God and Nature 2025 #4
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Making the Dream Work
By Mike Clifford
According to Callum Kimpton, “The success of large-scale engineering projects is built upon the internal successes of countless teams. Such success is predicated upon how these teams effectively integrate their work efforts, with employers and graduates placing emphasis upon the importance of teamwork related competencies” (1). The Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes states that engineering students must develop and demonstrate teamwork skills through collaborative projects as part of their program, as teamwork is a key learning outcome in the standards. This involves students working together to solve complex real-world problems while considering ethical and societal impacts, and it often includes an individual or peer-assessment component for group work. Teamwork is a key graduate attribute valued by employers, and is an important component in many degree programmes.
I’m interested in this topic, because I’ve been running group projects for 25 years and I still haven’t quite figured out how to fairly assess an individual’s contribution to the success or failure of a team. Notice that I used the words “group” and “team” interchangeably there, but I think there’s a subtle difference; a team should have a common goal, whereas a group is just a collection of individuals.
By Mike Clifford
According to Callum Kimpton, “The success of large-scale engineering projects is built upon the internal successes of countless teams. Such success is predicated upon how these teams effectively integrate their work efforts, with employers and graduates placing emphasis upon the importance of teamwork related competencies” (1). The Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes states that engineering students must develop and demonstrate teamwork skills through collaborative projects as part of their program, as teamwork is a key learning outcome in the standards. This involves students working together to solve complex real-world problems while considering ethical and societal impacts, and it often includes an individual or peer-assessment component for group work. Teamwork is a key graduate attribute valued by employers, and is an important component in many degree programmes.
I’m interested in this topic, because I’ve been running group projects for 25 years and I still haven’t quite figured out how to fairly assess an individual’s contribution to the success or failure of a team. Notice that I used the words “group” and “team” interchangeably there, but I think there’s a subtle difference; a team should have a common goal, whereas a group is just a collection of individuals.
Douglas McGregor, who famously came up with the Theory X and Theory Y approaches to management, said that “Most teams aren't teams at all but merely collections of individual relationships with the boss. Each individual vying with the others for power, prestige and position” (2). And I’ve seen that in group projects, where individuals have quickly realised that every mark that someone else gets for their contribution to the group represents a mark that they could’ve had. This has resulted in forceable leadership, task-grabbing, back-stabbing and exclusion of weaker team members. Jesus’ disciples occasionally exhibited these traits, neatly illustrated when James and John asked Jesus for the top jobs in his coming kingdom (Mark 10: 35-37) (in Matthew’s account (Matt 20:21) it was their mother who did the asking).
Recently, I’ve been trying to teach students the importance of teamwork. Rather than just saying that it’s nice to be nice, I’ve pointed to evidence that diverse teams do better—such as this report (3), which found that companies in the top quartile for ethnic and racial diversity in management were 35% more likely to have financial returns above their industry mean, and those in the top quartile for gender diversity were 15% more likely to have returns above the industry mean.
Tahsin Chowdhury (4) states that “Effective teamwork can be developed when the following 11 attributes are present: Shared Goal & Value, Commitment to Team Success, Motivation, Interpersonal skills, Open/Effective Communication, Constructive Feedback, Ideal Team Composition, Leadership, Accountability, Interdependence and Adherence to Team Process & Performance.” I wonder how the teams that we’re involved with in our professional capacities, at work, and at church score against these attributes!
At University, we recognise the importance of teamwork, but I think that we could do more to prepare students to work effectively in teams. Previously, we’ve tried holding teambuilding activities as part of the induction programme, but there have been issues with a lack of resources, lack of suitable rooms, students wanting to do other things, and so on. Hence, I thought I’d try a different approach with my class of 300 fresh-faced 1st year undergraduate engineers. After delivering a lecture on the importance of teamwork, I set an assignment which involved the co-design and implementation of a team-building activity.
