Real Teams Research Articles

Moving toward Collective Mindsets: An Investigation of Group-based Synchrony in Work Teams

The keys to creating effective team performance have long been under investigation by researchers. Past research identifies social cohesion as an important precursor, but how to achieve social cohesion is lesser understood. This study proposes that at the core of an effective team is synchrony—the act of moving together “as one”—which has been shown to predict a variety of psychological and social outcomes. The question of whether— and if so, how—synchrony’s benefits extend to the domain of team performance, however, remains untested. This group- level study consists of examines real undergraduate student teams working together over an academic semester. This study tests a series of predictive links between synchrony, entitativity, and cohesion as team-level characteristics and their relationship to team performance. Results of structural equation models reveal that synchronous teams demonstrated greater team performance, as measured by instructor-assigned grades. Specifically, synchrony enables a social process of greater team entitativity and cohesion to emerge within teams, in turn predicting better team performance. In light of significant results, analytical alternatives for considering team-level emergent processes are provided, along with implications for leaders, managers, and educators wishing to extract the benefits of synchrony to build cohesive, yet effective, teams.

Real teams and their effect on the quality of care in nursing homes.

BackgroundUse of teams has shown to be an important factor for organizational performance. However, research has shown that a team has to meet certain criteria and operate in a certain way to realize the potential benefits of team organizing. There are few studies that have examined how teams operate in the nursing home sector and their effect on quality of care. This study investigates the relationship between teams that meet an academic definition of the team concept and quality of care in nursing homes.MethodsA cross-sectional survey of forty nursing home wards throughout Norway was used to collect the data. Five sources of data were utilized to test our research question: (1) self-report questionnaires to 444 employees, (2) interviews with 40 ward managers, (3) self-report questionnaires to 40 ward managers, (4) telephone interviews with 378 relatives, and (5) 900 hours of field observations. Use of teams in nursing home wards was assessed by field observations and by interviews with ward mangers. Quality of care was assessed by data from surveys and interviews with relatives and staff and through field observations. All data were aggregated to the ward level and two-level analyses were used to assess the relationships.ResultsThe multi-level analyses showed that teams – as operationalized in the present study – were significantly positively related to two out of the three quality of care indices when controlled for ward size, days of sick leave and care level. One significant interaction effect was found between teams and days of sick leave, implying that the effect of teams decreased with higher numbers of days of sick leave.ConclusionsThe results suggest that teams are related to higher levels of quality of care in nursing homes. However, the study shows that there is a substantial difference between real, functional teams that meet an academic definition of the concept and quasi teams, the latter having a significantly lower effect on quality of care. Hence, nursing home leaders, directors and ward leaders should be aware of the substantial differences betweens dysfunctional – or quasi – teams and real teams, and encourage the development of real functional teams to take advantage of the potential benefits of team organizing.

Team Faultline Measures

Team faultlines—hypothetical dividing lines based on member attributes that split a team into relatively homogeneous subgroups—influence team processes across contexts, as recent meta-analytic findings show. We review the available faultline measures with regard to their properties and identify several limitations, including dealing with more than two subgroups. We thus propose a new cluster-based approach, average silhouette width (ASW), that identifies the number of subgroups and subgroup membership. We then compare the measures with 1,400 simulated teams with varying properties and investigate their factor structure and their behavior under missing values. We also investigate the predictive validity of the measures with data from real work teams. Results show that different measures respond to different team features in different ways but that most of them load on two correlated factors. Taken together, the ASW measure had the most favorable attributes and was the only measure that accurately determined subgroup membership in the presence of more than two subgroups. We discuss limitations and further research opportunities pertaining to faultline measures and provide software for calculating all investigated measures at http://www.group-faultlines.org .

Illusions of team working in health care

The ubiquity and value of teams in healthcare are well acknowledged. However, in practice, healthcare teams vary dramatically in their structures and effectiveness in ways that can damage team processes and patient outcomes. The aim of this paper is to highlight these characteristics and to extrapolate several important aspects of teamwork that have a powerful impact on team effectiveness across healthcare contexts. The paper draws upon the literature from health services management and organisational behaviour to provide an overview of the current science of healthcare teams. Underpinned by the input-process-output framework of team effectiveness, team composition, team task, and organisational support are viewed as critical inputs that influence key team processes including team objectives, leadership and reflexivity, which in turn impact staff and patient outcomes. Team training interventions and care pathways can facilitate more effective interdisciplinary teamwork. The paper argues that the prevalence of the term "team" in healthcare makes the synthesis and advancement of the scientific understanding of healthcare teams a challenge. Future research therefore needs to better define the fundamental characteristics of teams in studies in order to ensure that findings based on real teams, rather than pseudo-like groups, are accumulated.

