Overview
Research evidence indicates that effective teams deliver amazing results. In many organizations, this has led to labelling all joint work effort as “teamwork,” in hopes of reaping the rewards of high performance teams. However, building a well-functioning team requires strong management and leadership skills tailored to the specific work environment. A solid understanding of the differences between teams and other work group arrangements, and of the tools and techniques for building a context to encourage strong teams is key to realizing their benefits. In this course, students will develop an understanding of the management and leadership skills involved in teamwork, including team communication, co-operation, and collaborative working, by exploring what makes a group a team, why teams are important collaborative work arrangements, and how those charged with leading teams manage team processes.
Objectives
After completing this course, learners will be able to:
- Distinguish between different types of collaborative work arrangements that are often called teams;
- Explain what is involved in creating a functioning team;
- Define the terms management and leadership in relation to a team;
- Describe how to respond to the needs of a team with regard to its performance;
- Assess their skills in management and leadership, and explain how they relate to team performance.
Evaluation
Students will be evaluated based on their participation in weekly online discussions (60%) and one comprehensive assignment (40%). To pass the course, students must achieve 60% or more on each of the credit activities.