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The primary motivation for creating this workshop was based on the recurrent challenges that the teams within MBA and Executive MBA programs struggled with from year to year. However, after completing the design and testing of the workshop, we were pleased to find that it is widely applicable beyond our original intentions. This workshop is applicable for any team where the combined work of the team depends on contribution of all team members and especially when: 1. working in the team is only one of several performance requirements, 2. no official team leader is assigned to the team, 3. the roles of the team members are not easily and clearly defined and/or the contribution of each individual member is not easily measurable. In general, we designed this workshop to alert participants to typical problems of team cooperation that may arise so they can practice, review and be coached on their approach to these critical situations. Our objectives are threefold: 1. Increase awareness of the main challenges to effective teamwork. 2. Provide an intensive teambuilding exercise. 3. Help participants become better team leaders by improving their observation, analytic, listening, and feedback skills. We recommend running this workshop with extant teams that will work together in future so there is continuity in learning. Participants can use the workshop to reflect on what went well or wrong in real-life teamwork, avoid common pitfalls, and apply skills they have learned to solve problems. We also recommend combining the workshop with a team charter assignment where teams write up a memo to help monitor their collaboration throughout their tenure as a team (e.g., (the MBA study). The team charter should set general goals plus term norms and values, specify leadership and management arrangements, note how to monitor learning progress, and suggest how to cope with serious differences of opinion. The workshop does not teach theories. If the instructor wishes to incorporate theories, we suggest separate sessions: for example, participants can have the workshop in the morning and sessions on negotiation, giving feedback, or conflict management in the afternoon.
This simulation game aims to help participants become better team leaders by increasing their awareness of the main challenges to effective teamwork and by improving their skills at observation, analysis, listening, and giving feedback.
This workshop on negotiating better teamwork aims to help participants become better team leaders by increasing their awareness of the main challenges to effective teamwork and by improving their skills at observation, analysis, listening, and giving feedback. In many organizations, working in teams is an everyday occurrence that has its obvious benefits, along with many possible pitfalls. In training successful employees and leaders, it is vital for them to develop the skills to negotiate and give feedback to others within teams. However, just like in any performance environment, not all team members get along with each other; frictions and frustrations occur; and the consequences are ineffectiveness or even outright conflict. We designed this workshop to alert participants to several typical problems of team cooperation that may arise, so they can practice, review and receive coaching on their approach to these critical situations. The simulation is ideally suited for team-based work with the MBA or other education situations. It is also written broadly enough to be used in any training environment where developing team negotiation and feedback skills are important.
The primary motivation for creating this workshop was based on the recurrent challenges that the teams within MBA and Executive MBA programs struggled with from year to year. However, after completing the design and testing of the workshop, we were pleased to find that it is widely applicable beyond our original intentions. This workshop is applicable for any team where the combined work of the team depends on contribution of all team members and especially when: 1. working in the team is only one of several performance requirements, 2. no official team leader is assigned to the team, 3. the roles of the team members are not easily and clearly defined and/or the contribution of each individual member is not easily measurable.
