Building a Shared Vision for a Research Project

Teamwork may require sacrifice, as contributions to a team project may or may not garner the same academic rewards as individual accomplishments. For team members to willingly contribute to a collaborative project, they must clearly understand the value of doing so (either in terms of the external impact of the work, the impact on their own career development, personal fulfillment and fun, etc.). Formal constraints such as contracts and informal constraints such as social norms can help induce team members to overcome the natural tendency to prioritize personal projects above the goals of the team (see “Agreeing on Expectations” workshop below). However, the overall vision for the value of the work must be compelling so that the sacrifices will seem intrinsically worthwhile (and fewer external constraints will need to be imposed and enforced). This session will help team members reflect on the value (external and internal) of the collaboration(s) they are involved in and ensure that each member of the team can articulate the goals of the team.