Team Building Games to Reinforce the Training of Chemical Engineering Students in Team Skills Based on Collaboration Leadership

Abstract The development of skills for team building and performance is essential for chemical engineers due to the complexity and long-term scope of the projects they are involved with in industry and academia. Core courses in the chemical engineering curriculum have been increasingly requiring to develop team projects, from simple team homework assignments to commercial size plant basic designs. A survey with the faculty at our department revealed that a regular student is expected to work over 1,000 hours in teamwork during the sophomore, junior and senior years. Also, a survey with graduating senior students identified teamwork experience as the most valuable learning during the college years. In contrast, teamwork training rarely exceeds a total of 10 hours, mainly concentrated on basic recommendations during the first year, with much reduced scope for projects and small groups (2-3 members). Only few professors include one or two lectures on conflict resolution or high performance team characteristics. Certainly, most professors provide well defined instructions for projects and assignments, and are available for consultation. Some limited use of CATME provides team configuration, though most junior and senior project assignments rely on self-selected team members. It is also of very limited use in providing student feedback to other members of the team. Students usually limit the teamwork strategy to an initial distribution of tasks (generally predetermined by the structure of the projects) and occasional meetings to assemble the contributions in reports or presentations ("divide and conquer"). Experiences with senior students have proved that they rarely rely on effective planning, revisions and updates of a general plan. Team identity is taken for granted as defined exclusively by the expectation of getting a good grade. Techniques learned in the short first-year training, like the team contract, are hardly followed. No records of progressive work are taken. Leadership is vaguely structured unless specifically requested by the assignment. Last minute completion is generally the norm rather than the exception. Deliverables quality, sometimes outstanding, relies strongly on individual talents and exceptional efforts. Our department is planning a more structured insertion of teamwork training in the curriculum, given the increasing importance for industrial jobs in a global environment, enriched by broad diversity and reclaiming for more space for collaborative opportunities, leading to a fourth revolution in leadership styles ("collaboration leadership"). Meanwhile, a remedial solution has been in progress, providing a set of engaging activities to reinforce team skills and leadership. Teambuilding games are short (15 minutes-1 hour) in-class activities that can be accommodated in regular courses. Each game focuses on specific skills (planning, communication, collaboration, leadership, conflict resolution). Students are exposed to challenges including realistic features of team performance. Results make evident the contrasting efficacy and efficiency of various approaches. Students are then invited to reflect on the experience and results, and derive their own assessments. This paper describes in detail several team-games that have been in practice, and their impacts.