This user-friendly manual walks instructors step by step through the process of creating, assigning, and executing successful group projects at the college level. Informed by a simple input-process-output model of group behavior, this guide provides structured advice, examples, and worksheets to design and facilitate effective team projects. Topics include assigning teams, developing meaningful tasks, fostering leadership, managing conflict, communicating effectively, and supporting teams in an online environment. Each chapter features sections and readymade handouts that speak directly to students, making it easy for educators to share content with their student teams and spend valuable classroom time teaching course material rather than team skills. Whether in person or online, Making Team Projects Work will be a valuable companion for any college educator interested in incorporating group projects into their curricula.

A key role of educators is preparing students for today's world of work, where a top skill demanded by employers is the ability to work together in teams. This user-friendly manual equips educators with the tools needed to provide students with an understanding of what it takes to work successfully on group projects, and learn these valuable teamwork skills. The authors are two college educators with decades of experience teaching group dynamics. In this book, they share their expertise so that novice and experienced educators alike can better plan, execute, and assess group projects. Topics include assigning students to teams, developing a meaningful team task, creating leadership in student groups, managing conflict during a group project, communicating effectively as a group, and supporting teams in an online environment. The book is written in a conversational style and includes structured advice, examples, and worksheets to provide teachers with more confidence to run group projects in their classrooms across a wide range of subjects. The companion website offers additional resources and easy access to the authors who answer questions and provide consultation. This book is an invaluable resource that should be in the library of every educator.What Educators are Saying about the BookPlacing students into groups is a classic instructional method. Yet sometimes students and instructors need supplemental guidance to make group work successful rather than frustrating. If you use student group projects as an instructional method this is a must-have book. This practical resource offers a wealth of information, tips, and instructional strategies to facilitate working and learning in small groups. Highly recommended.Steven A. Beebe, Ph.D.Regents' and University Distinguished ProfessorTexas State UniversityCo-author, Communicating in Small Groups: Principles and PracticesAs a university professor in a large business school for 30 years, I know the value of group projects but have struggled with facilitating them well. I welcome this book. The authors have written a practical and concise treatment to enable group project success. This helpful handbook is full of excellent examples of the challenges those of us with group projects face, and useful solutions to those challenges. I highly recommend this book. Ellen F. Monk, Ph.D.Department of Accounting and MISLerner College of Business & EconomicsUniversity of DelawareI especially like the scenarios and practical applications that this book offers. I can envision high school teachers using this book in a professional learning community to guide their practices. I also can see this book used as a reference material - it's accessible and a quick read with valuable insight and perspectives uncovered. Offering a structured approach to group work would be particularly helpful for teachers.Amy Shannon, M.S. Assistant PrincipalVictor High SchoolThe adage "we are better together" rings true in every educational setting. Students learn best when they learn from each other. I often used group projects so students can blend their knowledge and past experiences to produce great work. And, to teach students how to work collaboratively as a team knowing that this is a critical life skill needed to thrive in today's global community. Now as a school administrator, I often observe teachers who employ team projects, but forget to establish guides and norms to help the team thrive. The authors of this book provide educators with a detailed guide on how students should collaborate to not only produce a project, but to learn critical life skills that can push the team to efficient new heights. This is a must read for teachers who want to get the very best out of their student teams. I highly recommend this book and will incorporate its practices in my district.Michael V. Ginestre, M.S., Superintendent of SchoolsSherman Central School District

This book provides a framework for understanding and managing factors required for achieving successful project and program outcomes. It presents guidelines to help readers develop an understanding of governance and its connection to strategy as the starting point for decisions on what work needs to be done. The book describes how to craft appropriate communication strategies to develop and maintain successful relationships with stakeholders. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses of existing project controls and outlines effective communication techniques for managing expectations and acquiring the support required for successful delivery.

Do you work in project teams? Are you looking for ways to improve the productivity of your team? You are not alone. Team-based work is a significant part of the day-to-day work in organizations. In Making Project Teams Work: A Quick Guide Jessica Bullock provides insight into how you can improve your team. The book also incorporates helpful tools to help guide the process.In this book you will learn how to:*Form a team*Define and manage the project*Address team members issues*Resolve common project issuesThe goal of this book is to demystify the project team process. If you are looking for concrete ways to improve your projects, this book is for you!

Increase profitability, elevate work culture, and exceed productivity goals through DevOps practices. More than ever, the effective management of technology is critical for business competitiveness. For decades, technology leaders have struggled to balance agility, reliability, and security. The consequences of failure have never been greater―whether it's the healthcare.gov debacle, cardholder data breaches, or missing the boat with Big Data in the cloud. And yet, high performers using DevOps principles, such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, Etsy, and Netflix, are routinely and reliably deploying code into production hundreds, or even thousands, of times per day. Following in the footsteps of The Phoenix Project, The DevOps Handbook shows leaders how to replicate these incredible outcomes, by showing how to integrate Product Management, Development, QA, IT Operations, and Information Security to elevate your company and win in the marketplace.

Description based upon print version of record

"Great teams are comprised of ordinary people that are empowered and inspired. They are empowered to solve hard problems in ways their customers love yet work for their business. They are inspired with ideas and techniques for quickly evaluating those ideas to discover solutions that work: they are valuable, usable, feasible and viable. This book is about the idea and reality of "achieving extraordinary results from ordinary people". Empowered is the companion to Inspired. It addresses the other half of the problem of building tech products?how to get the absolute best work from your product teams. However, the book's message applies much more broadly than just to product teams. Inspired was aimed at product managers. Empowered is aimed at all levels of technology-powered organizations: founders and CEO's, leaders of product, technology and design, and the countless product managers, product designers and engineers that comprise the teams. This book will not just inspire companies to empower their employees but will teach them how. This book will help readers achieve the benefits of truly empowered teams"--