2. Working Successfully with Others
Developing Business Practice –302LON
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Unit: 2 Knowledgecast: 2

3. Module Learning Outcomes
In this Knowledgecast, we will:
Analyse a range of learning styles and the factors that influence successful study.
Evaluate current academic, self-marketing and personal skills and present a plan for developing skills
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the importance of independence in learning and the need for a ‘growth’ mindset
In this Knowledgecast, we will cover 3 key areas:
Why focusing on working with others is a critical personal, professional and academic skill
The stages in developing a performing team
Recognising the value of diversity in effective teams

4. Module Overview
Unit 1
Developing as a learner 2
Working independently and with others 3
Academic writing 4
Critical thinking, reading and taking notes 5
Using data in your studies 6
Business and management research 7
Career development strategies 8
Effective self marketing tools 9
Successful work experience 10
Personal Development Planning
The modules is built around 3 Elements critical to supporting students make the transition into CULC and for success in their first career step:
Lifelong learning skills
Skills for successful 21st century careers
Your Personal Development Planning

5. Why is working with others important?
QAA Core Skill (team-working skills)
Required academic competency
Critical international business skill highly valued by employers
Organisations use Traditional and Virtual Team formats
We live in a social world and developing this skill will be critical in your academic and business career.
Link back to U2K1 where we looked at the notion of Emotional Intelligence being about ‘intrapersonal’ and ‘interpersonal skills’
Team working skills are made up of many factors, however strong communication skills and developing trust are key skills for team members and leaders alike
QAA definition - Effective performance within a team environment including:
leadership,
team building
influencing
project management skills
PLOs
Working with others is a critical skill to learn and demonstrate
Will be taught, practiced and assessed throughout your studies
Employers will be looking for evidence of your team working skills, in particular in relation to:
Strong communication skills
Increasing creativity
Motivating yourself and others
Group decision making
Changing nature of work and organisations
Work roles and organisational structures are changing rapidly as technological change enables businesses to operate more globally and virtually
Team work still plays a key part in the delivery of organisational objectives
There is a lot of focus on the demands on a virtual team, but seems to be some general agreement about the transferability of team working skills from Traditional (single location and physical) teams to Virtual teams

6. 5 Stages of Team Development
FORMING
‘These terms endeavour to capture the energy of movement, progress, regress and resolution in the life of groups. The development of groups is crucial in order to arrive at the optimal stage for work’. Connolly (2008:80)
STORMING
NORMING
PERFORMING
Team has usually just formed
Or, has undergone changes to its membership or objectives
Expectations have not been fully met
Differences become apparent
Dissatisfaction with authority or goals
Experimenting with respect, trust and the “greater good” of team
The calm after the storm
Comfort with and respect for the team
Know why and what it is doing
Pure focus on results
Based on
Tuckman and Jensen (1977)
ADJOURNING
Probably the most common model of team development used in organisations is Tuckman’s Stages of Team Development (1965). This was later developed to include the Adjourning Stage (Tuckman and Jensen, 1977)
Why is this model important to me?
Teams need to go through a series of stages before they become ‘performing’
How the team is established is a critical part of how the team will work together
Need to recognise that conflict may occur, and that this can be positive to help clarify expectations and identify aspects that should be dealt with by the team
Teams need to nominate a leader to observe and support the team to move through each stage
Team members need to take equal responsibility with how the team functions
All team come to an end ‘the Adjourning Stage.’ Teams should ensure that there is a record of what has been produced, and reflect on their experience of working in the team so that they can carry the learning over to their next team
Further References:
Connolly, B. (2008), Adult Learning in Group, Milton Keynes: Open University Press

