Learn about a student-driven team building approach to turn dreaded group projects into powerful learning experiences.

Introduction: A Student’s Perspective

On the first day of teaching a project management class for art and journalism students, we discussed the syllabus and the importance of team assignments. As I emphasized the significance of collaborative work, a senior student raised her hand. Her comment sent a ripple through the classroom:  

“In my four years here, I’ve never had a good experience with team projects. It doesn’t matter if the instructor assigns the teams or if we choose our own. Something always goes wrong.”

Her words resonated with the class, eliciting her peers’ nods and murmurs of agreement. Her frustration was a shared experience, a common thread in many students’ academic journeys. 

This single anecdote highlighted a crucial issue: we need a better method for forming student groups in higher education. Random instructor selection or allowing students to choose teams based on friendships or familiarity don’t always work well. A more thoughtful, structured approach to team formation is necessary. 

Based on my personal experiences as a graduate student and observations from students in my current course, the typical issues in group projects often include: 

Mismatched Skills and Expectations

As a grad student, I experienced a class project on which our team consisted of a brilliant theorist who struggled with practical applications, a software expert who had little interest in writing reports, and an overachiever who expected everyone to work at their pace. This mismatch in skills and expectations among group members led to constant friction and inefficiency, with some team members having to compensate for others’ weaknesses. 

Uneven Workload Distribution

During a semester-long project, one of my students commented that he completed nearly 70 percent of the project work while their teammates contributed sporadically. This uneven distribution of workload often stems from varying levels of commitment and differing grade expectations among team members. 

Communication Breakdowns

A long time ago, during my undergrad years, in a cross-disciplinary project I participated in, our team’s biggest challenge was communication. We had members who rarely checked their emails, others who agreed to tasks in meetings but never followed through, and some who made significant changes without consulting the group. In the project management class I’m currently teaching, a student described a similar situation where miscommunication led to duplicated efforts and a disjointed final presentation. 

While group projects in higher education often aim to simulate real-world collaboration, poorly formed teams can leave students disillusioned and unprepared for future teamwork. 

As educators, addressing these issues is crucial. By implementing thoughtful team formation strategies and equipping students with tools to navigate group dynamics, we can transform group projects from sources of stress into valuable learning experiences that genuinely prepare students for collaborative work in their professional futures. 

The Need for a Different Approach

Traditional methods of team formation often fall short of creating optimal group dynamics and learning experiences. The following table illustrates methods for team formation that I’ve observed as a former student and current instructor: 

These issues in traditional team formation methods underscore the need for a more effective approach that addresses these challenges while better preparing students for real-world collaboration. Student-driven team building emerges as a promising solution, offering numerous benefits that directly counter the drawbacks of conventional methods. Empowering students to have a voice in the team formation process, mitigates common issues like skill imbalances and personality conflicts and fosters increased engagement, better skill complementarity, and enhanced self-awareness. Moreover, it provides students with valuable experience in professional team formation, a skill crucial in today’s collaborative work environments. (PMI. 2021) The transition from instructor-led or random team assignments, to a more structured, student-driven approach represents a significant step towards creating more effective, enjoyable, and educational group project experiences in higher education. 

In my project management class, I’ve observed that when students are guided through a structured team formation process, they create more effective and harmonious groups. However, it’s important to note that student-driven team building requires careful facilitation and clear guidelines to be effective. With proper structure, it can avoid falling prey to some of the same pitfalls as traditional methods. The key is to provide students with the right tools and criteria for making informed decisions about team composition. I provide some sample guidelines in the section below. 

The Student-Driven Team Building Approach

The whole activity consists of four parts:  

1. Fast-Track Teammate Discovery 

2. Guided Questions 

3. Data Collection 

4. Creation of Teams 

Let’s dissect the elements so you can implement them on your own. 

Fast-Track Teammate Discovery

The “Fast-Track Teammate Discovery” step employs three-minute rotations for efficient team formation.  The rapid interactions of speed dating inspire the exercise. Students have a suggested list of questions to help them explore working styles, skills, and expectations. In traditional speed dating, the simplicity of two distinct groups allows for a straightforward rotation system. That approach ensures that each participant meets every member of the opposite group. I’ve also created a system that ensures comprehensive coverage by developing a matrix that accounts for all possible student combinations. 

With all the possible combinations provided by this matrix, I organized the step into eleven rounds for my students. Three minutes per round, 11 rounds: 33-minute activity (40 minutes if we add some time to explain the instructions, answer questions, and walking times). 

I know that this sounds complex, but it is not. Feel free to download my spreadsheet so you can play around. The spreadsheet contains two tabs (Dashboard and Rounds). On the dashboard tab, you can fill in the name of your students or play around with the matrix. The rounds tab displays the names by round, which is great for copying and pasting it into your PowerPoint. One thing you need to consider during the implementation is that this method only works with an even number of students; if one student fails to attend or you have an uneven number of students, you can put your name into the rotation. 

Guided Questions

The “Guided Questions” step helps students form effective teams by promoting self-reflection and peer assessments. This increases awareness of project management concepts and team dynamics, preparing students for real-world collaborative scenarios and ultimately equipping them with the necessary skills for successful project work. 

Here’s the list of guided questions I used for my Project Management class: 

1. What specific skills or experiences do you bring to this project? 

2. What do you hope to achieve or learn through this project? 

3. How do you prefer to communicate and collaborate with team members? 

4. What do you think might be the biggest challenge in this project, and how would you address it? 

5. What role do you usually take in group projects, and how do you handle conflicts? 

6. How do you typically organize your work and manage your time on projects? 

7. In what areas of project management or teamwork do you feel you have the most room for growth? 

8. What’s your approach to giving and receiving feedback within a team? 

9. How do you stay motivated during long-term projects, especially when facing obstacles? 

10. How do you approach decision-making in a team setting, especially when there are differing opinions? 

11. Can you describe a situation where you had to adapt your working style to accommodate team needs?  

12. What aspect of this project do you think will push you out of your comfort zone, and how do you plan to handle this growth opportunity? 

