Learning to work in a team

This part has to do with learning to work together. I'm going to ask you to think individually, a few seconds about what are the basic elements involved in a team effort to make it effective.

Now talk to the fellow next door.

• So, here are some ideas, tell a basic element, which must be present in effective teamwork.
• I thought of empathy, namely step into the shoes of another.
• More elements, for example ... you.
• More involvement of all members of the group.
• Involvement of all members of the group, more ideas...
• A leader in the group
• There has to be a leader in the group... we shall see, are closely related to what you say.

The importance of teamwork in engineering and in many areas, we say that engineers are one of the groups in large proportion, that in the professional work as a team. Whenever we think of engineering projects of different types, we think of teams of engineers and people with other profiles that must work together. There are other professions where you have to work in groups: the case of football, the case of medicine, doctors working in operations ... team of surgeons and other professionals.

In general, when working in a group, the point you have to consider is that all members must work towards a common goal. That common goal in the field of engineering is usually the development of an ambitious project. So engineers typically work in teams, because we want to develop a project that is ambitious and requires the participation of many members to be successful.

Typically a company, what they want in the selection of staff is often more focused on generic skills, or general skills, than specific. A person, for the simple fact of having a degree, a diploma… is supposed that already handle specific competencies, but it is less clear whether this person handled reasonably generic skills.

Companies are concerned that the results of the projects are successful. They do not really care if a member of a team is a “genius” but they care that this person, who might be “genius”, can properly participate in a team so that the project as a whole finally successful.