Team operating contract

Due 19 January 2018 Submit your project contract via the D2L dropbox for your group.

Team Operating Contract

The Team Operating Contract, or more simply the Team Contract describes the shared values of the group, and the procedures by which the team conducts its business. The Team Contract is an internal agreement by team members and is not the same as the Project Contract between the team members, the project sponsor and the instructor.

Components

A web search shows that there are several templates for team contracts for Capstone projects. We'll use the template (MS Word document) as a starting point to develop simple contracts with the following items.

1. A brief statement of shared values and priorities.
2. Roles, e.g. do you have a manager (or two managers), or rotating managers, or task leaders or ?
3. The preferred method of document collaboration, e.g. Google Docs, MS Word with "Track Changes", D2L locker, Dropbox, github or ?
4. Frequency, default location and time of group meetings.
5. Preferred methods of asynchronous group communication and collaboration, e.g., email, group text, Slack, Trello, Trello+Slack, or ?

Note that these items do not reflect the details of the design project you are working on. Rather, the team contract defines how your team collaborates to achieve a shared goal.

Your preferences for organizing group work will likely evolve during this course. That's OK. Just get started now to figure out what works for you and your team mates. This is a first draft.

Please read section 3.8 in the textbook for background information and ideas about making group decisions.

Process

It is not easy to develop a team contract. That is one reason for starting with a first draft. As you work on your contract, keep these ideas in mind:

• The contract must be agreeable to all members of the team. Period.
• Do not delegate the task of developing the team contract to one or two team members. Everyone needs to participate in developing the contract, even if one or two members are responsible for writing down the words.
• Everyone needs to agree to the final form of the contract.
• If you can't agree on ideas advocated by some team members, then the idea should not be part of the contract.
• By signing the contract you (individually!) agree to accept and adhere to the terms of the contract.
• The goal of the contract is to define a mutually compatible set of principles and practices. When you adhere to your contract, your team functions better, and that's the reason for having a contract.

Finally, given all the words written here about team contracts, you might get the impression that the contract needs to be a long and complex document. In fact, I recommend that your contract be short (about one page) and limited in scope to what you agree upon to make your team function effectively, efficiently and professionally. As complications arise, say from difficult team interactions or inefficient processes, you can add to or modify the contract. That said, the contract is not a superficial or fluid document. Make changes infrequently and with care.

Assignment for ME 492

Using the template (MS Word document) as a guide, create a brief (one page maximum), first draft, of your team contract to address each of the five items listed above. Note that the template has a place for your team name, and a signature block for all team members. Please update the template to include the names of your team members.

Each team member should sign the contract to indicate their commitment to adhere to the principles in the team contract. You can change your team name from the one initially assigned to you. Submit your contract to the D2L dropbox for your team contract.