Are Real Teams Healthy Teams?

This study examines the impact of real-team--as opposed to a team in name only--characteristics (i.e., team boundaries, stability of membership, and task interdependence) on team processes (i.e., team learning and emotional support) and team effectiveness in the long-term care sector. We employed a longitudinal survey in which the real-team characteristics and team processes were rated by team members, and team effectiveness was rated one year later by team members and managers. Our results show that team learning and emotional support are predictors of team effectiveness as rated by team members and managers. They also show that there is no such thing as a real team in the long-term care sector because each real-team characteristic has a different impact on team processes and effectiveness. Whereas one set of real-team characteristics (i.e., stability of membership) is beneficial for healthy team processes and team effectiveness, another set (i.e., team boundaries) has only an indirect effect on team effectiveness via team processes or is even detrimental (i.e., task interdependence). We conclude that more intensive teamwork in the long-term care sector will lead to better outcomes if this teamwork involves increased stability of membership and clarified team boundaries but not if it involves added task interdependency among team members.

PRACTITIONER APPLICATION: Are Real Teams Healthy Teams?

director, Center for Advancing Professional Practice, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas, Texas

Unannounced in situ simulations: integrating training and clinical practice

Simulation-based training for healthcare providers is well established as a viable, efficacious training tool, particularly for the training of non-technical team-working skills. These skills are known to be critical to...

Disminución de la incidencia de úlceras por presión en Cuidados Intensivos: objetivo de un programa de mejora asistencial

INTRODUCCIÓN. En sanidad, la aparición de úlceras por presión (upp), es considerado un fracaso asistencial y un gran reto al que se enfrenta el profesional de Enfermería. En cuidados intensivos, objetivamos una serie de factores que aumentan el riesgo de aparición y desarrollo de upp. Como enfermeros, tomamos conciencia de nuestro papel en la prevención y tratamiento de las upp en nuestra unidad de cuidados intensivos (UCI-1, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias) y emprendimos medidas para disminuirlas y mejorar la calidad asistencial proporcionada. OBJETIVOS. Aumentar la calidad asistencial Disminuir las tasas de úlceras por presión MATERIAL Y MÉTODO. Estudio descriptivo, prospectivo. Muestra, N: 1265 enfermos. Realizándose seguimiento diario de enfermos a través de hoja de valoración específica. Los enfermos valorados presentaban riesgo medio- alto de padecer upp por escala Braden y riesgo bajo por dicha escala pero con condiciones particulares de riesgo objetivables. Se introducen medidas preventivas consensuadas por el equipo investigador (descritas en el trabajo de investigación). RESULTADOS. Bajada significativa de las tasas de incidencia a los cuatro meses de introducir medidas estandarizadas de prevención y mejora asistencial. CONCLUSIONES. La concienciación y unificación de criterios preventivos y de tratamiento resultó ser decisiva en la bajada significativa de la incidencia de upp y en el logro de aumento de la calidad asistencial real percibida por todo el equipo interdisciplinar.

