Capstone Project Team Formation: Mingling Increases Performance and Motivation

Teams. Teams. Teams. They’re everywhere. Be they an engineering design team, a supply chain management team, or a critical nursing team in a hospital, the ability to operate effectively in a team is critical to success. Professional schools have responded by implementing team activities throughout the academic process. This teaching brief focuses on team formation in a capstone class. Capstone projects allow students to experience what the real world will offer them by applying their skills and decision-making tools to solve genuine problems. Students typically work in teams to define the problem, develop a cost-effective solution, plan and test its implementation, and report findings and recommendations to sponsors. A variety of methods have been used for team formation. These include: