Team Contract
Drafting a team contract is important for groups of people who may have never worked together before, whose members do not meet face-to-face or the time they will be working together is long term. The goal is to come to agreement on how the group will collaborate to meet a shared goal, correspond while completing the task and reprimand those who do not fulfill their roles. The five steps for creating a team contract are below.
Part 1: Group Goals
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Specify your group goals so that everyone in the group is on the same page in terms of performance expectations of the group. Be specific. This part of the document can address the following and additional goals you might think are important:
a) a goal for the group's score on the paper and presentation;
b) a goal for the group's rank at the end of the simulation.
Part 2: Group Simulation Strategy/Priorities
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This part needs to be discussed when you meet to create the team contract, but it does not need to be written up as part of the team contract unless you would like to have it in there. The group needs to designate three of the available practice options as your top priorities.
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Part 3: Rules, Roles, and Norms for Task Completion
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In this part, use what you learned in classes on team dynamics and project management to come up with specific rules and expectations of members. These could include things like who will be in charge of what task (e.g., bringing the computer to sessions, inputting the group's decisions, tracking decisions and results, writing and editing the paper, making the presentation, etc.), how much absenteeism/tardiness will be tolerated before sanctions will be imposed, where and when meetings outside of class will take place, etc.
Part 4: Rules, Roles, and Norms for Communication and Conflict Management
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In this part, be clear about how group members are expected to communicate with each other, such as what channels will be used, when communication is expected (e.g., if a member can't make a meeting), etc. Also discuss how conflicts will be handled, such as who will play the role of mediator, how the conflict will be sorted out, etc. In this part, please also include a description of how any "social loafing" that may occur the group will be addressed. Social loafing includes failing to attend or be prepared for the simulation sessions and failing to provide adequate input into the group's decisions.
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Part 5: Sanctions for Rule Violations, Poor Task Performance, etc. and Process for Firing a Group Member
If you have done a good job on the rest of the document, this part should be easy. For each rule or expectation identified above, specify what the sanctions will be if a member does not follow them. For some rules, you may want to specify a progressive set of sanctions. Also specify the group's process for dealing with members with multiple or egregious violations, including the process for firing a group member.
Updating the Team Contract
As things progress in the course (e.g., new tasks arise), you may find the need to update your team contract. This is expected, but if you do this, please be sure to turn in a copy of your updated document to the professor.
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All members need to have seen and agreed to all the final components of the team contract before it is turned in.