teamwork skills communicating effectively in groups coursera assignment

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About This Course

This course is all about working with other people in groups, and how to communicate more effectively to have better group experiences and achieve better group results. Most of our best and worst experiences in life—both professional and personal—happen in groups with other people. In virtually every area of our lives, we have the opportunity (or the requirement) to connect with other people to accomplish some sort of collective outcome that could not be achieved individually. The success or failure of these outcomes usually depends on the interaction of the group—how people communicate with each other and make decisions. Therefore, to succeed in our careers and to be good citizens in our society we must be able to work with other people in groups and understand group interaction. Accordingly, this course focuses on the key dynamics of group communication, including group development, decision making, conflict and negotiation, difference and diversity, and technology and innovation…all of which are related to our underlying assumptions about communication and our understanding of human interaction. Our goal is to help you learn these important dynamics of group communication, and put them into practice to improve your overall group work.

This course is intended for people who currently work in groups (or expect group work to be an important part of their future), who want to improve their group communication skills, and who want a better overall understanding of the phenomenon of group work.

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Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups

About this course.

Recently revised and updated! Effective teamwork and group communication are essential for your professional and personal success. In this course you will learn to: make better decisions, be more creative and innovative, manage conflict and work with difficult group members, negotiate for preferred outcomes, improve group communication in virtual environments, develop a better overall understanding of human interaction, and work more effectively as a team. Our goal is to help you understand these important dynamics of group communication and learn how to put them into practice to improve your overall teamwork.

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Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups

• From www.coursera.org
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• Fee-based Certificate
• 4 Sequences
• Introductive Level
• Subtitles in Arabic

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Course details, prerequisite, instructors.

Matthew A. Koschmann, PhD Associate Professor Department of Communication

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What people are saying.

According to other learners, here's what you need to know

so much in 18 reviews

Thank you so much Mathew Sir, My Course instructor for the course where he is a very energetic person I have learnt the course successfully and earned the certificate too.

good course Such an amazing course..must do...So much detailed explanation Perfectly impacting course Awesome Super very useful Well done It is very helpful good course to develop your english The introductory-level course offers a wide range of useful material regarding group communication, group decision-making, and group differences; which helps the learners familiarize themselves with the topic as well as apply these into the practical life to enhance group communication I really enjoyed this course!

I update and learnt so much about effective communication!

GOOD goodddd I learned so much about what actual communication is.

Thank you so much!

Professor Matthew bring rich content, Thanks so much!

Awesome course Nice course with excellent material and insights.. thanks for your trainig very helpful course It is very good to be part of this Journey Thank you so much Coursera!

Enough repetition to keep track after pausing the course but not so much that it was annoying when going through the whole content for a week at once.

I get so much valuable knowledge regarding teamwork.

So much of life is communicating in groups, whether you’re aware of it or not.

excellent Good course very good content and i recommended to everyone to attend due to the essentiality Thank you so much Mathew Sir, My Course instructor for the course where he is a very energetic person I have learnt the course successfully and earned the certificate too.

I got so much information through this course.

It helped me to develop several skills regarding group communication, decision-making, managing conflict, negotiation and so much more!You won't regret doing it!

decision making in 11 reviews

I If you're a leader or part of decision making groups, this is a course for you!

This course is perfect for the one who wants to excel in the group decision making in the organization.

I have learned about traps, use of technology, roles,norms and decision making.

Very good course regarding group decision making.

Traps in decision making concept was very good.

GOOD course Great course, it helps highlight the key concepts of interpersonal communication in decision making, and it shed lights on common mistakes that could be made while communicating in groups.

NA Enriching ,engaging, well prepared , detailed & explained Great It is an excellent course that really focuses on discussions and decision making and is really helpful if you are targeting the position of a head.

It is wonderful to learn so many useful hints about communication in the team, ranging from language usage, decision-making traps, practices of good decision making to conflict management.

