Building Teams That Work

Do you want to know the secrets of building passionate and dynamic teams? It's not as hard as you might think. You will begin this lesson by going over the basics: The different kinds of teams and the optimal number of members. Then, you will discover how to choose participants and clarify everyone's roles and responsibilities.

Don't go into a team blind. In this lesson, you will learn all the stages that teams go through and how to move successfully through each one. You will also learn the importance of creating a strong charter that will guide your team in accomplishing its goals. What can you do if members don't live up to your charter agreements? This lesson will also discuss how to approach them and get the best response.

Are you aspiring to be a team leader, or do you already have a team to direct? A lot of teams even have rotating leadership where everyone gets a chance. In either case, this lesson is for you. By the end of the lesson, you will be confident enough to accept a leadership role with poise and purpose.

Everyone needs to understand how to work well with other teammates. At the beginning of this lesson, you will measure your affinity for working with a team and learn how to develop strong relationships. Team spirit comes along with those strong relationships, rounding out your interactions to be complete and fulfilling.

Have you ever attended a meeting that made you yawn and want to dash for the door? Nobody likes to sit through those. In this lesson, you will learn how to avoid these types of meetings by understanding the ground rules. Then, you will learn about the problems that derail meetings from their full potential.

Your team exists in order to make good decisions and solve one or more problems. Communication is the key to accomplishing both. In this lesson, you will learn how to communicate in a team setting as well as different techniques your team can use to make the best decisions possible and solve problems effectively.

Your team's job is to deliver the properly completed project on time, within budget. This lesson will show you how to create this plan. You will also learn how to share your plan with stakeholders, people who aren't on the team but experience the effects of your decisions, and how to interview those stakeholders so you can take their input into account.

Have you heard of virtual teams? With these teams, members live and work in different places. In this lesson you will discover what virtual teams are, what technology they use, and how teammates can work well in this environment.

You have your team up and running, and then things start going awry. It's better to know how to avoid negative traps before you fall into them. In this lesson, you will learn how to deal with common team obstacles, including the bandwagon effect, the Abilene Paradox, core group domination, and escalation of commitment.

This lesson deals with conflict. You may think that because teams come together to achieve a common goal, everyone should be working for the greater good and harmony should rule. Nothing could be further from the truth. You will look at what conflict is, how it comes about, how to handle it, and how it can actually benefit your team.

The final lesson explores methods of assessing team progress. How do you know your team is doing what it's supposed to be doing and if there's room for improvement? The best way is to assess your team's progress and use different methods to realign when necessary.