ISM4113 - Business Systems Design

Some Group Contract Suggestions

Here are some suggestions that you may want to consider when developing your group contracts. Remember, these are only suggestions. Do not simply take these suggestions and use them as the primary basis for your contracts. Do some research. Go to the library and look in texts that address the contracting process. Look on the Internet - you will be surprised at what you find.

There is no right or wrong way to develop a contract, no specific format or content guideline. Your group must identify what is important to the group with respect to developing the highest quality research paper and system design project.

One key concept to keep in mind as you develop your contract is that you want there to be NO SURPRISES! The main point of the contract development process is to establish a mutually agreeable set of "rules" for managing the group. Everyone in the group must agree to them (or at least accept them). These rules become the basis for the peer evaluations that are to be performed twice during the semester. This is also why keeping a journal, regardless of how informal, is important. If the group places high importance on promptness and John is usually late, then John's peer evaluations should reflect the fact that he did not meet contract expectations. Don't rely upon memory - write it down!

More importantly, these rules become the basis for group management. Since everyone agrees to the rules, everyone must recognize them as "law" and abide by them. They provide the basis for "coercion" if situations come to that.

As I stated in the syllabus, the group contract should address two important issues. These issues are starting points for contract development. "The contract should state the rules of operation for the group, including the standards for participation (attendance, cooperation, timeliness, professionalism, etc.). Another item in the contract is two mutually agreeable weekly meeting times of at least 1 ½ hours each. Job schedules, other class projects, extra-curricular actives, etc. are not valid excuses for missing group meetings or not completing group assignments on time."

The peer evaluation form must also be part of the contract. Again, everyone in the group must agree to the content and rankings in relative importance of the evaluation items. At a minimum the group peer evaluation form will include the following items: attendance, preparation, cooperation/collegiality, attitude, level of participation, quantity and quality of work, initiative, demonstrated knowledge of course material, and overall contribution. The syllabus has some example peer evaluation scales for these items. Your group is encouraged to develop other items that are important with respect to the group projects.

The general format of the contract should be as follows:

Team Name and list of team members, with team leader and alternate leader identified
A narrative describing the contract - the purpose of the group, the purpose of the contract, the intended use of the contract, the actions that the group members may take to enforce contract compliance, any specific items that define group member interactions, any special arrangements between group members, any dispute resolution and/or arbitration procedures, anything and everything that the group members want clearly understood by all members before undertaking the group projects
A list of items that identify the group activities that are important with respect to completing the projects, ranked by order of importance (must include the minimum list of items mentioned above)
For each item, a peer evaluation item rating scale with descriptions on the scale that clearly define unacceptable, acceptable, good, and superior performance on the item. This is imperative if there is to be consistency and objectivity in the peer evaluation process.
Signatures of all group members attesting to the acknowledgement of and acceptance of the contract

Remember, you are a group, a single body that communicates with users (me in this case). The contract is intended to be the basis for managing the group so there are no problems with the communications process. Give this some thought now and you will be much happier all semester.

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