Lecture 3 January 14, 2010

Teams

Vision Statement

Market Hypotheses

Current Teams

Agenda - Teamwork

• Why work together in a team?

• Evolution of a team

• Team structure (roles and responsibilities)

• Getting the most out of group work

• Activity

• Thanks to Andy Downard

FormingEvolution of a Team

• Create team

• Introduce yourself with teammates

• Learn about opportunity

• Begin setting objectives

• Split up the work and get started

• Work and think independently

StormingEvolution of a Team

• Reassessment of initial plan– What is realistic to solve?– What is each member best suited to address?

• Different ideas compete for consideration

• Egos come out and can clash!

• Can be an uncomfortable experience

• Risk - Getting stuck here for entire project!

NormingEvolution of a Team

• Work together and identify with team• Establish roles and rules• Motivation increases

– Higher quality work– Enjoy working with team

• Risk - Groupthink (What is this?)– Stop questioning– Reinforce beliefs– Minority is surpressed– Can take time

• Examples– Bernie madorf– Health care reform– Global warming– Enron – Bubble– Alterrnative energy

PerformingEvolution of a Team

• The best teams will reach this highest level

• Members are knowledgeable and motivated

• Disagreements are resolved within team– Use established norms– Little or no need for supervision

• Risk - Revert back to an earlier stage (How?)

Suggested ReadingEvolution of a Team

Wikipedia Article:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forming-storming-norming-performing

Original Tuckman Article (1965):http://dennislearningcenter.osu.edu/references/GROUP%20DEV%20ARTICLE.doc

Team StructureRoles and Responsibilities

• Defining roles increases efficiency– Focuses team– Decreases conflict

• Key roles for E102 projects– Leader– Recorder– Timekeeper/Process Monitor

• Alternation is fine

LeaderRoles and Responsibilities

• Plan meeting– Set agenda– Coordinate a date and time

• Run meeting– Execute plan set by agenda – Ensure that team rules are followed– Mediate disagreements– Process discussion at end

RecorderRoles and Responsibilities

• Take notes at meeting– Key points of issues discussed– Emphasis on action items Who What When

• Organize notes after meeting

• Send meeting minutes to team members

TimekeeperRoles and Responsibilities

• Work with Leader to budget time for discussion of agenda items

• Periodically inform Leader of how actual progress compares to schedule

• Can also be process monitor– Is everybody contributing?– Is everybody able to contribute?

Getting the Most Out of Group Work

• Avoid GROUPTHINK– Let your own opinions be known– Don’t suppress other’s opinions

• What are historical examples that illustrate the risks of groupthink?

Getting the Most Out ofGroup Work (cont’d)

• Effective Communication– Choose a mode of communication (email, wiki,

Facebook, etc)– Let group members know if you’ll be late– Prevent interpersonal or work-related problems from

getting out of control• Speak frankly with team members• Periodically give each other feedback• Use Mike as a resource for mediation of problems

• Try to minimize time in commonly uncomfortable ‘Storming’ phase by establishing norms upfront

Activity 1• Get together in teams

– Agree on the top three bad things that could happen.– Discuss what you would do about it

E 102: ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENTSAMPLE TEAMWORK EVALUATION FORMThis form gives some general criteria that you can use to evaluate the effectiveness of

your team collaboration. Fill out one for each team member, including yourself, using a scale of 0 to 10 for each criterion.

Team member’s name:Evaluator’s name:Criterion

Comments Grade1. Is available when neededand is punctual

2. Communicates clearly and constructively

3. Does fair share

4. Contributes quality work

5. Helps to manage conflict

6. Completes tasks effectivelyand on time

Thoughts on Team Rules

• Each team member will have deliverables for every meeting

• No interruptions• Disagreements resolved by vote and may be

discussed at subsequent meetings• Face-to-face meetings >> online chatting• Meeting notes can appear on wiki or Google notes• Honest and open communication at all times• Rotation a good idea

Teamwork Recap

• Good teams have…– Open communication– A set of rules that are agreed upon and followed– Structured roles and responsibilities– Shared motivation

• Good teams avoid…– Suppressing opinions– Groupthink

Vision Statement

• Purpose of writing a Vision Statement

• Market Hypotheses

• Structure of a Vision statement

• Activity

Purpose of Writing aVision Statement

• Make market hypotheses– Define scope of market research– Identify and interview customers

• Organize and focus teamwork

• Market research that follows from Vision Statement should identify early, profitable opportunities (‘Low Hanging Fruit’)

Market Hypotheses

• Your team aims to ‘push’ your technology out to meet one or more market needs

• Key elements of a market hypotheses for a technology looking for a market– Identification of niche markets– Customer needs that are currently not met– How your technology meets these needs

Market Hypotheses (cont’d)

• Heuristic - pick ‘low hanging fruit’ first– Customers who NEED your technology at any

price– Typically small markets– Essential early sales that justify further

investment• Proves that there is a market• Profitable sales before cost reduction from

economies of scale can be realized

Examples of Market Hypotheses

• People are upset because they can’t catch the fish they want

• Justify existence of TTO

• People don’t have immediate care for their heart attack

• People want to monitor their own health

Market Hypotheses (cont’d)

• Your group will submit three market hypotheses

• Use a ‘low hanging fruit’ niche as the input to the Vision Statement

Structure of a Vision Statement

• Name of Product• For [target customer segment(s)]• Who wants/needs [solution to dilemma]• [Company name ] provides [product features]• That provide [compelling reason to buy from

company]• Unlike [main competitor]• [Company’s key differentiator]• As evidenced by [evidence]

Structure of a Vision Statement (cont’d)

• Name: for the sake of this argument make the company name reflect the product

• For: Be as specific as you can. Can include both primary market segment and secondary market segment

• Needs: Describe market pain you are addressing• That provide: How do you alleviate pain?• Unlike: Show how it is done now by others. (This can

include doing nothing!)• Evidence: If any at this stage, If not, present where you

are in development

Activity

• Get together in your groups

• Brainstorm market hypotheses

• Prepare to present one potential market hypothesis

Elevator Speech• By accident you find yourself in an elevator with

a potential investor. You want to convince him to investigate your idea more deeply. You have one minute (It’s a long elevator ride)

• This speech will be refined throughout the quarter– You will know more about the business– You will know more about effective delivery

• You will alternate team members in giving it

Summary of HW for TuesdayAll Teams do this!!

– All E-mail HW prior to noon on Tuesday to Andy and Ken – Volunteer two teams to present HW for Tuesday and two for Thursday– All send PDFs of PPT for presentation teams or PDFs of Word for non-

presenting teams

1. Prepare a signed Team Rules Statement2. Show roles and names of people initially assuming these roles3. Present Market Hypotheses4. Present Vision Statement5. Prepare elevator speech for mentors (doesn’t have to be sent)