Group agreements and consensus Ali Riley Enterprise Learning Development Officer University of Sheffield Enterprise www.sheffield.ac.uk/enterprise

By the end of today…. You will be able to relate team work to enterprising skills You will have identified what worries you most about teamwork You will have identified strategies in order to help you work together as a team successfully You will have agreed upon a group goal and completed most of a team operating agreement You will have learned about some strategies to manage conflict.

What is enterprise? “…enterprise is about having ideas, doing something about them and taking advantage of opportunities to bring about change. It is about making things happen.” Enterprise Education Mission, Vision and Strategy 2012 – 2016.

What is enterprise? Being proactive Taking the initiative Taking risks Overcoming adversity Innovation Invention Ideas generation Creativity Seizing opportunities Finding solutions Entrepreneurship Business ‘Intrapreneurship’/ corporate entrepreneurship Social enterprise/ social innovation Creating value

Your worries about team work Using the post-it notes, take 2 minutes to write what worries you most about working in teams. Place it in the middle of your group

Goal definition You have 5 minutes to agree in your groups your goal, in one sentence. Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time bound

Team Operating Agreement (TOA) Guidelines and ground rules to achieve the agreed goal Co-authored by group members – mutual agreement Living document Updates must be discussed and ratified by ALL group members

A TOA serves as… A job description for group members. A contract between partners. A set of guidelines for procedural operations and ways of working together. A roadmap of the expectations of the partnership. A document that implies, through its structure and wording, the values, intentions and identity of a partnership.

Time budgeting Agree how much time you will each devote each week, whether individually or in the group.

Team Communications Method Frequency A word of warning…

Decision making How?

Meetings Responsibilities Recording Disseminating Leading Frequency

Personal courtesies/other Examples: Use clear English in all communications Allow everyone 24 hours to respond to an email Don’t contact people by phone/text out of the hours of 9-5

Signature!

First task out of class… PROJECT PLAN 1 side of A4 Define tasks Assign tasks Gantt chart Including writing up Add this to your TOA

Look back at your post-its. Have your fears been at all alleviated Look back at your post-its. Have your fears been at all alleviated? If not, look back at your TOA, can you improve it at all?

Conflict resolution Anger – it happens. Separate yourself from the situation and take time to cool down Attack the problem not the person Be assertive not aggressive Focus on the issue, not your position on the issue Accept individual opinions, work towards a common agreement, don’t force compliance

Conflict resolution Its not a competition, you are all working to a common goal Focus on areas of common interest and agreement Never jump to conclusions about the ideas/opinions of others Listen without interrupting When only one person’s needs are satisfied, the conflict is NOT resolved

Conflict resolution Forget the past, stay in the present Build ‘power with’ NOT ‘power over’ others Thank other group members for listening

Thank you very much! Ali Riley a.h.riley@sheffield.ac.uk