Working in Groups
Name of presenter
Aims of the session
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Recognise how groups form and
function
Identify the inter-personal skills
developed through group work
Relate your knowledge of groups to
team projects and other study groups
Evaluate your developing inter-personal
skills and action plan for change
How is a group different to
a team?
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Reflect individually on groups you have
worked in socially, academically or in a
work situation
What made some groups feel like being
part of a team?
Be ready to share your thoughts in one
minute
Teams
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Are a group of people who have specific
task(s) or goals(s)
Effective teams will be organised
Members will have specific allocated
tasks and roles:
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leader/coordinator, coach/mentor, achiever,
doer, thinker/reflector, timekeeper, note
taker, progress monitor, finisher/completer,
carer
Teams – Action centred
leadership model (John Adair,
1986)
Achieving the TASK
Maintaining the TEAM
Developing the INDIVIDUAL
Task orientated behaviour
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Identifying aims, resources, people, methods
for the task
Creating a plan to achieve the task
Seeking information/opinions – about plans,
ideas
Giving information/opinions about the task
Allocating work responsibilities and resources
Checking performance against the plan and
adjusting the plan if needed
Team building behaviour
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Encouraging others towards the group goals
Enable effective internal communications
Develop collective maturity and capability
Maintaining group discipline, ethics
Harmonising – reducing tension and building
team spirit
Problem solving –listening to others
Expressing group feelings
Individual needs
behaviour
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Recognising own skills/abilities and using
them
Assisting and supporting individuals
Understanding team members as individuals,
listening to them
Giving feedback to individuals
Withdrawing, being very quiet in discussion
Being aggressive/dominating communication
Stages in team/group
development
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Forming
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Storming
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conflicts and tensions emerge when there are different
working styles, differing expectations and different work
ethics
Norming
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when the group begins to discuss the task(s) and
orientate towards a work plan
beginning to develop mutual trust and effective ways of
working
Performing
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when effective work patterns are producing the required
results
Action planning for team
skills development
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List the teams you currently work within
(seminars, tutorials, fieldwork, project team,
study group, peer learning group)
What could you do to make these teams
more effective? Which roles would you like to
develop?
Set some time targets and review dates
Complete an assessment on your team skills
Academic Skills Guides
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Guides available are:
Learning styles
Reading academically
Writing effectively
Referencing your work
Getting the most from lectures
Working in groups
Giving a talk
Preparing effectively for examinations
Search strategy
Writing your dissertation
EndNote - software that helps you manage references
Approaching Mathematical Problems Systematically