Page 320 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

The skills associated with teamwork are presented in the following table.
Table 12.1 Teamwork Skills

Team Building Performing in a Team Team Maintenance

defining team roles following negotiating
commitment to a group collaborating supporting
cooperating compromising
team goal setting performing within a role resolving conflict
planning group decision making politicking
attending to group needs

Note that teamwork skills can be separated into three areas, 1) skills used when the team is first formed and
being developed, 2) skills related to doing a job or performing within the team, and 3) skills to maintain
the team when there’s conflict or difficulty.

As you can see, Sam is a natural team builder. Even in their first team meeting, he worked hard to open
the discussion and begin the team task of assigning roles. A natural leader, Sam also demonstrated that
he knows when to follow—he supported Sandra’s suggestion which demonstrated cooperation, and he
excelled at facilitating group decision-making. But what about the rest of the team (Fred, Jennifer, Sandra,
and Ken)? Choose one team member and write a brief paragraph reflecting upon their performance.
What strengths did you see (at this stage you may have only seen one)? What do you think your team
member needs to do to improve his or her performance in the team? And, based on what you’ve seen so
far, what insight do you have into the team dynamics overall? If you could rewrite their first interaction to
make them a stronger, more productive team, what would you have them do?

314 Foundations of Learning