In another life, I have taught Organizational Behavior where the focus is on managing group dynamics. While that is not the focus of this class, I have found that students often benefit from a "mini" toolbox drawn from those materials. Team management is a fundamental task in implementing strategies and for that reason is not beyond the scope of this course. While I don’t intend to use class time to discuss these issues, I hope these materials prove to be useful.

The following pages include:

1. Tools for managing group writing projects (task forces, etc.)
2. Team management tools
3. Six steps to solving free rider problems
4. Team project plan worksheet

Your primary tools for managing group dynamics are incentives, roles, and norms. The following is an explanation of how you can use the materials on the following pages to improve your effectiveness.

• Incentives/Rewards. These are group or individual based rewards that promote cooperation and effort among group members. Organizations are notoriously poor at providing powerful group-based incentives. In addition, the individual incentives offered may actually undermine cooperation with a group or team. Here, I offer you the option of peer appraisal if you choose to strengthen the incentive structure for your team if you feel it is necessary (see six steps to solving free rider problems).
• Roles/Structure. You are free to allocate the task in whatever way is most efficient. You should consider work allocation carefully. Most groups spend a great deal of time on the nuts & bolts of the problem & don’t think carefully about how to allocate the work. You may begin with a focus on your meeting management process which serves as a structure for all of your group effort. I have also provided a worksheet for a project plan that should help in this regard.
• Norms/Culture. Norms for effort are often formed early in a group. If slack effort is tolerated early on, it may be a norm that is hard to shake later. It is worth spending time discussing and enforcing norms for behavior that you want to promote. In the long run this will result in a reduction in time and effort required to do the job right. See the six steps to solving free rider problems for some suggestions on setting and enforcing norms.

As your group meets for the first few times, you will be setting norms. This includes norms for performance, norms for sharing the work, norms for dealing with conflict, norms for attending meetings, and norms for how to treat others’ ideas. In other words, the first few meetings are crucial for establishing how your group will work throughout the semester. Here are a few ideas to help you head off and/or deal with free rider problems.

1. Discuss Your Goals for the Group. Most groups do not have an initial discussion about what they want to accomplish. Rather, they become very task-oriented and fail to examine the bigger picture. Take the time to think about your expectations and listen to others’.
2. Consider Your Performance Appraisal System Carefully. If you are interested, I give you the option to apply a peer appraisal system to your group. Each member rates all other members. The average of peer ratings can raise or lower an individual's group portion of the grade by up to ½ grade. This appraisal is a zero-sum exercise -- all members of the group cannot get grades above the group grade. However, if people generally pull their weight or there is not broad agreement about who put in the time and effort, all group members will get the same grade (the averages will all approach 10 points).

Example: At the end of the semester each person will complete a worksheet to allocate points to all other members. The following example illustrates the process for a group with 4 members with an average of A-:

The rater allocates a total pool of points to all other members. The points to be allocated equals 10*(group size-1). In a group of four, each member would have 30 points to allocate to the others.

Each member allocates so that major contributors get more points while others get fewer. The following example illustrates what the results might look like:

Note: In order to change to peer appraisal at any point in the semester, I need the request in writing with signatures from at least 75% of the group members.

3. Discuss Your Schedules Early. If one or more people have major commitments at one or more points during the semester (interviews, Olin Cup, hot dates, etc.), you may want to assign roles accordingly. That way, they can pull their weight but distribute the work in a way that fits with their schedules.
4. Discuss How to Use Each Person’s Skills. Team members bring different skills to the table. However, there is room for everyone to contribute if you manage the process. Particularly when one or more group members are not native English speakers, you may need to discuss how to utilize their skills. Be careful not to interpret shyness as laziness. If English was your second language, you would probably be a bit self-conscious.
5. Internal Feedback System. Your group can establish a written or verbal feedback system after each case. You can rate each others’ input (much like the peer appraisal system). Also, rather than rating individuals, you can rate the group’s performance (the grade is only one measure of performance). You can follow both systems with an open discussion about how to do things differently next time.
6. Win-Win Confrontation. If you think that someone is not contributing, do not assume that he/she is shirking intentionally. This is a knee-jerk reaction most people have in attributing fault. That sets you up for an unpleasant confrontation that may be based on an incorrect assumption. Start by assuming that they want to become more involved but are shy or don’t know how they can contribute. If you start with this assumption, you may find that the person is willing to work with you to forge a more productive role. You may also find that you were wrong about the lack of effort on their part.

This worksheet is to help you divide the work and organize your time at your first group meeting. It may also help you to put together your project proposal.