During the activity, I projected the questions on the classroom screen. I encouraged students to ask the questions by number to optimize time. I wanted my questions for this activity to serve two purposes: encouraging my students to reflect on themselves and facilitating quick, meaningful peer assessments. By focusing on important elements of teamwork, such as communication styles, problem-solving methods, and conflict resolution, we can help students effectively evaluate compatibility and potential synergies. 

Here’s a guide to developing your own guiding questions for students: 

• Identify key competencies: List the most important skills or attributes for success in your course or field. 

• Consider project specifics: Tailor questions to the unique challenges or requirements of the upcoming projects. 

• Address common team issues: Include questions that explore how students handle typical teamwork challenges. 

• Incorporate course learning objectives: Align questions with the skills or knowledge you want students to develop. 

• Balance hard and soft skills: Mix questions about technical abilities with those about interpersonal and organizational skills. 

• Use open-ended formats: Craft questions that encourage detailed responses rather than simple yes/no answers. 

• Include future-oriented queries: Ask about goals, aspirations, and areas for growth to gauge motivation and self-awareness. 

• Consider diversity and inclusion: Include questions that help students reflect on working with diverse perspectives. 

• Probe past experiences: Ask about previous teamwork experiences to understand students’ backgrounds and potential benefits.

Data Collection

This step is crucial but fully customizable; you can use almost any media, from a blank paper to an online form, whatever helps you collect the information. In my class, I used an online form divided into two sections. In the first section, students submit their “Dream Team” using checkboxes [AS1] and a text box to provide a brief rationale of that decision. In the second section, they must rank their peers on a 1-5 scale for working style compatibility. This comprehensive approach combines rapid assessment with thoughtful reflection, enabling data-driven team formation while enhancing students’ self-awareness and peer evaluation skills.

Creation of Teams

As a teacher interpreting the data from the “Fast-Track Teammate Discovery” step, you’ll want to approach team formation with a blend of analytical thinking and pedagogical insight. Here’s a guide to help you navigate this process: 

1. Start with the “Dream Team” data:  
   • Look for mutual selections, where students have chosen each other. 
   • Note any patterns in the rationales provided – are students prioritizing similar skills or complementary abilities? 
2. Analyze the compatibility rankings:  
   • Create a matrix or use a spreadsheet to visualize the overall rankings. 
   • Look for high mutual rankings, which suggest strong potential partnerships. 
   • Be aware of any consistently low rankings, which might indicate potential conflicts. 
3. Balance preferences with diversity:  
   • While honoring student preferences is important, ensure teams have a mix of skills and personalities. 
   • Avoid creating “superstar” teams by distributing high-performing students across groups. 
4. Consider project requirements:  
   • Ensure each team has the necessary skill set to complete the project successfully. 
   • If specific roles are needed, try to include students who’ve expressed interest in those roles. 
5. Address potential issues proactively:  
   • If you notice potential personality clashes based on comments or rankings, consider whether these could be growth opportunities or if they’re better avoided. 
6. Use your professional judgment:  
   • Your observations during the Fast-Track activity are valuable. Use them to inform your decisions, especially in cases where data is conflicting. 
7. Be prepared to explain your choices:  
   • While you don’t need to justify every decision, have a rationale ready for why teams were formed as they were. 
8. Consider a brief “team formation” session:  
   • After announcing teams, allow a short period for students to meet and set initial expectations. 

Remember, the goal is to create balanced teams that will challenge students to grow while also providing a supportive environment for project success. Your role is to use the data as a guide, but ultimately make decisions that you believe will best serve your course’s learning objectives and your students’ development. 

Challenges and Considerations

While this student-driven team building approach offers numerous benefits, it’s important to acknowledge and address potential challenges in its execution. Implementing this method requires significant upfront planning and preparation. Developing tailored questions, creating the rotation matrix, and setting up the physical or virtual space for the activity can be time-consuming. Additionally, the activity may require dedicating one or more class sessions, which some instructors might find challenging to fit into an already packed curriculum. However, this initial time investment often pays dividends in smoother team dynamics and more productive project work, potentially saving time and reducing conflicts later in the semester. 

The effectiveness of this method relies heavily on students’ ability and willingness to assess themselves and their peers honestly. Some students may overestimate their abilities or underplay their weaknesses out of a desire to appear more appealing as teammates. Others might need help with accurate self-assessment due to a lack of experience or self-awareness. To mitigate this, consider incorporating a brief session on the importance of honest self-reflection and its impact on team success. Emphasize that the goal is not to appear perfect, but to form teams where members can support and complement each other. 

When forming teams, consider student preferences alongside broader educational goals.  Exposing students to diverse perspectives and pushing them outside their comfort zones is important. Transparency in your decision-making can help students understand team assignments that may not align with their initial preferences. 

Conclusion

 A student-driven team building approach simulates real-life professional interactions, allowing students to practice and improve the skills they will need in their careers. By participating in this process, students prepare for situations where they will have to quickly evaluate potential collaborators, advocate for their ideas, and adjust to different team environments. As an educator, there is nothing more satisfying than knowing I have not only provided my students with knowledge, but also with the skills and confidence to succeed in their future careers.  

References

PMI. (2021). The standard for Project Management and A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK guide) (7th ed.). Project Management Institute, Inc.