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Another key component to support effective teamwork is providing scaffolded exercises that lead students through the steps of effective team formation and ongoing team processes. This includes:
- Exercises that help teams get to know one another in the context of a diverse team.
- Exercises that lead students through the process of developing a team charter or other document to guide their work together.
It is often helpful to allocate class time for completing these activities to provide a supported beginning to the team process. In online courses, consider creating forums for each team as a mechanism for beginning communication.
Exercises to Support Relationship Development in Teams
Exercise 1: Getting to Know One Another
In order to form a team, you must first establish who your teammates are. In this exercise you will use a “go-around” process where everyone on the team answers each question. Start with the first question, and allow everyone a chance to answer. When everyone has on the team has spoken, move on to the next question.
Practice:
Introduce yourself to those in your group using the “go around process” (everyone has a turn to answer the question, one by one, before moving to the next question).
a. What is your name? What do you prefer to be called?
b. Where are you from?
c. Tell me about one of your grandmothers.
d. What is one thing you are passionate about?
Note: Why use the question “tell me about one of your grandmothers”? The question “tell me about one of your grandmothers offers group members a chance to share about their cultural background and values in a way that is relatively non-threatening. It is recommended especially when forming culturally diverse teams (Holmes, 2017).
Exercise 2: Discover Strengths and Competencies
In order to determine team roles and tasks, it is helpful to discover the strengths and skills of your teammates. Remember – you will want to balance working in your own areas of strength, with challenging yourself to develop additional skills through the project.
| Team member | Strengths that will support this project |
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Exercises to Establish Team Norms, Goals, and Processes
Exercise 3: Establish Team Norms
As a team, you will want to develop a “culture” that describes the way that your team chooses to work together. Though these norms may be different from the individual preferences of group members, in this stage of team building you will work to agree on a set of rules that will determine how you will interact and work together. Consider the following questions:
- Attendance: How many absences from meetings are acceptable? If you are late, how will you notify team members?
- Socialization: How much time at each meeting will be spent getting to know one another? Will this be at the beginning or end of meetings? How will you transition from your social interactions into your work time?
- Team roles: How will work be divided among the team? What deadlines will be established for project tasks?
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