What are the important teamwork skills?
This Page: Basic Skills | Communication Tips | Organization Tips | References
Basic Skills
Effective team members need the following three basic skills:
-
Communication and Negotiation - Team members need the ability to state ideas or questions clearly, listen to others attentively, and to resolve disagreements in a non-confrontational manner. This is a skill that many students may lack.
-
Analytic and Creative Skills - Team members need to evaluate information and propose creative solutions. Many students have these skills, but may not be able to effectively communicate their views or concerns.
-
Organization - The team needs to be able to track and complete all its tasks on time. Tensions can often arise if deadlines are missed
Top of Page
Communication Tips
Here are some tips that can help students communicate more effectively. A more detailed explanation is available on the student communication tips page.
- Listen actively.
- Ask questions.
- Give constructive feedback - the list below can help students:
- Don't express an opinion as a fact
- Explain your reasons
- Restate the original idea to be sure it's understood
- Compliment another's idea
- Respond, don't react
- Don't interrupt
- Critique the idea, not the person
- Be courteous
- Avoid jargon
- Awareness of body language and tone.
- Appropriate humor.
- Some chit-chat in meetings.
- Patience.
Top of Page
Organization Tips
Here are some tips that can help student teams organize themselves. A more detailed explanation is available on the student organization tips page.
This is one area where technology options for organization can be very beneficial for student teams.
- Define a common goal for the project.
- List tasks to be completed.
- Assign responsibility for all tasks.
- Develop a timeline.
- Develop and post a checklist.
- Set up a central repository for all electronic files.
- Maintain a central archive for all communications.
- Post or send all team meetings.
- Send reminders when deadlines approach.
- Send confirmation when tasks are completed.
References
Verzuh, Eric (1999) The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Top of Page
Main Sections: About Teams | Managing Teams | Student Teams | Sitemap | Site Home