Part of Lesson Plan: What it takes to be an effective team

Activity Overview / Details

Tell the students you will now compare their answers to those given by experts who study team building.  On the overhead, put up the "WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE AN EFFECTIVE TEAM"  Read each statement and, whenever possible compare students' answers with those of the experts.

Points to Emphasize:

• cooperation and willingness make a successful team
• ground rules are expectations, they provide a clear understanding of how team members will behave and treat one another
• all team members must understand the task, as well as the purpose of working together
• roles must be clearly defined so that everyone knows what they must do to accomplish the task
• it is important for everyone to participate, giving feedback requires both listening and speaking
• team members need to know how to handle disagreements in a productive way that leads to a resolution
• all team members must agree as to how decisions will be made, who decides, and how
• a procedure is a way or method following specific steps to complete a task
• an effective team looks for ways to improve and asks the question "What can we do to work better as a team?"