Evolution of project teams for Generation Y workforce

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a knowledge base for project managers to understand and deal with issues that arise out of Generation Y working with other generations. The research study is expected to generate interest among the research community for undertaking similar studies to advance understanding on this interesting and important topic.Design/methodology/approachThis research method consists of analyzing literature review findings and survey results of an exploratory study of Generation Y working professionals. Both the literature review findings and the study results were analyzed to develop findings and recommendations.FindingsResearch results confirmed that the generation gap is an issue. Generation Y is viewed unfavorably and they face struggles in dealing with other generations. These generation gap issues might vary depending on the type of industry and composition of the workforce. People from each generation – raised in different social and technological contexts – bring different attitudes, values, and work ethics to the workplace and a project manager is required to manage these to improve project team effectiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe research study has a participant selection bias; only Gen Y working professionals from the USA participated in the study and people from other generations and Generation Y people from other countries were not included in the study. Therefore, study results do not reflect issues from the perspectives of other generations. A similar study that considers participation of people from real project teams consisting of different generations is recommended to validate the research results of this study.Practical implicationsThe paper explored issues concerning project teams consisting of members from different generations. Results are expected to help project managers develop team management strategies. This study is also aimed to develop a foundation for future studies to examine how project management can deal with project teams consisting of people of different generations working together. The study findings and implications for practical use are limited due to participation bias.Originality/valueThe study is an original effort in examining some of the issues related to different generations working together in a project environment. Results are of relevance in today's corporate world. Project teams span many generations and present challenges in developing them into a high performing team. This paper addresses some of the challenges from the perspective of Generation Y.

Implementation teams: A new lever for organizational change

SummaryThis paper introduces a team form called an “implementation team”—a team charged with designing and leading the implementation of an organization‐wide change strategy—and investigates this team type in a context ripe for change, U.S. public school systems. Unlike prior teams research that has focused on teams as diagnostic collectives or strategic decision‐making bodies, this study forwards the notion that teams can be used to implement organizational change. In this study, we examined how positional and tenure diversity and work context relate to team member learning, a critical factor in sustaining organizational change. Results from 25 school district instructional improvement strategy teams over two years challenge some basic assumptions regarding what constitutes a “real team.” We find that some taken‐for‐granted aspects of teams, such as team member stability, may not be central or even appropriate when considering “real teams” in this change context; rather than stability of team membership, the stability of members' roles may matter most. We conclude by suggesting that scholars further investigate this team form and reframe, reconsider, and renew their conceptualizations of “real teams,” especially for teams engaged in implementing organizational change. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Knowledge Transferring Features in Traditional Construction Project Team in China: Based on SNA

For the uniqueness and one-time feature, construction project is urgently needed in knowledge transferring to acquire its high performance. This paper focuses in the exploration of knowledge transferring features from the network perspective. Based on the data from a real construction project team of 40 members, we find that all members have knowledge transferring behavior, while the knowledge transferring density is comparatively low and distance is long; from cluster analysis we find that 89 different clusters in the whole network, and some members (especially the managers) repeated appear in different clusters and assume the responsibilities in coordinating knowledge transferring.

Modeling the influence of trust on work team performance

The selection of suitable people to make up a successful work team is not a trivial decision-making process, because of the diversity and complexity of the factors that influence individual and team performance. Teams are assembled by project managers using their experience and the information they have available (although this is frequently scarce, uncertain, and dynamic) about the personal and professional characteristics of potential team members. In this paper, we introduce an agent-based model developed to support this decision-making process where a virtual team can be configured using some selected characteristics of potential team members. Fuzzy sets and fuzzy rules are used to model the interaction between team members and a given set of tasks, generating statistical information that represents possible performance by team members. More specifically, the paper focuses on the concept of trust, an important social skill that influences performance at individual (team member) and global (work team) levels. We describe the implementation of an agent-based simulation system where the user can test different team configurations to compare performance and select the best possible work team for a given project. The evaluation and validation of the model was performed through face validity and historical data validation techniques, which are based on information collected from real work teams. The results show the suitability of the model as a helpful tool in the formation and configuration of work teams for specific scenarios.

