The continuing education programs in which many professionals are involved as a matter of enlightened self-interest or requirement is an important part of that movement. But there is a very important and little recognized other side group effectiveness. Clearly the complexity of work in general, and architectural and engineering work in particular, requires and will continue to require collaboration. More work will be conducted by groups of employees because it is the only way to accomplish the myriad tasks that are involved. Too much knowledge and too many different skills are required for any one person to accomplish all but the simplest tasks.
Group effectiveness is critically important to organizational success.
Virtually no one practices completely independent of others in the execution of projects. Work is done in project teams. Project teams are groups people who come together to perform work or task-oriented activities. In the practice of architecture and engineering, group or team effectiveness boils down to the delivery of contracted services per agreement agreement with the client, with one's own firm, and with others to whom the agreement relationship may be less direct, including users, the community, and the public. The team members and team leader must determine what resources will be required, especially human resources, and whether or not they will be available.