1.11: Forming Teams for the Practicum

Forming Teams for the Practicum

Project management is not a solo endeavor. Nearly every milestone in this book—and every meaningful project in the real world—depends on your ability to collaborate, communicate, and lead within a team.

This practicum is designed to simulate real organizational behavior, and that includes the complexities, messiness, and rewards of working with others. You will not only build deliverables—you will build a functional team.

Whether your group is assigned or self-selected, how you set up and manage your team from Day 1 will directly impact your experience and outcomes.

Why Team Formation Matters

You might be tempted to start working on your milestone immediately—especially if deadlines are tight. But skipping over proper team formation is one of the fastest ways to derail momentum.

Clarifying expectations, roles, communication habits, and decision-making protocols early will help your team:

• Reduce confusion about who owns what
• Avoid duplicated or missing work
• Resolve conflicts without escalation
• Deliver higher-quality products—faster
• Feel more supported and confident

In other words: Investing in the team is investing in the project.

The Components of a Strong Team

Effective project teams typically define the following components up front:

Element	What to Discuss
Team Name	Choose a name that reflects your collective identity or purpose (e.g., ApexPM, Team Vanguard). It builds group cohesion.
Role Assignments	Assign roles based on interest, skill, or rotation plan. Use the Team Role Assignment Sheet to capture who owns what.
Availability	What days/times can you meet? When will deliverables be worked on? Use a shared calendar or Google Sheet.
Communication Channels	Will you use email, Slack, Discord, group text? Where will you post updates and documents?
File Sharing and Version Control	Agree on a shared folder (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox) and document naming format.
Meeting Schedule and Cadence	Decide if you’ll meet synchronously (Zoom/in person) or asynchronously (chat + comments).
Decision-Making Process	Will you vote? Use consensus? Designate the PM to break ties? Define this in advance.
Conflict Resolution Plan	If a conflict arises, how will it be addressed? Discuss escalation paths early—even if you never use them.

Sample Roles You May Assign

Each team is different, but here are common functional roles used across this course:

Role	Responsibilities
Project Manager (PM)	Organizes meetings, sets deadlines, tracks team progress, keeps the team on schedule
Facilities Lead	Leads research on real estate/location-based decisions
IT Lead	Focuses on technical needs like server requirements and infrastructure capacity
Finance Lead	Builds and validates cost models and projections
Presentation Lead	Designs slides and coordinates the executive briefing
Document Manager	Owns formatting, naming, storage, and submission of files
Reflection Facilitator	Ensures lessons learned and feedback are captured after each milestone

These roles may rotate by milestone or remain fixed. Use what works best for your group size and team strengths.

 Tools to Help You Form Your Team

You are provided with two practical tools to support this process:

1. CBay_Team_Role_Assignment_Sheet.docx

• A simple worksheet to assign functional roles to individuals
• Use this to avoid ambiguity about who is responsible for each domain

1. CBay_Project_Process_Planning_Sheet_With_Example.xlsx

• Helps your team define how you will operate
• Includes space for assigning ownership of key team processes (e.g., communication, quality control)

These tools should be completed as part of your Week 1 team setup. Your instructor may collect them, or they may simply serve as internal team contracts.

Team Norms to Discuss

Use the prompts below to build alignment:

• “What does ‘on time’ mean for us?”
• “How will we handle it if someone disappears?”
• “Do we want to rotate the PM role or keep it fixed?”
• “Are we OK giving each other feedback—and how will we do it?”
• “What’s the best way to get unstuck if I don’t understand something?”

These may seem small—but these discussions are what make or break team trust.

Warning Signs of Team Trouble

If your team is experiencing any of the following after Week 2, flag it with your instructor:

• One or two people doing all the work
• Missed meetings or unresponsive teammates
• No shared timeline or file organization
• Avoidance of hard conversations
• Confusion over who’s responsible for what

All of these are solvable—but only if they’re surfaced and addressed early.

Final Thought

In real life, project success is rarely about just what you did. It’s also about how you did it—and who you did it with.

By investing in your team culture from the start, you’ll not only produce stronger work—you’ll also practice the communication, leadership, and negotiation skills that set great project managers apart.