Team Effectiveness Lecturette, Registration Day

You may have noticed that on Registration Day, Wednesday, August 23, there's a lunchtime event called "Team Effectiveness Lecturette." ("Lecturette" is the ID term for one-time presentations, outside of classes.) In case you were wondering, here's a little background, and a pitch for you to be there with all your new friends.

One of the critical skills you'll learn at ID doesn't actually have anything directly to do with designing products, communications, or strategy. It's all about how you get things done collaboratively. All of us are going to be working in teams, whether they are within design consultancies or corporations, or the team of you plus your client. Most of your classes, apart from Foundation Year, will involve team projects--and even Foundies will be on teams for student activities.

Sure, you're saying, teamwork is important. Haven't we all learned about that ever since we first played soccer or worked on a school play?

The difference at ID is class teams are teams of peers. There is no one in charge of a team. So, just imagine three to five people all having slightly different ideas of what project teamwork looks like, trying to get things done under deadlines. The experience can be remarkably unfamiliar (and sometimes frustrating!)--no matter what your previous teamwork experiences have been.

An informal team of students (we called it the "Team Team") spent some time last spring doing research and seeking advice from people experienced in teamwork. (One of our MDM students, Chris Bernard, also developed a short course in teamwork skills that will be piloted later this school year.) The result is this brief lecturette, on Registration Day, to let you know some of the common issues that happen with teams at ID, and to recommend some ways we can ALL work together.

This is an entirely student-run effort, and we're actually using student activity funds to buy you lunch--that's just how important we think it will be. So, we look forward to seeing you there, at noon on Wednesday, August 23.

Please let me know if you have any questions, OK? --David McGaw (davidm@id.iit.edu)