Mano a Mano 3 Phase II Internet Course Week 9 – Topic V Team Building Drs. Ellen Marshall and Cathy McAuliffe

Team Building Developing teams that work well…and then working well within a team… Teamwork requires brains that are working well!

Remember… Rationale for this topic All early childhood professionals function as part of a team Knowing the dynamics of team building will help you as an early childhood professional Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses is crucial to functioning effectively as a team member Being able to communicate well is the hallmark of a top-notch team member

We said we would take two weeks to cover Topic V Week 8 March 22 – 28 What is a team? Knowing yourself so that you can be an effective team member (or leader) Week 9 March 29 – April 4 Using good communication skills so that you can be an effective team member (or leader)

Team Building What is a team? For our purposes, we said we would use the definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: A number of persons associated together in work or activity

Good Communication Skills Let’s focus on a really powerful communication skill: Active Listening! What is it? How do you do it? What are some common pitfalls?

Active Listening This information will be a review for all of you, since we covered most of it in Santo Domingo!

Active Listening The following information is taken from the following resource: Working Together, Anita DeBoer

FOOD FOR THOUGHT It is estimated that 80% of our waking hours are spent just listening Listening, by itself, is believed to the be most effective tool for developing relationships (trust) and influencing others 10% of the message is carried through words; 90% is communicated non-verbally.

WHAT GOOD LISTENERS DO Listen at two levels (intellectually and emotionally) They are empathic; they are not sympathetic They use powerful listening skills They care; they allow you to feel emotionally safe They listen from their heart They listen from your frame of reference They give positive feedback

WHAT POOR LISTENERS DO They anxiously wait for their opportunity to jump in to share their view of reality They interrupt and give advice They listen from their frame of reference They fidget, squirm, look doubtful They judge, evaluate, disapprove, contradict, reject the message They do not quiet their inner voice They fail to understand that it is not necessary to agree with the content of your message, but that is necessary to view the world through your experiences and feelings They pretend to listen

TIPS for Good Listening Accept all emotions as normal and natural Spend more time listening than talking Allow the speaker to finish her thoughts Avoid answering questions with questions Be aware of your biases! Plan your response after the speaker has finished, instead of while he is speaking

TIPS for Good Listening Listen to the message, and check for accuracy of what the person said “Let me see if I’ve got you right. You said…Did I get that?” Invite the person to provide more information: “Is there more?” Source: Harville Hendrix presentation

NONVERBAL BEHAVIORS OF COMMUNICATION Eye contact Facial Expressions Gestures Posture and body orientation Proximity Vocal

BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION Culture, background, bias Noise Ourselves Our perceptions The message Environmental factors Smothering instead of listening Stress

I-Messages Another excellent communication tool… Three part I-message How you feel The specific behavior about which you have this feeling Why you have this feeling

I-Messages I get angry (feeling) when you walk into the meeting late (behavior) because it is disruptive to the other participants (why) When you let me know ahead of time (behavior) that you won’t be able to attend the meeting, I really appreciate it (feeling), because then I can adapt my agenda (why)

I-Messages Go to the Learning Activity section for this topic and do the I-Message activity!

Do Some Research Locate an article about effective communication and listening that could apply to working as part of a team Share some of the information you find on the Comments page for Week 9.

Revisit and Revise Revisit your What I Need and What I Expect forms completed in week 8. Revise them according to the information in the Introduction to Week 9.

Recap… All early childhood professionals function as part of a team Knowing the dynamics of team building will help you as an early childhood professional Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses is crucial to functioning effectively as a team member Being able to communicate well is the hallmark of a top-notch team member We are very happy to be part of this fabulous team!!!!!