It is really an useful material which really helps me to find more effective in decision making also to find the traps especially in it.

It is wonderful to learn so much useful hints about communication in team, ranging from the language usage, decision-making traps, practices of good decision making to conflict management.

learnt a lot in 7 reviews

I am very glad I followed this course, I improved and learnt a lot.

I learnt a lot about communication techniques, that i wasn't aware of before.

Thanks Great course i have learnt a lot thank you!

Thank You it was such a useful experience i have learnt a lot thank you so much I highly suggest this course.

I've learnt a lot on teamwork skills and how to communicate effectively to the group members.

Module on decision making was very good.Learnt a lot of good concepts which will surely help me in group work.

easy to understand in 6 reviews

I learned so much from this course amazing Simple, yet easy to understand.

Very easy to understand and practical advices on how to apply the concepts of communications for groups.

Instructor teaches in a way that is clear and easy to understand.

The content is well organized and easy to understand Short, precise, easy to understand.

peer review in 9 reviews

Also the classmates seem to enjoy a lot the content, as their application on the proposed peer reviewed assignments are very nice and pertinent.

The instructor does a decent job in the video portion, but the peer review portions are not good at all.

I have some concerns about peer to peer review assignment as some people want to cheat on it.

Very easily understandable and the peer review assignments help us improve more in our course.

What impressed me the most are creative tasks and peer review assignments.

Fantastic Enjoyed the course, but have my doubts about the peer review process.

Thanks Professor Mathew A Koschmann , PhD for the wonderful classes .The material is optimised for the topic.No flaws while communicating through media .Construction of peer reviews ,forum , comments everything is fantastic.

Also during peer review, I found many students submitting the plagiarism file, some were submitting the provided example file in the course module.

Also, how can you be sure that peers do not take revenge on their grades from peer reviews?

teamwork skills in 8 reviews

I thought my teamwork skills were great until I went to this course.

I have to learn a lot about Communication and Teamwork skills during this course.

Great course Simply amazing one of the best courses I have ever seen in teamwork skills.

Thank you It was a great experience for me to understand the key concepts of communication and teamwork skills.I will definitely recommend this course to my friends.thank you!!

The course helped me a lot in improving my teamwork skills and in my practical field of study.Thank you Coursera for providing a wonderful course which enhanced my communication skills in groups and made me suited to work efficiently within a particular group.

The course is about teamwork skills how we communicate with each other what kind of problem are arises when we interact with other in group and sir had gave best possible way to how to overcome from this kind of tracks the overall course is nice.

communicate effectively in 5 reviews

This Course is a must for every team member and leader in order to communicate effectively and build high performing teams.

It has helped me to analyze our team members ability and now I am able to communicate effectively in my team.

Recommend this course for those who are trying to learn how to communicate effectively, even if just in your daily life!

real life in 5 reviews

All the challenge was equal with a real life learning activities in class.

This course has really broaden my knowledge and I can apply this in real life situation to enhance communication in every group am a part of.

It's probably a good course for those who study communication in college but it is NOT a course for professionals who want to learn new skills that can be applied to real life situations.

The Professor gives us real life examples and explain it briefly.

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Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups Course

Course Preview

In this online communications course, you will learn how to more effectively communicate with others, have better group experiences, and achieve better group results.

By completing this course, you will learn to:

• Make better decisions
• Be more creative and innovative
• Manage conflict and work with difficult group members
• Negotiate for preferred outcomes
• Improve group communication in virtual environments
• Develop a better overall understanding of human interaction
• Work more effectively as a team

