Creating effective academic research teams: Two tools borrowed from business practice

Academic Medical Centers strive to create multidisciplinary research teams to produce impactful science. However, few faculty researchers receive training in "team science," a well-established concept in business research and practice. Responding to demand for assistance developing effecti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of clinical and translational science Vol. 5; no. 1; p. e74
Main Authors Brower, Holly H, Nicklas, Barbara J, Nader, Michael A, Trost, Lindsay M, Miller, David P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Cambridge University Press 01.01.2021
Subjects
Accountability
Business schools
Charters
Cognition & reasoning
Collaboration
Communication
Education
Interdisciplinary aspects
Leadership
leadership development
Medical schools
Meetings
RACI matrix
Special Communications
Success
team charter
Team development
team science
Teams
Training
team science
leadership development
team charter
RACI matrix
Team development
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Summary:Academic Medical Centers strive to create multidisciplinary research teams to produce impactful science. However, few faculty researchers receive training in "team science," a well-established concept in business research and practice. Responding to demand for assistance developing effective research teams, the Collaboration and Team Science Program of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at Wake Forest School of Medicine (WFSM) partnered with faculty from the Wake Forest University (WFU) School of Business with expertise in leadership, management, and team building. We initiated a needs assessment, including a written survey from a diverse set of 42 research scientists as well as semi-structured interviews with 8 researchers. In response to identified needs, we developed training sessions and consultations to teach teams to implement two tools known to enhance team dynamics: (1) Team charter, a document that defines the team's purpose, goals, roles, and strategies; and (2) Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed (RACI) matrix, a table or spreadsheet that clarifies tasks and accountability. Since 2018, 10 teams and over 100 individuals have attended training sessions and 6 teams received personalized team consults. We describe these tools, present a formal analysis of quantitative results, and highlight the next steps being taken in response to these findings.
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ISSN:2059-8661
2059-8661
DOI:10.1017/cts.2020.553