I put the students into random teams and told them to choose a team-building activity, show me some evidence that it had taken place, and reflect on what they had learned, with the caveat that they shouldn’t do anything illegal, immoral, dangerous, or involving alcohol. I was worried that students wouldn’t take the activity seriously, that they’d all choose to do the same thing, that they wouldn’t be able to contact their teammates because students are notoriously bad at reading their email, that they wouldn’t reflect on the activity, and so on.
However, to my surprise and delight, the students went above and beyond my expectations. Their coursework submissions sometimes made me laugh, and sometimes they made me cry. Here is a list of some of the things that they got up to:
Completing a jigsaw, teaching each other card games, playing table tennis, going bowling, playing golf, visiting local places of interest, drawing, doing online quizzes, designing and taking part in a scavenger hunt, building bridges out of marshmallows and spaghetti, doing some origami together, baking cookies, cooking and sharing a meal, completing online and physical escape rooms, building a house of cards, axe throwing, playing volleyball and laser tag, singing Karaoke, making a Rube Goldberg machine, and visiting the Kitty Café.
Even more pleasing was that the students reflected on their experiences in heart-felt, meaningful ways. Here are a few of their reflections:
“The activity helped reduce some of the stress I had been having in university and made me realize that everyone has to face challenges at the start but with good company and support, things become much easier.”
“After many suggestions we settled on cooking a meal together in somebody’s kitchen…. After being in catered halls for a month now, I can wholeheartedly say this was the best meal I have eaten in that month, it is a testament to how well we worked together. N has invited us back for a Christmas dinner that promises to be full of flavour so I would say this team meeting was very successful.”
“Overall, this group project has taught me to be more confident and outgoing with others, how to make connections through team bonding and how to enjoy the company of new people. Being the only girl in my group I was a bit anxious however the activity turned out to be very enjoyable!”
“What really shocked me is how good our chemistry was, I was really surprised as I’m an international student and they all come from areas around the United Kingdom, but we all treated each other as one, that was a really nice feeling.”
“Last weekend was my best day since I came to study in the UK.”
I’ll leave the final word to one student who summed up the importance of teamwork as follows:
“I feel that being part of a team at some point is important for everybody, as you learn to cooperate with others who may be very different in personality to you, but you work together to achieve a shared goal, then share a sense of satisfaction when you have achieved what you set out to do. Being part of a team means that you have people that you can rely on when you need help, and also means that you are relied upon yourself, which I think helps with a feeling of belonging.”
Amen to that!
1. Kimpton, C., & Maynard, N. "Factors shaping teamwork skills development in tertiary engineering education: a systematic literature review." European Journal of Engineering Education, 50(2), 253–280. 2024. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03043797.2024.2357343
2 https://www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/douglas-mcgregor/
3 Hunt, V., Layton,D., & Prince, S. “Why diversity matters." mckinsey.com. January 2015.
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabiities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/why-diversity-matters
4 Chowdhury, T. and Murzi, H. Literature Review: Exploring Teamwork in Engineering Education. Conference paper, Research in Engineering Education Symposium, Cape Town, South Africa. 2019.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334681127_Literature_Review_Exploring_Teamwork_in_Engineering_Education
Mike Clifford is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham. His research interests are in combustion, biomass briquetting, cookstove design, and other appropriate technologies. He has published over 80 refereed conference and journal publications and has contributed chapters to books on composites processing and on appropriate and sustainable technologies.
Recently, I’ve been trying to teach students the importance of teamwork. Rather than just saying that it’s nice to be nice, I’ve pointed to evidence that diverse teams do better—such as this report (3), which found that companies in the top quartile for ethnic and racial diversity in management were 35% more likely to have financial returns above their industry mean, and those in the top quartile for gender diversity were 15% more likely to have returns above the industry mean.
Tahsin Chowdhury (4) states that “Effective teamwork can be developed when the following 11 attributes are present: Shared Goal & Value, Commitment to Team Success, Motivation, Interpersonal skills, Open/Effective Communication, Constructive Feedback, Ideal Team Composition, Leadership, Accountability, Interdependence and Adherence to Team Process & Performance.” I wonder how the teams that we’re involved with in our professional capacities, at work, and at church score against these attributes!
