Teamwork
Quality & Learning Cultures | Effective Teamwork | Problems | Role Examples
A teaching laboratory is a collaborative learning community (CLC) and depends on knowledge, communication, cooperation, trust, collaboration, maturation, and maintenance. Teamwork is an essential part of a CLC with a team consisting of two or more individuals each with a specific role who perform interdependent tasks, are adaptable, and share a common goal. Due to the complexity and interdisciplinary requirements in research and production, scientists generally work as teams whether in the industry, university, clinical, or medical arenas. Internal teamwork plays a key role in enhancing safety and quality control and creates a culture of continuous quality improvement within the laboratory. To work effectively together in an undergraduate laboratory setting, team members must learn and then perform the three aspects of teamwork:
- Communication
- Listen well.
- Observe carefully.
- Give constructive feedback.
- Participation in KSAs
- Knowledge of you and your team’s assigned tasks.
- Skills to perform tasks (manual, verbal, or mental manipulation of data or things)
- Attitude (positive disposition toward working in a team and completing specific tasks) OR Ability (the power to perform an observable task at the present time)
- Responsibility
- Monitor your team’s performance on specific tasks (including your own performance).
- Monitor goals, outcomes, and deadlines.
- Encourage two-way communication.
- Be open to new ideas, feedback, and suggestions.
- Encourage and support the reporting of issues, problems, events, and errors but do not tolerate culpable behaviors.
- Issues, problems, events, and errors are handled as learning opportunities, with corrective actions implemented by the lab team.
- Recognize effort.
- Help all team members succeed.
- Assign a project coordinator/task manager that will:
- Make sure that the deadlines are met.
- Focus the team on tasks (both short term and long term).
- Get participation from all team members.
- Suggest alternative procedures when the team is stalled.
- Help team members confront problems.
- Summarize and clarify the team’s decisions.
- Define the role of each member by clearly defining the specific task responsibilities needed for that role including outcomes for each task and the expected deadlines. Examples of roles may include record keeper, time keeper, assessor, IT specialist, etc.
- Assign roles and tasks to each team member. The coordinator may need to be assigned another task within the coordinator role.
Sometimes, you may have a non-team player (i.e., one who does nothing to contribute), resolve the problem as soon as you notice the issue by calmly asking for the task to be completed. If that does not work, ask the lab instructor for help.
pH & Conductivity
- Time & record keeper:
- each time point is being met
- 'Collect' button is selected at the correct time
- enters results into the task sheet and Excel workbook
- helps everyone stay on task
- IT specialist:
- manages the Vernier software and sensors
- clicks the 'Collect' button at the time indicated by the T&R keeper
- Measurement specialist:
- retrieves the solutions
- makes sure correct solutions are being used and recorded
- Custodian: this role is shared among all team members.
Macromolecules
- Time keeper:
- makes sure each time point and incubation is being met
- helps everyone stay on task
- Measurement specialist:
- labels the tube cuvettes
- retrieves the solutions
- makes sure correct solutions are being used and recorded
- Spectrophotometer specialist & recorder:
- uses the spectrophotometer
- enters results into the task sheet and Excel workbook
- Custodian: this role is shared among all team members.
Osmosis & Diffusion
- Time & record keeper:
- makes sure each time point is being met
- 'Collect' button is selected at the correct time
- enters results into the task sheet and Excel workbook
- helps everyone stay on task
- IT specialist:
- manages the Vernier software and sensors
- clicks the 'Collect' button at the time indicated by the T&R keeper
- Measurement specialist:
- labels the beaker and retrieves the solutions
- makes sure the correct solutions and quantities are being used and recorded
- takes potato mass measurements
- tells the T&R keeper the mass results
- Custodian: this role is shared among all team members
Respiration & Fermentation
- Time & record keeper/IT specialist:
- makes sure that the incubations and runs are being kept
- manages the Vernier software and sensors
- clicks the 'Collect' button at the time
- Water bath & temperature attendant: maintains temperature of water bath
- Measurement specialist:
- labels the tubes and retrieves the solutions
- makes sure correct solutions and quantities are being used and recorded
- enters the results into the task sheet and Excel workbook
- helps everyone stay on task
- Custodian: this role is shared among all team members.
Photosynthesis
- Time & record keeper:
- each time point is being met
- 'Collect' button is selected at the correct time
- IT specialist:
- manages the Vernier software and sensors
- helps everyone stay on task
- Measurement specialist:
- retrieves the spinach leaves
- results are entered into the task sheet and Excel workbook
- Custodian: this role is shared among all team members
Skin Vascularity
- Time & record keeper:
- each time point is being met; baseline and cold recovery (ice)
- 'Collect' button is selected at the correct time
- enters the results into the task sheet and Excel workbook
- Subject:
- the student that will be connected to the Surface Temperature Sensor by having the thermistor end (the tip) taped to their skin
- holds the ice in place
- helps everyone stay on task
- IT specialist:
- manages the Vernier software
- tapes the sensors to the subject
- clicks the 'Collect' button at the time indicated by the T&R keeper
- Custodian: this role is shared among all team members
Electrophoresis
Regardless of role - each team member needs to use the micropipette to load a DNA sample into one of the six gel wells.
- Time keeper:
- makes sure each time point is being met (making the gel, running the gel, staining)
- helps everyone stay on task
- Measurement specialist:
- retrieves the reagents to make the gel
- retrieves the DNA sample microfuge tubes
- makes sure correct amount of DNA sample is being placed in the correct well
- Electrophoresis specialist:
- the gel tray and gel comb are placed correctly when the gel is being poured
- connects the gel box to the power supply, the electrodes are in the correct position
- turns on the power supply using the correct settings
- Custodian: this role is shared among all team members.
Electrolytes
- Time & record keeper:
- each time point is being met
- 'Collect' button is selected at the correct time
- enters results into the task sheet and Excel workbook
- helps everyone stay on task
- IT specialist:
- manages the Vernier software and sensors
- clicks the 'Collect' button at the time indicated by the T&R keeper
- Measurement specialist:
- retrieves the solutions
- makes sure correct solutions are being used and recorded
- Custodian: this role is shared among all team members.
Neuromuscular Reflexes
- Time & record keeper:
- each time point is being met
- 'Collect' button is selected at the correct time
- enters the results into the task sheet and Excel workbook
- Subject:
- the student that will be connected to the EKG Sensor and the Accelerometer by having the red and green leads and electrode tabs attached to their skin
- helps everyone stay on task
- IT specialist:
- manages the Vernier software
- attaches the red and green leads and electrode tabs to the subject
- clicks the 'Collect' button at the time indicated by the T&R keeper
- Custodian: this role is shared among all team members