How to Design Positive and Productive Research and Project Teams

Conversations We are Not Having: How to Design Positive and Productive Research and Project Teams?

This webinar focuses on four fundamental pieces to consider in the design of positive and productive project teams: setting norms and expectations, defining shared spaces, incorporating (re)reflection, and valuing individual team members.

Type: Webinar

Delivery Method: On Demand

Level: Foundational

Duration: 1 hour

Dates & Times

Originally delivered October 14, 2025

Pricing

ASEE Members: Free
Non-members: Free

Faculty lead and contribute to a variety of research and project teams. These teams need to be able to engage in rich dialogue to make decisions; however, these conversations are impacted when teams do not have established norms and mechanisms that support the sharing and integration of ideas. At its worst, individuals can experience threats to their psychological safety, projects can flounder, and innovative ideas can get ignored. Despite the importance of team culture, faculty are not typically trained to design positive and productive teams. This session’s motivation and content comes from our experiences on research/project teams and our NSF-funded research. In this session, we will focus on four fundamental pieces to consider in the design of positive and productive project teams: setting norms and expectations, defining shared spaces, incorporating (re)reflection, and valuing individual team members. Participants will learn from our work and have the opportunity to identify and plan one experiment to implement in their team.

Speakers: Courtney Faber, University at Buffalo and Alexandra Coso Strong, Cornell University

Date Delivered: October 14, 2025

If you have questions, please contact learning@asee.org.