How Real Managers In The Real World Build Real Teams: A Call For Relevance

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Few places in the management literature is there a greater divide between theory and practice than in Team Building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Yes, academics have thoroughly researched what this “ideal team” should look like, its various developmental stages, even the proper mix of roles – yet this author would argue we as educators and consultants know little of how to really develop teams and offer even less of this in equipping our students-managers for this central task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The purpose of this paper is a call for relevance – a challenge to move from speculative theory on team development to actual practice – identifying what works and what doesn’t. Following a literature review which underlines how theoretical our field has become concerning team development, an actual research study will be reported.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Forty-two MBA students participated in a study where near ideal work teams were developed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Then these same students were asked, “What went right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Identify four lessons you learned on how to build an energized team.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The following is a partial list of student observations on what contributed most to an ideal team: listening, clearly defined goals and tasks, respect for each other, urgency of time, strong norms that rejected loafers, lack of formal structure, and allowing natural leaders to lead.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The paper ends with a discussion on implications for managers hoping to develop energized work teams:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">                     </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Ad Hoc Teams are Best</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Standing groups which lack “Sunset Causes” tend to become political over time.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">                     </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Find the Right Mix between Formal and Informal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Informal gives energy, formal gives needed structure.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">                     </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Leadership Must Emerge Early in the Process and be Accepted by Most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>There is a critical moment where leaderless teams dissolve into political games.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">                     </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Strong Norms of Mutual Respect Must be Present from the Beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The tendency toward competition in early team formation must quickly be moderated and directed toward task completion.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoBlockText" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">In conclusion, our theoretical traditions have led us to a profound understanding of group dynamics, but to remain relevant we owe our students a practical guide as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>A guide that discussed how Real Managers in the Real World develop Real Teams.</span></span></p>

Moderating Effect of Team Distributedness on Organizational Dimensions for Innovation Project Success

This article addresses the issue of geographically distributed work teams that carry out new product development projects. These are task-oriented, goal-driven, temporary teams that use ICTs. This exploratory study measures the moderating affect of team distributedness on the relationships between organizational and workforce management best practices and two measures of project success (efficacy and effectiveness). Data were obtained from real teams working in Canadian companies in diverse high-tech industries. The results show a moderating effect of team distributedness, which is interesting in that the distributedness factor is examined from a different perspective, that is, as a moderating rather than an explanatory dimension.

Oral Iron Treatment Has a Positive Effect on Iron Metabolism in Elite Soccer Players

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of oral iron supplementation on hematological and iron metabolism in elite soccer players. Thirty-five members of the Real Zaragoza SAD soccer team took part in this study: group A (GA, n = 24; Spanish Premier League) took an oral iron supplement of 80mg day(-1) for 3weeks, and group B (GB, n = 11; Spanish Third Division League) did not receive any supplementation. In GA, the parameters were measured before and after giving the iron supplements, while in GB, measurements were only made at the time of collecting the second set of data from GA. After supplementation, GA showed an increase in serum iron (SI) (P < 0.05), serum ferritin (Ftn) (P < 0.01), and transferrin saturation (Sat) (P < 0.01) with respect to the basal values. In addition, GA showed higher values of hematocrit (P < 0.01), mean corpuscular volume (P < 0.01), Ftn (P < 0.01), and Sat (P < 0.01) than GB. No significant differences were found in any other parameters. More specifically, a higher percentage of players had Ftn levels above upper limits in GA vs. GB (P < 0.05), and GB had a higher incidence of Ftn below lower limits with respect to subjects in GA (P < 0.01). Further, after treatment, 58.3% of GA had >800mg of SI, while all players in GB presented levels below the lower limits. In conclusion, iron supplementation with 80mg·day(-1) for 3weeks, before the start of the soccer season, can be recommended for elite soccer players.

Using colleague and team photographs in recruitment advertisements: Effects on applicant attraction

Three studies examined the practice of placing a photograph of individuals in recruitment advertisements. Study 1 investigated why New Zealand organizations included a photograph in their recruitment advertisements. Results indicated that only half of the organizations sampled used photographs of actual employees, and that photographs were included because of expected positive effects on applicant attraction. Study 2 compared accountants' perceptions of five recruitment advertisements. It was predicted that responses to an advertisement would be significantly affected by the photograph it included. Results confirmed this, with the advertisement showing a team rated as ‘liked’ producing significantly more favourable ratings of organizational image and applicant attraction. Study 3 compared advertisements showing photographs of a real team, a group of models and a text-only version. It was predicted that the real team would prompt larger ratings of organizational trust and applicant attraction. Results supported this prediction. Overall, the studies suggest that applicant attraction is affected by exposure to a photograph in a recruitment advertisement, and the nature of the photograph used has important implications for recruitment.