• Search resources
• MOOC Directory
• Communication Skills

Coursera   Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups

• Author Coursera
• Creation date Oct 29, 2018
• Tags communication skills

Platform Coursera Provider University of Colorado Boulder Effort 12 hours/week Length 4 weeks Language English Credentials Paid Certificate Available Course Link Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups | Coursera Overview Effective teamwork and group communication are essential for your professional and personal success. In this course you will learn to: make better decisions, be more creative and innovative, manage conflict and work with difficult group members, negotiate for preferred outcomes, improve group communication in virtual environments, develop a better overall understanding of human interaction, and work more effectively as a team. Our goal is to help you understand these important dynamics of group communication and learn how to put them into practice to improve your overall teamwork. Spoiler: View Syllabus Syllabus Module 1 Module 1 is all about communication. But not the common sense or taken-for-granted notions of communication you might expect. Instead, we’re going to rethink communication and challenge some of the conventional wisdom about communication that is common in our society. We’ll compare and contrast different theories or models of communication, and see if we can develop a more sophisticated understanding of communication to understand the complexities of human interaction in today’s groups. We’ll also explore some of the hidden forces of group communication, like context, systems and institutions, and design. These are all things that are “present” in any group situation, influencing how we interact with each other, but easy to miss if we’re not looking. We want to expand our field of vision, so to speak, so we have a fuller understanding of what’s happening in any group situation. Module 2 Module 2 focuses on group development and decision making. We’ll look at how groups come together through socialization, how they develop norms, and how roles emerge. And we’ll compare and contrast different models that explain these processes. We’ll examine the various decision making traps that groups can fall into, while also developing better practices for making good group decisions. And we’ll explore how groups can be more creative and innovative in their decision making. Module 3 Module 3 is all about conflict, difference, and diversity. We’ll learn how groups can have a good fight and how you can choose the right words in a dispute…as well as how to negotiate with others when things get difficult. We’ll also explore why difference and diversity are so important for group communication, and how understanding the concept of identity is critical for our involvement in groups. And we’ll pay special attention to communication and gender, one of the most significant aspects of difference and diversity for groups to understand. Module 4 Module 4 covers group communication and technology…an increasingly prevalent aspect of the modern landscape of group work we must understand. We’ll look at the concept of virtual work and how groups are using technology, as well as various models and theories of media functionality and information processing. We’ll cover several practical and conceptual issues we should always keep in mind when it comes to technology and group communication, and we’ll explore some cutting-edge thinking about technology and group work through the fascinating theory of sociomateriality. Taught by Matthew A. Koschmann, PhD [parsehtml]<a class="button" style="height: 100%; padding:14px 14px 14px 14px !important; color: white; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 10px;" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/teamwork-skills-effective-communication"target="_blank">Go To Course</a>[/parsehtml]

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Teamwork Skills: Being an Effective Group Member

For groups to function effectively, it's important for students to think critically about the climate within their group and the process by which they accomplish their tasks. Although students can gain many of the skills described below through ad hoc interactions, instructors play a key role in making them explicit protocols.

To hone these skills, students need opportunities to practice and to receive regular feedback. Consider sharing the information below with your students, structure activities for them, and incorporate three components of feedback into your plan: instructor comments (oral and/or written); reflective group discussions and/or peer assessment; and self-reflection (see the reflection prompts in Appendix A for ideas). 

Communication skills 

To function successfully in a group, students need to be able to communicate clearly on intellectual and emotional levels. Effective communicators should be able to: 

• Explain their own ideas; 
• Express their feelings in an open but non-threatening way; 
• Listen carefully to others; 
• Ask questions to clarify others’ ideas and emotions; 
• Sense how others feel based on their nonverbal communication (e.g., facial expressions, tone of voice, diminished participation);
• Initiate conversations about the group climate or process if they sense tensions brewing; 
• Reflect on their group's activities and interactions and encourage other group members to do so. 

Regular open communication, in which group members share their thoughts, ideas, and feelings, is key for successful group work. Unspoken assumptions and issues can be harmful to productive group functioning. Students’ ability to communicate openly with one another can help foster a healthy group climate and process. 

Skills for a healthy group climate 

To work together successfully, group members must demonstrate a sense of cohesion. cohesion emerges as group members: .

