Collaborative Teamwork in Crossdisciplinarity

Abstract

Polytechnique M ontreal has integrated an approach of teamwork in its twelve engineering programs, in the bachelor's degree program since 2005. Students must take a compulsory 45 hours course on teamwork and are then accompanied with team coaching throughout the four years program, in all the engineering integration projects. These integration projects are generally ones in which, over a session, the students work in teams to conceive an engineering project. From the creation of a model of a bridge, to the production of a miniature robot, or the design of an industrial product, the projects are as varied as the teams. Within the framework of these projects (1 per year), a group communication specialist meets every team for approximately 60 minutes. This process promotes the transfer of the accumulated knowledge acquired in the teamwork course to their projects and helps identify the group processes at play in their teamwork dynamics. These meetings incite the members of a team to explain their work method, their internal organization, their decision-making process, as well as to give feedback with the objective of finding solutions and taking action. The specialist, during this type of follow-up, acts as a mentor. Along with these m eetings is added a service of crisis management for the teams in difficulty. The specialist attempts, with the team, to define as clearly as possible the dynamic and relational aspects of the problems and they focus on helping the group find a solution for better teamwork. During this type of follow-up, the specialist acts as an advisor. Hence, an experiential approach and a solution-oriented approach used throughout the learning process allows the development of skills in teamwork for the students. The objective pursued by this article is to present an innovative formula used by Polytechnique Montreal and to demonstrate by clear examples how it allows the development of skills in teamwork in all the scientific disciplines. In fact, the experiential approach and the approach oriented to the solutions used at Polytechnique Montreal could be transferred in disciplines as varied as design, computer science, engineering or even ergonomics.