Thoughts on teams

I found this week's readings and case very interesting.  Having only been involved in academic teamwork as a F2F learner, it really brought home the point of how group maturity really develops differently in the online environment.  I particularly enjoyed article on Virtual teams: surviving or thriving (Lam, Chua, Williams, Lee, 2005) as it identified the groups as chaotic, surviving, organized, or thriving.  In my limited teaching experience I can now reflect on the groupings I saw.

I have been very explicit in discussing that my initial teaching experiences were "from the gut", meaning that the amount of training I had was limited.  Presentations to peers at work was the extent of my experience, which presented challenges when teaching foreign materials online.  I can see my own deficiencies as relates to setting the tone and clearly offering expectations - the unit 2 case could have been modelled after my initial experience, but unit 3 offers me some deeper analysis with how I could have approached the teams to have them organize correctly and truly embrace the online experience.

In working with brand new BBA students versus MBA students, which I will be in January, I can see the initial steps I have to take in helping them to get the the thriving level.  It certainly helps to be able to use RRU tools such as TAPS for teamwork, but I think having a self-assessment grid could be illuminating.  I have had to use a critical eye on my own work and contributions and can see the value in implementing this, especially when participating in a full 3 credit course that requires hours of participation and interaction.  I can also see the need on my part to really take an active hand if I see any "where are you?" posts and not let a thriving team be reduced to a chaotic team.

It's almost becoming overwhelming with the amount of new ideas I wish to try out!