1. Teamwork Module

2. Teamwork in words…
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” - Henry Ford
“Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success.” - Author Unknown
Notes for trainer:
Every employee is dependent on his fellow employees to work together and contribute efficiently to the organisation. Teamwork creates higher quality outcomes as well as faster.
The benefits of teamwork include increased efficiency, the ability to focus different minds on the same problem, and mutual support.

3. “Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it.” - Bill Bradley
Notes for trainer:
Teams are formed when individuals with a common interest, preference, and attitude come and work together for a common goal. Values, such as respect and justice as well as proper communication are also important in teamwork effectiveness.
Created by Sapann-Design - Freepik.com

4. Defining Teamwork
“A team has a common goal or purpose where team members can develop effective, mutual relationships to achieve team goals. Teamwork replies upon individuals working together in a cooperative environment to achieve common team goals through sharing knowledge and skills”
"People working together in a committed way to achieve a common goal or mission. The work is interdependent and team members share responsibility and hold themselves accountable for attaining the results"
Notes for trainer:
Teamwork means that people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite any personal conflict between individuals.

5. Teamwork - Why does it matter?
Fosters Innovation & Creativity
Blends Complementary Strengths
Accelerates Learning
Encourages Healthy risk-taking
Notes for trainer:
Teams are better able to produce more creative, innovative, and practical solutions to problems than someone working alone
Team members enhance the skills, knowledge and abilities while working in teams
Collaborating on a project creates an enthusiasm for learning that solitary work usually lacks.
Working as a team allows team members to take more risks, as they have the support of the entire group to fall back on in case of failure

6. Why does it matter (2)?
Enhances employee as well as organisational performance
Improved efficiency
Better interpersonal relations
Teaches conflict resolution skills
Notes for trainer:
Teamwork can lead to increased employee job satisfaction, commitment and motivation, and as a result, to improved organizational performance
Working within a team allows for the workload to be shared equally amongst members and distributed according to each member’s skills and strengths
When a workplace encourages collaboration and teamwork, strong relationships are established and developed among co-workers
When conflict arises in teamwork situations, employees are forced to resolve the conflicts themselves instead of turning to management

7. What Purpose does it Serve?
Improved Morale
Greater Flexibility
Pressure on getting things done (time management)
Creates synergy
Empowers people
Encourages multidisciplinary work
Smarter use of resources
Notes for trainer:
Improved morale as employees gain more authority and ownership over the projects they are working on
Successful collaboration is built on responsiveness and empathy, that entail flexibility.
Pressurizes the group to get things done thereby improving implementation
Synergy is where people, ideas and views are brought together to make a joint impact
Working in a team empowers people and helps them develop autonomy, which is a source of profound job satisfaction and reduces stress
Teams value the different skills and expertise of their members and can combine those skills in different ways to meet changing needs
People will find creative ways of using the resources at their disposal rather than focusing on the constraints

8. What Purpose does it Serve (2)?
Helps practice what we know
Stretch thinking by providing fresh insights
Mutual benefit (win-win)
Relationships have an impact on happiness & performance
Central to helping people flourish, feel good at what they do & feel supported
Enables discussion & Evaluation of ideas
Notes for trainer:
Due to the supportive atmosphere in teams, individuals find it easier to practice things that they already know, but also it “stretches” thinking when new information is acquired
Relations to others has a big impact on how happy people feel and how well they perform
Good relations are central to helping people flourish, feeling good at what they do, and feeling supported
Provides the opportunity to bounce ideas off each other to improve on these ideas, resulting in better problem-solving

9. Benefits of Teamwork
Multiplies idea generation (i.e. through brainstorming);
Increases productivity and decreases stress by sharing workload
Provides support system – feedback on work and help when needed
Gives team members a chance to perform a number of different roles;
Develops other skills such as reliability, communication, cooperation, problem-solving & respect to mention a few
Notes for trainer:
When working in a group, idea generation increases as more people bring in ideas and through brainstorming, they can evaluate the ideas that can be materialised.
Moreover, team members can perform in a number of different positions and roles, according to the needs of the objectives

10. What makes an effective team?
Organisational structure
Individual contribution
Team processes
Clear purpose
Self-knowledge
Coordination
Appropriate culture
Trust
Communication
Specified task
Commitment
Cohesion
Distinct roles
Flexibility
Decision making
Suitable leadership
Conflict management
Relevant members
Social relationships
Adequate resources
Performance feedback
Notes for trainer:
First, appropriate conditions need to be in place in terms of the structure of the organisational environment. Second, individual contributions to teams are also important and third, team processes in terms of their ability to contribute to the effective functioning of the team.

11. Leadership and Teamwork
It has to be noted that the role of leaders plays a detrimental role in team effectiveness and productively function.
A good leader is the one who assigns the responsibilities to each team member in order to take maximum output from all
Notes for trainer:
Effective leaders play to their team’s strengths, and neutralise weaknesses

12. Story Notes for trainer:
You can show them this video clip of the story:
The Wisdom of the Geese:

13. Objectives
Understand what teamwork is, and why it’s an important skill to cultivate and practice in job seeking, and all aspects of life;
Experience cultivating the skills of teamwork through practical exercises and activities;
Reflect on the team work of oneself and others, identifying the key skills used in working with high performing teams.
Develop better Interpersonal Skills
Notes for trainer:
Εvery one of us can become a great team players, irrespective of our personality type

14. Subskills Reliability Effective communication Active listening
Participation
Sharing openly and willingly
Cooperation
Flexibility
Commitment
Problem-solving
Respect
Notes for trainer:
These skills develop and strengthen our interpersonal skills such as our ability to communicate, collaborate well with others in our personal as well as our professional life

15. Activity 1: Questionnaire
Notes for trainer:
Please refer to the manual for the questionnaire

16. Activity 2: House Notes for trainer:
This is an activity in which teams draw a picture of a house— two lines at a time —without speaking to each other

17. Activity 3: Case Study Notes for trainer:
Assigning roles to participants is one way to encourage positive interdependence, interaction, and group processing, which are among the five key elements of working in groups.
Please refer to the manual for a case study and the roles participants take for this activity
Created by Freepik

18. Activity 4: Spaghetti Tower
Notes for trainer:
The winning team will be the one to build the tallest possible free-standing tower in 18 minutes that will support the marshmallow.

19. Activity 5: Human Knot
Adapted from Pinterest : Danyelle Kelly
Notes for trainer:
Ask participants to stand in a circle, shoulder to shoulder.
Ask everyone to put their right hand in the air and grab the hand of someone standing across the circle from them.
Ask everyone to put their left hand in the air and grab the hand of a different person.
Check whether everyone is holding the hands of two different people
Ask all of them to untangle themselves without breaking the circle.
Created by Freepik

20. Activity 6: Lost in the Sea
Notes for trainer:
Please refer to the manual for the reading materials for participants

21. Activity 7: Watch Out the Mine
Notes for trainer:
One of the participants is blindfolded and the other provides directions verbally.
Ask the one who provides directions to help his team member to pass the other side of the room avoiding the mines

22. Thank you for your participation.