Experiments with small teams
I work with a lot of university students, often 180+ each semester. I break them up into teams for a group project and I try to put 5 students on each team. Every semester is an experiment.
Sometimes I generate teams randomly.
Sometimes I ask them to create their own teams.
Every semester, no matter how the teams are created, some teams are highly productive and some are not.
Some teams work well together, and some do not.
Some teams fight. Some build lifelong connections.
I collect data and keep running my experiments.
Here are a few things I notice every semester:
1. All teams start strong - it doesn’t usually matter who is on the team in the beginning. Everyone is excited. Everyone shows up. Most people are collaborative. But teams fall apart after a few weeks. It’s rare to have a team that’s truly collaborative after 15 weeks.
2. Teams that communicate regularly do better than teams that don’t. What I typically see on these poor-performing “catch up” teams is a flurry of action the day before an assignment is due. Often a burst at the end.
3. Time management and work overload are the leading excuses for poor performance. “I have too much work to do between all my classes and my job.”
The skills necessary to be part of a small team are more important than ever. Not only do you need them to be productive, you need them to be happy.