7. 5 Stages of Team Development
FORMING
STORMING
NORMING
PERFORMING
Polite
Impersonal
Guarded
Watchful
Confronting people
Dealing with conflict
Opting out ‘not for me’
Lose team members
Getting organised
Developing skills
Establishing systems and procedures
Tackling challenges
Getting Feedback
Closeness/friendship
Flexible
Supportive and trusting
Sharing ideas
Tolerant of members
Use this slide to illustrate:
How to identify the stage of the team development
Identify the behaviours that can be observed in the team
Members may make the choice to leave the team at the Storming stage
Where strong communication skills are critical to help move through each stage
Key Questions for the Group:
1. How might this model apply to a Virtual Team?
Each stage is equally critical
Communication methods will be more varied and the speed of response needs to be clarified early on in the development of the team
Members need to be more aware of the lack of cues about how information is received by the recipient
Leaders may find managing the development of the team more challenging and would have to work hard to develop trust across the team earlier on in its development for new members of the team
Based on
Tuckman and Jensen (1977)
ADJOURNING

8. The Ideal Team
Based on the view of Belbin that ‘No one is perfect, but a team can be.’
One of the leading models of Team Roles. Often used by organisations with teams in the Forming-Storming stage to build awareness of the skills of the ‘ideal team’ and identify individual preferences.
Belbin roles describe a pattern of behaviour that characterises one person’s behaviour in relationship to another in facilitating the progress of a team
Different core personality traits, intellectual styles and behaviours were assessed and clusters of behaviour were identified and nine team roles emerged
The ideal team is made up of all 9 roles being fulfilled by team members
Individuals complete a questionnaire that assesses a preference for each role
Team roles describe an individual's preferences not their ability. Team roles can change depending on the circumstances and needs of the team
Belbin describes the contribution made by the role. The model also describes the traits which are an ‘allowable weakness.’ An individual and the team need to be aware of these limitations (self awareness) and be able to manage these aspects for the successful performance of the team
Source: Mullins (2010:343)

9. 5 Factors for Successful Team Working
Clear and shared goals
Agreed ways of working
Effective communication
Support and cooperation
Regular review of progress
Clear and shared goals
Everyone needs to be working towards achieving the same goal
Team often use SMART objectives to clearly state what is to be achieved
Agreed ways of working
- Identifying the WHAT, WHERE, HOW AND WHEN for the group to achieve their goals
Ground Rules are often used to clarify the behaviours that are acceptable/not acceptable
Effective communication
Often supported by the Ground rules, teams need to communicate effectively to share needs, progress, dependencies, address issues and celebrate success/learn from failure
Support and cooperation
The ability to work flexibly to support each other to achieve a shared goal
Thinking back to our discussion on Emotional Intelligence, you need to be aware of your impact on others and how you build successful relationships with others
Regular review of progress
As we saw with Goal Theory, regular progress reviews with constructive feedback is important if the goal is to be achieved
Feedback should be sought by the leader from a range of sources (from within and outside the team) that focuses on both the strengths/what is working well and what needs to be improved
The most efficient teams are able to openly share constructive feedback and make adjustments as required, often referred to as ‘self-managed teams’

10. Behaviours That Help Team Tasks
Clarifying what you are trying to achieve (and how)
Giving and finding relevant information
Proposing and developing ideas
Taking responsibility for actions
Summarising and reviewing progress
Time keeping
These are key behaviours that support the achievement of the task of a team
As you work in teams through your studies and in the workplace, practice demonstrating, and observe how your colleagues use, these behaviours
Assessment centres are a common selection method by large organisations observe actual behaviours of candidates in ‘real life’ scenarios. These are just some of the behaviours that employers are looking to see a candidate demonstrate
Key Questions to the Group:
Who should be leading this behaviour?
It is the responsibility of all team members to ensure these behaviours are part of the working of the team
Some teams may decide to nominate individuals to carry out specific behaviours to clearly assign roles and ensure that the team stays focused. A time keeper, for example, may be appointed
Don’t we naturally perform these behaviours in our work?
We would all like to think that we do.
The reality of team dynamics often means that some of these behaviours aren’t prioritised
How many times have you been in a meeting where decisions weren’t clearly stated, responsibilities clearly defined, and you ran out of time?
This is a great opportunity for you to reflect on your own team working skills and identify your strengths and development needs. Don’t forget to record this in your learning journal

