Teamwork FAQ

Working effectively with team members is important for your team project and for your personal learning. To learn about working in teams, check out the team manual. To answer commonly asked questions about teams, read on for experienced students’ responses.

Everyone on the team has a busy schedule and we can't find time to meet and have a big project. Why can't we just split up the paper into pieces that we can each do on our own? It will save time, and we can meet at the end and discuss how to put it all together.

Splitting up the assignment is a bad idea. The point of teamwork is better learning. We all learn better when we can talk about new ideas. The more we say what we think, argue for our ideas and listen to the criticism of others the better we understand. Dividing up the task reduces opportunities to discuss and debate. If the assignment can be split up into sections, that's a problem for your instructor. You might drop him or her a note (anonymous) that reads: “This assignment is better done by individuals than teams” and explain why. Even if the assignment is faulty (instructors are human and make mistakes, too!), you still have to use it to learn. See if you can't make your meeting times more efficient and less time consuming. Try conference calls, on-line chats, or instant messaging to reduce travel time. Decide on a regular meeting time and place. Set and agenda and stick to it.

We have to do peer evaluations at the end of each assigned problem. I think these are just popularity polls that don't have anything to do with work quality, so what's the point?

The peer evaluations help to improve your team. Look at the questions and comments on the evaluations. What do they tell you about how to be a good team member? What do you think are the features of a good team member? Share that with your team. Teams are to support learning. Good teammates are the ones that help you learn and get the work done. Try discussing this with you team members. If you still feel they are being filled out in a biased manner, address the issue with your instructor.

In our team there is a really smart guy who really wants to get an A in the course. He does all the work and just assigns us little keyboarding or web search jobs. I don't feel right about letting him do this; but I know he is going to get us an A, and I have a lot of other work to do. I feel I'm not learning anything. This is what confuses me about this PBL stuff.

No one is ever smarter than a high performance team. The best ideas get better with criticism. The best designs result from using a wide range of perspectives. Relying on one member to do an assignment is not the best way to go. Refer to the PBL FAQ which talks about the definition and importance of PBL.

We are being graded as a team, but some members aren't working. They are absent from class, miss meetings, and show up only to get their names on the assignments. This isn't fair.

Meet as a team and decide what the expectations of each team member will be. What exactly should they do to contribute to the team? How often is your team expected to meet? Also, address what will happen if slackers arise. If the issue persists, be prepared to talk to the individual, and be clear on their lack of participation. Let them know the team is aware of the failed assignment deadline (or their absence in however many meetings) and that it is unacceptable. Then take the necessary steps to amend the issue. Whether this is to give the student another chance, inform the professor or dismiss the student from the team, follow through as a group. This is a common issue in all team-building tasks, so learn how to deal with slackers now.

My team is totally dysfunctional. Out of five people, only two are doing the work. One is missing all the time while others just sit around and talk about the weekend. None of us get along, and I am thinking of dropping the class.

You and your working partners need to talk with your instructor. Explain to the instructor exactly what the issues are and talk about possible remedies. Your instructor must intervene in this type of situation.

IST stresses the importance of group work. Even though there is group work in almost every course, some students just don't get it. If you pressure them to do their share of the work, their mediocre efforts bring down the grades of everyone. I know we can fire students, but why can't we choose the students with whom we work?

You can't choose your teams in a work environment. In the workplace, people who can't work on teams (and refuse to learn how) get transferred or fired. Knowing how to navigate difficult team issues now is part of your learning in IST. It will serve you well when you get a job.