At University, we recognise the importance of teamwork, but I think that we could do more to prepare students to work effectively in teams. Previously, we’ve tried holding teambuilding activities as part of the induction programme, but there have been issues with a lack of resources, lack of suitable rooms, students wanting to do other things, and so on. Hence, I thought I’d try a different approach with my class of 300 fresh-faced 1st year undergraduate engineers. After delivering a lecture on the importance of teamwork, I set an assignment which involved the co-design and implementation of a team-building activity.
I put the students into random teams and told them to choose a team-building activity, show me some evidence that it had taken place, and reflect on what they had learned, with the caveat that they shouldn’t do anything illegal, immoral, dangerous, or involving alcohol. I was worried that students wouldn’t take the activity seriously, that they’d all choose to do the same thing, that they wouldn’t be able to contact their teammates because students are notoriously bad at reading their email, that they wouldn’t reflect on the activity, and so on.
However, to my surprise and delight, the students went above and beyond my expectations. Their coursework submissions sometimes made me laugh, and sometimes they made me cry. Here is a list of some of the things that they got up to:
Completing a jigsaw, teaching each other card games, playing table tennis, going bowling, playing golf, visiting local places of interest, drawing, doing online quizzes, designing and taking part in a scavenger hunt, building bridges out of marshmallows and spaghetti, doing some origami together, baking cookies, cooking and sharing a meal, completing online and physical escape rooms, building a house of cards, axe throwing, playing volleyball and laser tag, singing Karaoke, making a Rube Goldberg machine, and visiting the Kitty Café.
Even more pleasing was that the students reflected on their experiences in heart-felt, meaningful ways. Here are a few of their reflections:
“The activity helped reduce some of the stress I had been having in university and made me realize that everyone has to face challenges at the start but with good company and support, things become much easier.”
“After many suggestions we settled on cooking a meal together in somebody’s kitchen…. After being in catered halls for a month now, I can wholeheartedly say this was the best meal I have eaten in that month, it is a testament to how well we worked together. N has invited us back for a Christmas dinner that promises to be full of flavour so I would say this team meeting was very successful.”
“Overall, this group project has taught me to be more confident and outgoing with others, how to make connections through team bonding and how to enjoy the company of new people. Being the only girl in my group I was a bit anxious however the activity turned out to be very enjoyable!”
“What really shocked me is how good our chemistry was, I was really surprised as I’m an international student and they all come from areas around the United Kingdom, but we all treated each other as one, that was a really nice feeling.”
“Last weekend was my best day since I came to study in the UK.”
I’ll leave the final word to one student who summed up the importance of teamwork as follows:
“I feel that being part of a team at some point is important for everybody, as you learn to cooperate with others who may be very different in personality to you, but you work together to achieve a shared goal, then share a sense of satisfaction when you have achieved what you set out to do. Being part of a team means that you have people that you can rely on when you need help, and also means that you are relied upon yourself, which I think helps with a feeling of belonging.”
Amen to that!
1. Kimpton, C., & Maynard, N. "Factors shaping teamwork skills development in tertiary engineering education: a systematic literature review." European Journal of Engineering Education, 50(2), 253–280. 2024. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03043797.2024.2357343
2 https://www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/douglas-mcgregor/
3 Hunt, V., Layton,D., & Prince, S. “Why diversity matters." mckinsey.com. January 2015.
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabiities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/why-diversity-matters
4 Chowdhury, T. and Murzi, H. Literature Review: Exploring Teamwork in Engineering Education. Conference paper, Research in Engineering Education Symposium, Cape Town, South Africa. 2019.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334681127_Literature_Review_Exploring_Teamwork_in_Engineering_Education
Mike Clifford is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham. His research interests are in combustion, biomass briquetting, cookstove design, and other appropriate technologies. He has published over 80 refereed conference and journal publications and has contributed chapters to books on composites processing and on appropriate and sustainable technologies.