A First Step to Effective Team Communication: ‘What’ are my team members? Getting engineers to see the ‘who’

06 June, 2015

Published on June 1, 2015

For most engineers, teamwork is an important skill that is key to success in industry, but one that is not often taught or even explicitly addressed. Educators like Patricia Sheridan are trying to change that: her work focuses on engineering student design teams, but what she has found is relevant to all practicing engineers. In a series of three columns, she explores the concept of moving beyond the conventional understanding of team members as their contributions, and understanding them as people, as a way of improving team communication and performance. Read her first piece, on why we need to see the “who” in the team members, here.