11. Behaviours That Help Team Working
Encouraging others to contribute
Agreeing with and rewarding contributions
Checking understanding
Resolving conflict positively
Dealing with negative and disruptive people
Praising team progress
These are key behaviours that support the achievement of the task of a team
As you work in teams through your studies and in the workplace, practice demonstrating, and observe how your colleagues use, these behaviours
Assessment centres are a common selection method by large organisations observe actual behaviours of candidates in ‘real life’ scenarios. These are just some of the behaviours that employers are looking to see a candidate demonstrate
These behaviours focus on developing the relationships between team members
This is an equation to consider TEAM WORKING = Focus on Task + Focus on Relationships
Key Questions to the Group:
Who should be leading this behaviour?
It is the responsibility of all team members to ensure these behaviours are part of the working of the team
Some teams may decide to nominate individuals to carry out specific behaviours to clearly assign roles and ensure that the team stays focused. A time keeper, for example, may be appointed
Don’t we naturally perform these behaviours in our work?
We would all like to think that we do.
The reality of team dynamics often means that some of these behaviours aren’t considered until issues arise
People tend not to deal with conflict, to assume everyone has understood what is happening in the team, prefer not to confront disruptive people, and forget to use praise as a way of motivating others and build team spirit
This is a great opportunity for you to reflect on your own team working skills and identify your strengths and development needs. Don’t forget to record this in your learning journal

12. Unhelpful Behaviours in Teams
Talking too much
Reacting emotionally
Attacking other’s points of view
Not listening or interrupting others
Chatting about other matters
Introducing red herrings
Withdrawing from the group
To conclude the focus on behaviours:
The more aware you are of your own behaviour and the behaviours of others, the more effective you will be in determining the success of the team
Use observations of team working to consider the impact of behaviours and how they may help/hinder the team work
Actively seek feedback from your team members on your impact on the team
Use your learning journal to record and reflect on what you learn

13. Good Team Communication
1. Setting ground rules
Agree what is acceptable
Agree what is not acceptable
Regularly review your ground rules
Some typical Ground Rules are:
Listen to everyone
Don’t talk over other people
Respect everyone’s opinion
Everyone participates
It’s OK to say you don’t understand
Turn up for meetings on time
Do the work on time
Everyone has fun
Dealing with conflict
One of the main benefits of Ground Rules is when conflict or unhelpful behaviours needs to be addressed
Ground Rules can be used as an objective and agreed framework to discuss behaviours with individuals

14. Good Team Communication
2. Giving praise and feedback
The feedback sandwich (Positive, negative, positive)
Focus on behaviour
Give specific examples
Benefits of receiving feedback include:
Can help you improve your performance
Raise your self awareness of strengths and development needs
May uncover your ‘blind spots’
Encourage you to share feedback with others
Benefits of sharing feedback include:
Improve the performance of the individual/team
Remove negative feelings/conflict in relationships
- Develop your skills of developing others (much sought after by employers)
Word of caution when delivering feedback:
Feedback tends to be delivered at 3 levels (Behaviour, genes and soul)
The only effective feedback is delivered at Behaviour level because individuals have the ability to change
If information is delivered at genes level (e.g. you’re just like your mother) this can have a confused reaction, more open to interpretation and difficult to change
If information is delivered at soul level (you’re selfish) this can have an emotional reaction and unlikely to encourage the person to be open to information about themselves
Some further tips on delivering feedback include:
Make it specific:
- Talk about behaviour, give examples.
- Stick to behaviour which can be changed.
- Avoid being judgmental.
• Involve ‘them’:
- Use “What could you do/could you have done differently?”
• Use positives:
- What they did well.
- “Catch them doing it right” – feedback doesn’t have to be followed by a ‘but’.
• Focus:
- Stick to the one (or few) things that seem to be a priority.
• Timings:
- As soon as possible – but not last thing on a Friday afternoon.
- Plan time so they can discuss/make it a dialogue.
• Express:
- Consequences for you/others.
- How you ‘felt’ when they acted in a particular way.
• Own it:
- Use ‘I’ as in “I was embarrassed, felt let down”.
• Agree:
- A suitable course of action, how they will behave next time etc.
• Support:
- Ask if you can help in any way – especially with monitoring.
• Check it out:
- Have they understood what you have discussed?
• Follow it up:
- Especially when they get it right!

