Management of Transitioning Teams During Design Projects

The objective of this paper is to provide ideas on how to better manage a team transition in a design project. Team transitions can be planned or can occur unexpectedly, in either case, disruption can be diminished by taking the appropriate measures. We present an approach on team transitioning and relate it to our experience with undergraduate senior design teams working on a collaborative project that lasts 1 year while the course is limited to 1 semester. Our observations and recommendations include where to start, damage containment measures, how to retrieve the project’s knowledge, what to look for in a replacement team, and how to improve the odds in the event of an unexpected transition.