Continuous Improvement of Team Assignments: Using a Web-Based Tool and the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle in Design and Redesign

The purpose of this brief is twofold. First, it describes a useful template for business instructors to improve teamwork assignment design and efficacy; and second, it provides an example of how to use data collected and analyzed from a Web-based tool, Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness (CATME). Though CATME has been the subject of research regarding its impact on team effectiveness, less common is a clear description of its use for continuous improvement by instructors in the classroom. In this brief, we combine the well-known continuous improvement framework of Deming's wheel-the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle-with CATME. We provide a template for systematic pedagogical adjustment to improve team assignments in the classroom and to ultimately impact improvement in team skills and behaviors. First, the CATME tool and its capabilities are introduced. Next, we provide a demonstration of how an instructor used the PDCA cycle and the CATME data to design, evaluate, and analyze team processes within her classroom and the actions planned to redesign her team assignment.