Working as a Team

ENG 100
Lecture 2

Silvia Mah

“Individual commitment to a group effort --

that is what makes a team work, a company work,
a society work, a civilization work.”
-Vince Lombardi
(American Football Coach,
national symbol of single-minded determination to win)

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Recommended Textbook, Not required:
Service-learning: Engineering in Your Community
M. Lima and W. C. Oakes
Great Lakes Press
(On Reserve in Science & Engineering Library)
(Available for ~$18 on Amazon.com)

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 Agenda
• Why Have Teams?

• Getting Started on Teams

– Define the Context
– Establish the Rules
– Designate Responsibilities

• Communication

• Team Development Stages

• Next Agenda

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 Why Have Teams?

• Society & technology are complex

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

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 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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Desired Attributes of an Engineer
• A good understanding of engineering science
fundamentals.
• A good understanding of design and
manufacturing processes.
(i.e., understands engineering)
• A multi-disciplinary, systems perspective.
• A basic understanding of the context in which
engineering is practiced.
– Economics (including business practices)
– History
– The environment
– Customer and societal needs
• Good communication skills.
– Written, oral, graphic and listening
• High ethical standards.
• An ability to think both critically and creatively - independently and cooperatively.
• Flexibility. The ability and self-confidence to adapt to rapid or major change.
• Curiosity and a desire to learn for life.
• A profound understanding of the importance of teamwork.

http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/pwu/attributes/attributes.html
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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?
Rodin-thinking man

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 Getting Started: Designate Responsibilities
• Who will lead? For ENG100L

• 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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Designate Responsibilities

For ENG100

Team
Leader

Team Facilitator

Coordinator

Record keeper

Community Client Liaison

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 Getting Started: Establish the Rules

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

sets the meeting agenda?

• What level of commitment is expected?

• How are decisions made?
• 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

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 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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 Team Development

“Coming together is a beginning.

Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.”

-Henry Ford

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Team development model
Leadership model

° ° Telling:
guidance & direction

± ± Selling:
coaching
² ² Participating:
facilitates and enables

³ ³Delegating:
oversees

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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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 Team Discussion

• Set up a meeting time for your team.

• Discuss/form potential project ideas that would

address TECHNICAL needs in your surrounding
community

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 ENG100 Project: Presentation & Reports
Each team will develop a proposal for a potential project that would be
beneficial to society or a specific non-profit agency or organization.
• Team elevator speech (Due date: Monday, October 9)
• Midterm review (Due date: Monday, October 23)
– Decide on the agency/organization (=client) you wish to work with
– Meet with the client to talk about needs
– Assess and analyze initial needs to propose possible technical projects
– Class presentation: 5 minute oral presentations with power point slides
• Final report (Due date: Final exam time)
– Write a proposal, one per team, to the agency/organization regarding the
analysis of their needs and possible technical solutions
– Proposal format
• 5-page limit
• Single space, Times New Roman, size 11-12 font
• Final presentation (Due date: Final exam time)
– Turn in your notebooks at this time
– When: December 4-8, exact time and date TBA 17
– 10 min. each team with power point slides
 Communication: The Elevator Speech
• Mini-speech that succinctly tells people who you are, what you do,
and, more importantly, what you can do for others.
• Goal: stand out from the crowd, be memorable.
• It is an expression of you
• 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
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 A Few Points on Giving a Presentation

• Beginning, Body, and • Gesture

Summary – Some for emphasis
• Self-confidence – Some to be avoided
(playing with the pointer,
– Don’t apologize. etc.)
– You know more than
the audience. • Voice
– Loud enough
• Face the audience
• Clear enunciation
• Make eye contact
– 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 19
 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

• Use pictures and graphics to illustrate your points
• Avoid too much information on one slide
• Avoid too many words on one slide
• Talk about everything on the slide
• Show progress
• If using graphs, label axes
• Use large enough fonts
• Avoid too many colors
• Don’t 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). 22
 Homework # 2
Due Monday, October 2 and Wednesday, October 4
1. Prepare a one-minute elevator speech about yourself to present to
your team at your first meeting. Hand in Wednesday, October 4.
2. Meet with your team, present your elevator speeches to get
acquainted. Pick your team’s Leader, Facilitator, Coordinator,
Record Keeper, and Community Client Liaison.
• Leaders: hand in the team assignments.
• Coordinators: 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?
Team reports in class on Monday, October 2.
4. Discuss and write in your notebook possible community projects.
Team reports in class on Monday, October 2.

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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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