Residents' and nurses' perceptions of team function in the medical intensive care unit

Background Team-based care is integral to modern intensive care units (ICUs). Trainee physicians (“residents”) serve as core team members who provide direct patient care in academic ICUs. However, little is known about how resident perceptions of ICU team function differ from those of other disciplines. Therefore, we compared residents' perceptions to those of nurses', the other predominant direct caregiver group, in the medical ICU. Methods A cross-sectional survey was performed with validated team function scales including presence of a real team, communication quality, collaboration, and coordination. The survey was administered to nurses and residents in medical ICUs in an urban academic medical center. We analyzed differences between nurses and residents both in their responses and in their perceptions of how constructs were interrelated. Results Residents felt that the team was more bounded, was more collaborative, and planned its work to a greater degree, but they were less satisfied with communication, compared with nurses. Residents and nurses perceived relationships between team function constructs in very similar ways. Both groups felt that communication openness and collaboration were positively associated but that communication accuracy and timeliness were negatively correlated, revealing an opportunity to improve overall team performance. Conclusions We found important differences in the way that ICU nurses and medical trainee physicians, the predominant types of providers caring for the critically ill in academic medical center ICUs, perceive key aspects of team function. These results may be useful to those responsible for administering academic ICUs as well as to residency program directors developing communication- and team-based curricula.

Global teams: a network analysis

PurposeIn the last few years, several empirical studies about the determinants and success factors of global teams have been published. While these studies show many interesting results, they are often focused on single variables such as cultural homogeneity, cooperation length, or task complexity, but rarely analyze the complex relationships between these concepts. The aim of this paper is to explore how members of global teams consider the relevance of different determinants of their cooperation, how these determinants are interrelated, and how they influence team performance.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a network study of global teams in the automotive and airline industries is presented. Based on interviews with the members of nine teams in three companies the software programs NVivo and UCINET were applied for a construct causal network analysis of the relationships between various team characteristics and their impact on team performance.FindingsThe study shows that the interaction of team members from different cultures does not directly impact the productivity and creativity of teams. This relationship is rather influenced by various determinants such as task complexity, language skills, communication media and intercultural training.Research limitations/implicationsA restriction of this study is its regional concentration on teams with members from European cultures. Future research should broaden this perspective and focus on global teams with a more diverse composition in terms of culture. For example, it would be interesting to know whether for global teams in Asia, South America or Asia similar or different determinants are relevant.Originality/valueThe study enhances the knowledge of the complex interrelationships between various determinants of global teams and their impact on team performance. A major methodological contribution is the analysis of real teams, enabling a far more realistic picture than previous experimental studies conducted in this area that deal with simulated teams, whose members do not have a shared past nor a shared future.

Interview with Takashi Shimamura (“Shima”)

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an interview with Shimamura Takashi, Nike Japan HR Business Partner and Asia Talent Acquisition Director for Nike, Inc.Design/methodology/approachThis briefing is prepared by an independent interviewer.FindingsTakashi Shimamura, Nike Japan HR Business Partner since 2006, has abundant experience of talent planning and development in multinational operations as well as in bridging Japanese business with global business operation. His strength is in identifying focused “people &amp; organizational agendas/strategies” to meet business imperatives in real teams, as opposed to just in theory, and implementing in a flexible manner.Practical implicationsProvides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.Originality/valueThis interview provides insights into the employee engagement and talent management strategies that have been implemented by Nike, one of the most recognized international brands in the world.

AN INTERACTIVE ZOO GUIDE: A CASE STUDY OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

Real Industry Projects and team work can have a great impact on student learning but providing these activities requires significant commitment from academics. It requires several years planning implementing to create a collaborative learning environment that mimics the real world ICT (Information and Communication Technology) industry workplace. In this project, staff from all the three faculties, namely the Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science, Faculty of Arts, Education and Human Development, and Faculty of Business and Law in higher education work together to establish a detailed project management plan and to develop the unit guidelines for participating students. The proposed project brings together students from business, multimedia and computer science degrees studying their three project-based units within each faculty to work on a relatively large IT project with our industry partner, Melbourne Zoo. This paper presents one multimedia software project accomplished by one of the multi-discipline student project teams. The project was called 'Interactive ZooOz Guide' and developed on a GPS-enabled PDA device in 2007. The developed program allows its users to navigate through the Zoo via an interactive map and provides multimedia information of animals on hotspots at the 'Big Cats' section of the Zoo so that it enriches user experience at the Zoo. A recent development in zoo applications is also reviewed. This paper is also intended to encourage academia to break boundaries to enhance students' learning beyond classroom.