I do this annually to a group of about 10-20 students (that is
I train a group on how to become a team).
In short - my approach is to explain to them (in the abstract)
what are teams, why the students (as engineers in my case) need
to be able to work in teams, a way of looking at teams (Belbin's role
model) and various facilitation ideas for accelerating team
formation (norming stroming forming performing). Then
I give them a difficult task and leave the room.
Generally the task is to find, assimilate and present information;
some examples can be found at my web site below.
Specifically, there is a review article (No. 2) on this approach at:
http://www.ee.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Teaching/
The conclusion reads:
With such a small sample, it would be inappropriate to make claims for
this approach to teamwork training over any other. However, it is clear
that the course and its methods are perceived by the students as being
highly successful. That the students understood and accepted the
intended emphasis is evidenced directly in their feedback; and even a
year after the induction lecture, the students continue to adapt to
different "roles" according to the group's needs and to take personal
responsibility for advancing team skills. Thus the approach advocated in
the lecture has been adopted, retained and approved by practice. Indeed,
as can be seen from the feedback discussion, the students display an
informed introspection about their own team skills, and a degree of
confidence in team tasks, which would be the envy of most industrial
companies.
Gerard M Blair, Senior Lecturer, The Department of Electrical Engineering,
The University of Edinburgh, EH9 3JL, Scotland, UK
Management home page: http://www.ee.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management