Benefits and Problems With Student Teams: Suggestions for Improving Team Projects

Business school faculty have been placing students into teams for group projects for many years, with mixed results. Obvious benefits accrue in using teams, but so do numerous problems. One of the main issues is that many business faculty often place students in teams with little or no guidance on how teams properly function. In this article, the author synthesizes a detailed review of the literature on teams and teamwork, examining the benefits and problems of using student teams and then suggests processes business faculty can put in place to maximize the benefits of group projects, while minimizing the problems. A preliminary study of student perceptions of team projects is also included in this review.