William C. McGaghie, PhD
- Jacob R. Suker, MD, Professor of Medical Education
- Professor of Preventive Medicine
- Director of Evaluation, Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Center for Education in Medicine
I am in the process of building a big academic team myself, comprising of rheumatologists, software engineers, instructional design experts, and an education research expert. This list came in quite handy for me and so I thought I’d share.
The team should have:
- Shared goals—common mission & vision
- Functional diversity (everyone should have different defined roles)
- Clear leadership—may change or rotate
- Shared mental models & language
- High standards, recognition, & credit
- Sustained hard work / commitment
- Physical proximity
- Minimize status differences within the team
- Maximize status of the team
- Shared activities that breed trust
While these tips may seem obvious, they are a worthwhile reminder nonetheless. Dr. McGaghie shared examples where different members took the lead on different manuscripts within the overarching project and that everyone’s opinions were valued. I found it interesting that he felt that physical proximity contributed to the success of his projects. In-person meetings and check-ins seem to have provided added value.
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