PR 662 Lecture 59: Problematic Behavior on Project Teams

• School: Ball State University
• Department: Public Relations
• Course: PR 662
• Professor: Dr. Lee

Document Summary

Goals: explore many types of problematic behavior, provide us with advice on how to anticipate and manage these behaviors. First, clarify group expectations and processes early on. Spend time initially to define: group goals, strategies, responsibilities, deadlines. This goes a long way toward minimizing future team problems. It might seem easy, but rushing to get started can cause teams to spend minimal times doing this, and the uncertainty coming will allow people like free-riders to slack off while dictators try to take control. Second, set early and interim deadlines for research summaries, outlines, and rough drafts. This helps the team uncover problems in behavior early on and gives enough time to resolve problems before the deadline. Early detection of this behavior also gives more time to involve a faculty member to mediate if needed. Third, talk about your team"s approach for handling problems before it happens.