Team Building: “Being a Good Team Player: The Power of Collaboration and Inclusivity”
- Let's get started! Take a pen and paper or open a document on your preferred device. Also use a timer or the timer function on your mobile phone. Then, answer the following 3 questions. Don't research or think too long about the answer - just write down the thoughts and ideas that directly come to your mind!
- Take maximum 5 minutes to answer all 3 questions:
- Note your top 3 skills.
- Write down 3 skills a good team should have.
- Briefly note one team problem you have encountered in your team (Practice Enterprise). This could be a disagreement between you and a colleague or an issue between other colleagues or your manager.
- Now read the Team Building Definitions & Facts to understand the general definition of team building, collaboration and inclusivity. You will also find some key facts on Team Building to get started.
- Watch the (PEN) TED-Talk-style video on the topic of “How to be a Good Team Player: The Power of Collaboration and Inclusivity”. The video’s aim is explain the key terms in more detail and to look at why it is important for us as individuals to work on our team building skills.
Definition & Facts
Video on Team Building
➔ Team Building is defined as number of activities, interactions & processes that create a cooperative group. The main aim is to create a positive & safe environment to achieve common goals together.
➔ Collaboration is working together ith someone else in a nice, open & efficient way.
➔ Inclusivity means that everyone in a group or environment feels welcome, valued and accepted.
➔ Effective communication
➔ Problem solving
➔ Empathy & respect
➔ Positive attitude
➔ Willingness to collaborate
➔ Expressing ideas clearly
➔ Actively listening
➔ Being reliable
- Take the quiz on Team Building below. You can use your notes to choose the right answers.
Team Building Quiz in other languages:
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- Watch the video showing a challenging situation for a team at work. Observe the situation that is presented and especially look at the team dynamics, what the different persons' interests are, how they interact and what their goals are. This is one of many examples you could face in the Practice Enterprise or the real business workplace. Take notes of your observations.
- Get together with your peers for a team discussion. First ensure there is one person in your group to guide the discussion. You should now take just a few minutes to summarize everyone's notes and comments. You can note these on a paper, with your laptop or in a virtual/digital notebook.
- When you finished summarizing each team member's points, take some time to discuss what could be improved in the given situation. Brainstorm about the best ways to a. avoid these situations and b. how to solve the situation if it arises. Make sure that the effort is collaborative and inclusive and everyone’s voice is important and heard. Do not tolerate someone speaking over one another or making someone feel less valued or their opinions as less important.
Tip 1: Remember your notes from the Video about Team Building
Tip 2: Keep in mind the following points on what can cause a bad team atmosphere:
- Undefined roles, uncertainty about what other team members tasks
- Lack of structure for projects and tasks
- Uncertainty about responsibilities
- Bad attitude towards colleagues, the company or products/services
- Unwillingness to brainstorm and compromise
- Not sharing ideas
- Not supportive atmosphere
- Originally effective group members can get angry, become resentful
- Power struggles, leadership bias
- Unwillingness to cooperate
- Selfish behaviour
- Unwillingness to concede points or compromise to reach consensus
- Poor communication - written and verbal
- Infighting in case of different personalities or business philosophies
- Naysayers - negative approaches to tasks, negative morale
- Conflict due to different opinions, personalities, cultures, etc.
- Backstabbing: when colleagues turn against each other
- Micromanagement
- Find a way to present the outcomes of the team collaboration effort in a video for social media channels - share in the video what the benefits and challenges were in the scenario. You can also include the challenges you faced as a team completing these tasks.
- Take this as an inspiration for future collaboration meetings and talk with your classmates and peers.
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