Document Type

Closed Project

Publication Date

Fall 2011

Instructor

Robert Dryden

Course Title

Communication and Team Building in Engineering Management

Course Number

ETM 522/622

Abstract

One of the strengths and the challenges of the ETM program is the requirement for class project teams in each of the courses. Although the regular exposure to the dynamics of working in teams can provide good preparation for the working environment, it can also add an extra element of difficulty to the course work when the team does not function well. In this class, the entire focus of the course was on teams and communications within teams; therefore, the dynamics of the class team was precisely the point of the course. The added challenge was that the team was responsible for regularly creating and presenting lectures on course concepts. This format meant that the team had to consistently interact and perform throughout the term. The option of dividing up the syllabus at the beginning of the term and not convening again until the end of the term was not an option. We have reviewed how our team has functioned in regards to the weekly class topics and evaluated how we performed in relation to each. In addition to this in-process review, at the end of this paper we decided to include personal statements written independently by each of the team members about their impressions of the team and how the team functioned. It is interesting to note that the results of the end-of-term personal statements are in line with the results of the team evaluation radar chart that was completed as part of a class exercise in Week 5. Each team member had a consistent view of how the team functioned. Although it was technically a 10-week class, this paper only considers Week 2 through Week 7 since those were the weeks when course materials were covered.

Rights

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Comments

This project is only available to students, faculty, and staff of Portland State University.

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/22621

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