15. Good Team Communication
3. Understanding diversity in teams
Recognise different experiences and expectations
Value and understand the differences
Use your ground rules to keep on track
A critical skill for all individuals:
It is a reality that the population profile of most nations are now more diverse
Influenced by the increase in migrant workforce, globalisation, and technology
Look at the make up of your own study group with the range of nationalities, languages, cultures and beliefs
This will more than likely be replicated in your work teams as you enter the workplace
A key skill is to recognise and value diversity
Working in diverse teams:
Challenges:
Takes more effort to communicate clearly and check understanding
Be aware that agreement is reached jointly and not imposed
Recognise communication styles can be culture specific (more direct, more emotional, or not assertive)
Benefits
Learn to appreciate different viewpoints and perspectives on issues
Learn about how to flex your usual work style to ensure relationships are built and maintained
Learn about yourself and how you are perceived by others

16. Good Team Communication
4. Maximise your use of 21st century learning technologies
Plan
Communicate
Research
Collaborate
Think back to Fayol’s model ‘Commanding and Implementing:’
maintaining activity among personnel
getting the optimum results from all employees in the interests of achieving the stated goals
Just like organisations, you need to use the 21st century learning technologies to:
Become more efficient with how you plan your time
Increase your ability to share and collaborate information
Expand your sources of research to include Podcasts and eBooks
Not be limited to time zones and physical locations to participate in your studies and group work

17. Managing Group Work
Agree your ground rules
Create your action plan with sub-tasks, deadlines and responsibilities
Write down what’s been agreed
Regularly review progress
Deal with anyone not pulling their weight as a team
Important to note that there are disadvantages when working with others:
Losing sight of the big picture (Groupthink) where thinking becomes inward and reduces its awareness of changes in the external environment
Scapegoats outside the group are used to assign blame for actions which are often as a result of the group
Social loafing. Some people feel that they can ‘take a back seat’ and reduce their effort since they assume other team members will pick up the outstanding work

18. What are we going to cover next?
In our next Knowledgecast, we will look at:
Analyse a range of learning styles and the factors that influence successful study
Evaluate current academic, self marketing and personal skills and present a plan for the development of academic skills
Use programme and module information to develop a personalised academic strategy
Explain why written assessments are important in developing your learning skills
Adopt a simple framework to consider when planning any communication
Identify 3 ways to develop and apply your active vocabulary
Explore the 6 elements that are required to construct an effective assessment

19. Knowledgecast Summary
In this Knowledgecast, we have:
Analyse a range of learning styles and the factors that influence successful study.
Discussed the factors required for successful team working in an academic and business context
Evaluate current academic, self-marketing and personal skills and present a plan for developing skills
Outlined a range of effective communication techniques to use within a team environment
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the importance of independence in learning and the need for a ‘growth’ mindset
Discovered how learning technologies can be used to enhance your performance in your programme of study
Discussed the factors required for successful team working in an academic and business context
Outlined a range of effective communication techniques to use within a team environment
Discovered how learning technologies can be used to enhance your performance in your programme of study

21. Seminar Exploring theories of motivation
Applying our understanding of motivation to study and the workplace
Using SMART objectives to focus and maintain your motivation

22. Group Activity Your best learning experience
Complete an academic skills audit
Revisit your learning journal

23. Your Best Learning Experience
Person A – Person B
Person B – Person A
Where did it take place, when was it?
What did you learn?
How did you learn?
How have you used what you learned?
Person B can only listen to the answers
Person B cannot ask questions or make notes.
Person A listens to Person B and can:
Take notes
Take an active role in the conversation
Ask questions to clarify details
Person B presents back to Person A what they heard.
How accurate was this?
How much detail was remembered,
Was it accurate?
Person A presents back to Person B what they heard.