Question: BUILDING TEAM SKILLS

Over the past few years, employees have been expected to function as productive team members instead of working alone. People often believe that they can work effectively in teams, but many people find working with a group of people to be a challenge. Being an effective team member requires skills that encourage other members to participate in the team endeavor.

College classes that function as teams are more interesting and more fun to attend, and students generally learn more about the topics in the course. If your class is to function as a team, it is important to begin building the team early in the semester. One way to begin creating a team is to learn something about each student in the class. This helps team members to feel comfortable with each other and fosters a sense of trust.

Assignment:

1. Find a partner, preferably someone you do not know.

2. Each partner has two to three minutes to answer the following questions:

a. What is your name, and where do you work?

b. What interesting or unusual thing have you done in your life? (Do not talk about work or college; rather, focus on such things as hobbies, travel, family, and sports.)

c. Why are you taking this course, and what do you expect to learn? (Satisfying a degree requirement is not an acceptable answer.)

3. Introduce your partner to the class. Use one to two minutes, depending on the size of the class.