Building Inclusive, Collegial, and Productive Interdisciplinary Project and Research Teams

Monday 1:30pm-4:00pm E Building 104

Afternoon Mini Workshop

Conveners

Julie Sexton, University of Colorado at Boulder

Anne Egger, Central Washington University

Geoscience education projects often require teams that are made up of K-12 and higher education faculty, researchers, students, and staff from multiple disciplines and institutions. This complex, interdisciplinary composition can enable teams to tackle projects that an individual might not be able to accomplish. These teams can be rewarding to work on and can foster long-term collegial collaborations. However, these teams can also result in unclear roles and responsibilities, interpersonal conflict, and hostile work environments; all of which can affect team success and productivity. Additionally, there is a need to ensure that teams have inclusive, just, and equitable team environments. Team leadership and membership skills are not taught in formal education, in the workplace, or by our professional organizations. This workshop serves an introduction to creating inclusive, collegial, and productive teams.

Goals

By the end of this workshop, participants will:

Assess your own role as a member and/or leader in teams
Analyze scenarios and apply effective team strategies
Identify specific strategies you will use to improve your team's effectiveness

Program

Times are approximate.

Workshop slides

1:30 Welcome, Introductions, Overview of Workshop (Activity 1)

Link to Activities Google doc (make a copy to your own drive and/or download)

1:45 What is an effective team? (Goal 2: Analyze scenarios and apply effective team strategies)

Link to Vignettes
Characteristics of effective teams (Activity 2)
Stages of team development (Activity 3)

2:45 Break

2:55 Plan for moving forward (Goal 1: Assess your own role as a member and/or leader in teams and Goal 3: Identify specific strategies you will use to improve your team's effectiveness)