Effective Teamwork Strategies

Consider the behaviors and effectiveness of your current team and what can be done to not just be a group, but a team.

• Describe the characteristics of a team and your team’s strengths and developmental needs
• Explain the difference between work groups and teams and how trust enables teams to achieve results
• Recognize the pitfalls that stand in the way of team success

Learn about the stages of team development and how teams grow together to be more effective.

• Explain how to use task and social cohesion to create more cohesive and effective teams
• Summarize the 4 stages of group development and how groups evolve over time
• Identify your teammates’ personality types and the needs and fears of different personalities

Cooperation is about individuals committing to each other to get the job done. This module explores the depths and limits of cooperation.

• Discuss the reasoning and thought processes involved in cooperation
• Describe the benefits and limits of cooperation based on the circumstances
• List cooperation best practices that maximize personal and team success

Model effective team communication and listening behaviors and reinforce an effective communication culture.

• Describe communications within your team, including strengths and developmental needs, and the importance of strong relationships for effective team communications
• Explain how to reinforce positive communications and repair negative communications
• Summarize the dos and don’ts of active listening and how to use questions to better facilitate team communications

Understand how conflict arises, what to do when it comes and when it can be useful.

• Identify the causes of conflict and how conflict escalates and can cause damage within a team if not addressed
• Discuss the components of healthy or good conflict and where the line is between good and bad conflict
• Describe how to de-escalate conflict and the issues that are important to you or worth engaging in conflict

Learn how to incorporate different decision-making styles to make a more effective team decision. 

• Identify your problem-solving style and your teammates’ preferred styles
• List problem-solving and decision-making methods
• Explain how to maximize decision-making and problem-solving effectiveness and avoid issues that prevent effective decision making and problem solving