, and work together. In other words, you need to create a working agreement that explicitly addresses how your team will work interdependently to achieve its goals.

Team Contract … GRPI+

Goals, Roles, Processes, Interactions, +Plan/Schedule

The GRPI Team Contract is a useful model to guide teams as they structure their goals and expectations for performance. Key elements of the GRPI contract include Goals, Roles, Processes, and Interactions. In addition, the team should create a working project plan or schedule that includes team deadlines as well as course or project deadlines. Each is explained below.

Goals Roles Processes Interactions +Plan/Schedule

GOALS

GOALS

Using the work that has been assigned to the team as a starting point, teams should set clear goals for what they would like to accomplish together. Each team member should have a voice in the goal-setting process so that each member is committed to achieving the same objectives. Watch the Goals video to understand the importance and practice of goal-setting for teams.

Examples of SMART Goals

  • Prepare for meetings in advance by providing the team with written comments or deliverables
  • Attend each meeting prepared with at least 3 talking points and speak up/contribute at least 3 times in every meeting
  • Respond to all group messages within 12 hours to show team members that you are engaged and responsive
  • Build a positive working environment by weekly check-ins where teammates can compliment each other’s performance and share their concerns.  
  • Maintain frequent and effective communication by responding to messages within 24 hours and sharing work products in team file.
  • Create and maintain an updated weekly schedule that lists objectives and deliverables for the week.
  • Create a product that attacks a real world problem and offers a solution to said problem.
  • Complete each deliverable by the internal team deadline, to allow team enough time to review and edit before final submission.

Ideas to Include – Team Goals

  • We will begin each meeting with honest updates on how much progress was made on individual assignments so that we can hold each other accountable and reallocate resources of team members to the project. 
  • We will all review the college’s Academic Conduct code at the beginning of the semester and if any team member has concerns about ethical integrity, then we will discuss it at the next team meeting. 
  • Every team member will come to the meeting able to deliver an update on the work they have been assigned.  
  • Team meetings will include a closing five minutes where each team member is able to share their thoughts on the status and direction of the team.  
  • The team will develop and define a decision making protocol which will be used whenever the team is not unanimous in their opinion. 

ROLES

ROLES

Just like a sports team or a music ensemble, each member of your team has an important role to play. Your job as a team is to determine the necessary roles for task completion, project management, team communication, and other essential duties. Then describe and define each role so that all members are clear on what the role requires. Team members should select roles based on their talents or strengths, or when they want to learn a new skill or acquire new knowledge. Take a few minutes to watch the video to learn more about establishing roles on your team.

What am I Good at ?     What do I want to Develop ?

Task Roles or Process Roles

  • Agenda manager

  • Meeting Coordinator

  • Secretary

  • Moderator

  • Gatekeeper

  • Devil’s advocate

  • Researcher

  • Analyst

  • Copy Editor

Ideas to Include – Define Roles

Agenda Manager will create the meeting agenda based on input from team, and send out meeting invitations with agenda included.

Secretary – will take meeting minutes, highlight action items and distribute following each meeting. Is responsible for organizing shared documents in team drive.

Moderator – facilitate discussion during team meetings, ensuring that all team members contribute to discussions and decisions, responsible for making sure meeting is making forward progress.

Devil’s Advocate – has the responsibility to develop counter arguments for all major decisions faced by the team in order to address the danger of groupthink. 

PROCESSES

PROCESSES

The team should clarify processes and procedures regarding how the team will organize and manage its work, including methods and expectations for communication (e.g., virtual, face-to-face, texting, emails, etc.), as well as processes for collaboration, problem-solving, decision-making, and conflict resolution. Watch the video to learn more about establishing important team processes.

Questions to Ask Yourselves

WHY are we gathering?

WHAT is the goal of each meeting?

WHEN do we meet?

WHERE do we want to meet?

WHO is coming to the meeting?

HOW do we want to meet?

HOW should we make decisions?

HOW will we resolve conflicts?

HOW will we define roles?

Main Concepts to Consider

Decision Making Process

Minority, Majority or Consensus?

Whenever possible, teams should strive for consensus decisions. That means that all members agree to the final decision, even if that decision was not their first choice. Consensus decision making builds commitment to the decision and engenders buy-in from team members. Reaching consensus takes time, however. Teams that must move more quickly to a decision will often use majority rules as the decision process (i.e., voting). While this process can save time, it leaves people out of the process when they don’t agree with the decision, and that comes at a cost. Members who are consistently “out-voted” can lose motivation and commitment to the team’s objectives. Finally, teams should be wary of decision making by “minority rules” – as happens when one or two team members make decisions on behalf of the team. This leaves too many people out of the decision making process, and can lead to one or two vocal members dominating team decisions.

