Peer Review Exercise (Team Work) (65 minutes)

Names of Members of the Team

Instructions: You are to first PLAN how to perform a peer review of other people’s work on a class assignment. You will NOTstart by reviewing each other’s work. Your objective is to examine the team process in the context of planning an activity. As you have learned, successful team work follows a structured problem solving process. People come together to accomplish a goal, with information to share, and each step of the problem solving process is followed. Team members perform various functions in making sure that the problem solving process is followed.

Please use the following steps in planning your review of each other’s work. It is not necessary that you actually complete the review of each others workto receive credit. However, it is necessary that you have procedures in place to help you remain on task and work through these steps in a timely fashion. This will allow you to provide your own reflection on the team process involved.

Preliminary Step: Appoint a member of your team to do the following on behalf of your team.

Team Role / Person Assigned this Role
Lead Facilitor:
The lead facilitator is responsible for keeping the team on task.
Timekeeper:
The timekeeper reports to the team when time has expired concerning a particular task
Recordkeeper
The recordkeeper records team decisions and other information.
Gatekeeper
Makes sure all members are respected and have input. (Facilitator often performs)

______

Step 1: Determine the desired state

Time Limit:5 minutes

Description of task:
Determine what you want to accomplish. Prepare a one or two sentence statement that defines that purpose. Make sure everyone agrees to accept this goal as the goal of the team. Pay particular attention to what each individual member wants to achieve as part of the review process and make sure it is reflected in the team’s goal.

Team’s DesiredState: (one or two sentences)

Step 1.5: Agree on the decision criteria

Time Limit: 5 minutes

Description of task:

Identify the conditions that must exist for you to believe you have reached your desired state. You should have about 3-5 conditions. These conditions will allow your team to decide how well you have achieved your desired state. One condition that I have given you as a constraint is that the reviews must last no more than 30 minutes.

Constraints:

1. Peer reviews can all together last no more than 30 minutes

2.

3.

Criteria that will be used to determine success in achieving team’s desired state:





Step 2: Analyze the situation

Time Limit: 5 minutes

Description of task:

Determine what resources/tools/information you have to work with in order to accomplish your task. This would involve assessing the degree of work completed for each team member. It would also involve taking inventory of handouts and seeing if you can use the instructor as a resource.

Describe or list the resources and information you have available below





Step 3: Develop alternative solutions:

Time limit: 10 minutes

Description of task:

Here is where you want to decide HOW you will conduct your review of each other’s work in order to achieve your team’s desired state. Please do not include any solutions that do not comply with the constraints that you have identified. The descriptions of your solutions should be specific.

Describe below at least two alternative solutions your team considered.

At a minimum, you should explain exactly what tasks need to be completed, who will complete the tasks, any materials or supplies that they will need, and the time it will take.

Solution 1.

Solution 2.

Step 4: Choose the solution:

Time limit: 5 minutes

Description of task:

Using the criteria you developed above, evaluate each solution and choose the best one. Hint! You might want to try a decision matrix. (See next page)

(Note, if you find that your team argues at this stage, it is likely that the desired state has not been adequately defined. Do NOT go back and adjust the desired state. Just proceed with a solution and do your best to complete the process.)

Criteria / Solution 1 / Solution 2









Total

Indicate your choice of a solution below:

Step 5: Plan and implement your chosen solution.
If you have time, start the process of reviewing each other’s work using the plan you have developed.

Time limit: 30 minutes

Step 6: Follow-up

Time limit: 5 minutes in team
(You will need to complete the remaining portions as homework).

Description of task:

1. Members should share whether or not they felt the team achieved its desired state according to the criteria they defined to measure that state.

2. Then, as time permits answer the following questions. If you do not complete in class, answer them as individuals as homework.

  1. Did each member feel that their individual goals were accomplished? Why or why not?
  1. Was the facilitator effective in their role? Why or why not?
  1. Was the timekeeper effective in their role? Why or why not?
  1. Was the record keeper effective in their role? Why or why not?
  1. If your team was not forced by this exercise to discuss goals and assess the situation, would the work have proceeded in the same way? How would it have been different? How would you have decided on a process to use? Would it be as effective? Why or why not?
  2. What did you learn from this exercise about teams? In particular, what can you say about roles? What can you say about structure? What can you say about the relationship to the problem solving process and its relationship to teams?

********************************************

Class discussion only

Considering the team process that we used, comment about the following.

  1. Do you feel the team moved efficiently? Why or why not?
  2. Do you feel the team stayed on task? Why or why not?
  3. Do you feel team members judged or evaluated solutions as they were expressed? Explain
  4. Choose a solution. Did you use the decision matrix? Why or why not?
  5. Did you get through implementing? Why or why not?
  6. Now go to the questions on page 4 and answer them (if you haven't already)

Answering these questions can be homework if you don't have time during class.

1