Teams are generally an essential component of a research project. Not all teams are effective and congenial. Factors contributing to poor team function may include cultural differences (e.g., one being from Eastern Europe and another being from USA West coast culture), religious/spiritual differences, gender preference differences, educational level differences, and differences in enthusiasm (or lack of) for the subject of the team.
In my case of selecting a research team for a project, I have a good perspective of who would be compatible team members, but I also ask for a selected team member to suggest another person for the team. It is more successful to “hand pick” compatible team members than to have seemingly random assignments of members. Being at distance (~1,500 miles away), I don’t see the daily on-campus interactions. What I have seen so far has been the “over the top” delight in team accomplishment at end of the research project. The student (learner) may not have expected to be placed into such a role as principal researcher, but I do believe the learner will remember the positive experience for the rest of her/his life.
