Definition
A team is a small group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.1 Although student teams may not satisfy all the requirements of the definition, the degree to which they do often determines their effectiveness.

Rationale
"Students do not come to school with all the social skills they need to collaborate effectively with others. Teachers need to teach appropriate communication, leadership, trust, decision making, and conflict management skills to students and provide the motivation to use these skills in order for groups to function effectively."2 Faculty members must take responsibility to help students develop their skills to participate on and lead teams.

Introduction

• How might communication occur?
• How might interpersonal/intrateam communication be improved?
• How might different groups use this document

Communication Questions
The questions below are answered fully in the linked pages.

• What is interpersonal communication?
• What is intrateam communication?
• Why learn more about interpersonal and intrateam communication?
• How might I understand effective communication?
• How might I improve my ability to listen?
• How and why might I balance inquiry and advocacy?
• How might I offer constructive feedback and constructive criticism?
• How might individual students apply this information to improve their interpersonal communication skills?
• How might a student team apply this information to improve its approaches to conflict and/or skills in managing conflict within the team?
• How might a faculty member apply this information in her/his course?
  

Resource
Algert, N.E., The Center for Change and Conflict Resolution. Bryan TX: (979)775-5335 or .

References for Further Information

1. 1. Katzenbach, J.R., and Smith, D.K. (1992) Wisdom of Teams, Harvard Business School Press.
2. Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., and Holubec, E.J. (1966) Circles of Learning: Cooperation in the Classroom, rev. ed., Edina, MN: Interaction Book Co., 1986.
3. Workplace Basics: The Skills Employers Want, American Society for Training and Development and U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 1988.
4. Algert, N.E., and Watson, K. (2002). An Introduction to Conflict Management for Individuals and Groups. The Center for Change and Conflict Resolution. Bryan, TX.
5. Communications: Process and Leadership, Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State University. Available form World Wide Web: <http://socserver.soc.iastate.edu/Extension/Docs/Soc2.pdf>. [cited 2003-02-03]
6. Ruiz, D.M. (1997) The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, San Rafael, CA: Amber-Allen Pub.
7. Senge, P.M., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., and Smith, B. (1994) The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, New York: Doubleday/Currency.
8. TTI DISC Behavior Profile. Contact Dr. Nancy Algert (phone: 979-775-5335 or e-mail: ) for information about obtaining the assessment. Texas A&M University’s College of Engineering uses the DISC Behavior Profile Assessment with all of their Engineering 111/112 students for teaming activities (contact Dr. Terry Kohutek, , for additional information on using the assessment).
9. Kline, N. (1999). Time to think: Listening to ignite the human mind. London: Ward Lock.
10. Algert, N.E., and Watson, K. (2002). Basic Mediation Training. The Center for Change and Conflict Resolution. Bryan, TX.