​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​15.337 Teams Lab

Leading Effective T​eams

Smart enough to know we're smarter together

​​​​ Why This Course?

Competitive advantage is often built on the quality of teamwork that happens within the organization. Great teams stimulate creativity and innovation, enable rapid adaptation to market changes, and produce breakthrough results. But building, developing, and leveraging effective teams is a complex process and success is far from guaranteed. Effective teams start with leaders who can objectively analyze and understand the inherently subjective experience of all of a team’s members. Enabling each participant to reflect on how they are contributing to both negative and positive team outcomes sets the stage for great performances. Teams Lab is designed to help you develop the skills and frameworks necessary to diagnose the key barriers and strengths that determine team performance and to intervene in ways that improve effectiveness. ​

Who Should Take This Course?

Teams Lab is designed for students in their second-year of the MBA Program who want to leverage and lead high-performing teams and who are open to sharing personal insights, experiences, ambitions, and challenges. As a second-year student, we expect that you are serving in a significant leadership role, organizing a team to deliver a meaningful output. In Teams Lab you will combine this experience with a variety of frameworks to cultivate both self and other-awareness in the service of improving organizational performance.

What is Required of Me?

First, Teams Lab is designed to capitalize on the developmental potential associated with the co-curricular activities that Sloan students typically do outside of for-credit classes. To participate in the course each student must be: (1) actively engaged in a significant and ongoing team activity (virtual teams qualify); and (2) be willing to discuss and reflect upon that activity in class.

Second, in addition to the team experience you bring from your outside activity, you will be assigned to an "in-class" group we call a reflection team. Typically, the sessi​​ons with your reflection team will follow the introduction of a new tool or framework, thus giving you an initial opportunity to practice its application.

Third, throughout the course you will be asked to keep a reflection journal. Your journal entries will be judged based on both the depth of your reflections and your willingness to confront the aspects of your approach that are not conducive to being an effective team member and leader.

​Finally, to maximize the opportunity for a positive, developmental experience, throughout the fall you will work with a professional executive coach individually throughout the term and you may have the opportunity to bring your coach into two team meetings either for observation or team coaching.

How Many Credits Will I Get & How Will I Be Graded?​​

Teams Lab is a 9-credit course offered during the fall term. We will not grade your leadership ability (though we will help you assess it). Your grade will instead depend on our judgement of three key attributes: first, your willingness to engage in an honest assessment of your strengths and weakness as a leader and team member; second, the effort you put into improving those aspects that currently limit your effectiveness; and, third, your willingness to support your colleagues in their development. Teams Lab fulfills the MBA Leadership Elective requirement.​ ​

How Do I Participate?​​​

1. Must meet the following pre-requisites:

----> A. Must be a second-year MBA student.

----> B. Must commit to completing all of the components of the course.

2. Bid for the course via SloanBid

Check out last year's syllabus here.