Communication Channels

Choose communication tools that you will use

          

There are many tools that teams can use to communicate with each other and to track work progress. The key is to choose tools that team members will use frequently and consistently. Consider tools that will enable timely communication, document sharing and tracking, co-creation of work products, and the ability to provide feedback.

Conflict Management

What is the process when facing conflicts?

Teams should think carefully about the processes that that will follow when conflicts arise, as disagreements are an inevitable – and desirable – outcome of teamwork. When team members share different ideas, advocate for divergent views, and offer differing perspectives on the team’s path forward, the team has the ability to engage in constructive conflict and choose the best options for collaboration. However, destructive conflict can derail teams, and must be dealt with professionally and effectively. Teams should agree to a process for managing conflicts – in advance – as part of their contracting process. For example: teams can agree that conflicts will be discussed face-to-face (in person or online), rather than via text, email, or other electronic messaging; teams can choose to assign the role of mediator to a team member who is skilled at conflict mediation.

Ideas to Include on Team Contract

  • We will all arrive 5-10 minutes early to all meetings. If a team member is running late, they will notify all team members with an estimated arrival time.
  • All team members will stay until the conclusion of every meeting, unless communicated to the group in advance. We will strive to end meetings on time.
  • If a team member needs to miss a meeting, they should provide at least 24 hours’ notice.
  • We will use Google calendar for meeting scheduling.
  • WhatsApp will be our preferred messaging platform. We all agree to check the messages regularly, turn on notifications, etc.
  • We will be respectful of each other when we disagree.
  • If there is a conflict on the team, members agree to address it in a face-to-face context (either in person or virtually), rather than via text, email, or other electronic messaging.

INTERACTIONS

INTERACTIONS

Team members should also discuss their expected interpersonal interactions and professional behavior within the team. Explicitly addressing expectations for treating each other with respect, attending and participating in team meetings, interacting professionally, handling diverse views, experiences and perspectives, and adhering to professional standards of conduct, allow teams to build healthy and supportive relationships as well as manage conflict and performance effectively. View the video to learn more about how to discuss team interactions that will set your team up for success.

Communication Skills

Effective collaboration requires excellent communication among team members. You have an opportunity to build your communication skills as you work with your team to accomplish your goals. View the Ted Talk below by Julian Treasure for more information on how to improve your communication by speaking in ways that make others  want to listen.

The Power of Listening

“Listening is our access to understanding.”

Learn to become a better listener – to build your ability to understand and connect with others. In the following Ted Talk, Julian Treasure provides you with tools to improve your listening skills.

Giving Great Feedback

Improve your ability to deliver great feedback – feedback that inspires, improves performance, and builds team commitment. In this video, LeeAnn Renninger teaches you The Secret to Giving Great Feedback by discussing a few simple yet powerful actions you can take to build your feedback skills.

Ideas to Include on Team Contract

Our team is determined to make sure that all interpersonal interactions are executed in an agreeable, professional, and respectful manner. During meetings, all team members will be encouraged to openly participate, with engaged listening from everyone.

  • We will handle any disagreements by first listening to what others have to say, one at a time. We will ask questions respectfully and try to understand each point of view.
  • We expect all team members to give clear and constructive feedback as well as ask follow up questions if the feedback is unclear. We will conduct regular weekly feedback sessions so that there are regular opportunities to share thoughts, questions, and concerns with the team rather than bottling them up.  
  • Feedback will be provided throughout our work process, each member will be encouraged to both give and receive constructive feedback using the Plus/Delta model.

+PLAN/SCHEDULE

+PLAN/SCHEDULE

+ Teams also need to break their work down into discreet elements with clear interim deadlines. Agree to a schedule for meetings, identify team deadlines for work, and note course deadlines for key deliverables. The more explicit the team can be in planning their work and their schedule, the better.

Ideas to Include on Team Contract

Our team will hand-in each individual part a day before we meet so that each member has a chance to review.

If a team member has situations and needs help from others, he/she will reach out to another team member at least three days before the team deadline.

Our team will set up our final deadlines at least a day before the assignments/projects due date.

Best Practices for Managing Team Performance

Once you have set up your Team Contract, use it as your guide to managing the teamwork. Beyond the contract, however, you can click the link below to find more resources and best practices for managing your team performance, including tips to make meetings more efficient, best practices for giving and receiving feedback, and advice for managing conflicts and challenges on the team.

Manage Team Performance