• Get to know one another, particularly those with different interests and backgrounds. They are open to innovative ideas and diverse viewpoints. They also listen to others and elicit their ideas. They know how to balance the need for cohesion within a group with the need for individual expression. 
• Trust one another enough to share their own ideas and feelings. A sense of mutual trust develops only to the extent that everyone is willing to self-disclose and be honest yet respectful. Trust also grows as group members demonstrate personal accountability for the tasks they have been assigned. 
• Demonstrate support for one another as they accomplish their goals. They cheer on the group and support members individually. They view one another not as competitors but as collaborators: everyone in the group can and should have a role by which they contribute.
• Communicate their opinions in a way that respects others, focusing on “What can we learn?” rather than “Who is to blame?” 

As an instructor, you can use several strategies to encourage students to develop a healthy group climate: 

• Randomize group membership to increase the chances of students encountering peers with diverse backgrounds and interests. 
• Design icebreaker activities that promote awareness and appreciation of inherent differences within a group. 
• Walk students through effective strategies for identifying and overcoming group conflict.  
• Encourage students to participate actively and pose questions to their peers. To encourage listening skills and ensure that everyone in the group speaks, try the “circle of voices” exercise. See the CTE Teaching Tip: Group Work in the Classroom: Types of Small Groups . 
• Devote class time to help students reflect on their group dynamic and overall functioning. You can provide them with prompt questions to consider and/or facilitate a conversation driven by student insights, questions, and concerns. 

Skills for an effective group process 

In addition to knowing how to develop a healthy group climate, students need to exercise key skills to contribute to an effective group process. This process emerges when students: 

• Agree on what needs to be done and by whom. Each student then determines what they need to do and takes responsibility to complete the task(s). They can be held accountable for their tasks, and they hold others accountable for theirs. 
• Give and receive feedback about group ideas. Giving constructive feedback requires focusing on ideas and behaviours instead of individuals and offering suggestions for improvement. Receiving feedback requires the ability to listen well, ask for clarification if the comment is unclear, and being open to change and to other ideas. 
• Help the group to develop and use central strategies to move toward their group goals. As such, they can facilitate group decision making and manage group conflict in a productive way, rather than approaching the instructor for guidance as the first step.  
• Know how to plan and manage a task, how to manage their time, and how to run a meeting. For example, they ensure meeting goals are set, an agenda is created and followed, and everyone can participate. They stay focused on the task and help others to do so, too. 
• Know which roles can be filled within a group (e.g., facilitator, idea-generator, summarizer, evaluator, mediator, encourager, recorder) and are aware of which role(s) they and others are best suited for. They are also willing to rotate roles to maximize their own and others’ group learning experience. 

As an instructor, use some of these strategies to help students develop an effective process within their groups: 

• Design the group task so that the students must rely on one another to produce their best work. Group members will be more motivated and committed to working together if they are given a group mark. If you choose to evaluate in this way, be sure to make your expectations extremely clear. See the CTE Teaching Tip: Methods for Assessing Group Work for additional ideas. 
• Invite students to develop a group contract in which they articulate ground rules and group goals. See the CTE Teaching Tip Making Group Contracts for details. Be sure that groups discuss how they will respond to various scenarios such as absent or late group members and those who do not complete their assigned tasks. 
• Distribute a list of decision-making methods and strategies for conflict resolution and facilitate a conversation with students about these resources in class. The CTE Teaching Tip: Group Decision Making is a good place to start. You may also want to offer yourself as an impartial arbitrator in emergency situations but encourage students to work out problems among themselves. 
• Provide students with guidelines for running a meeting, such as setting and following an agenda, specifying time limits, and monitoring progress on the agenda. Consult CTE Teaching Tip: Meeting Strategies to Help Prepare Students for Group Work for additional suggestions. 
• Teach students effective methods for giving and receiving feedback and explain the purpose of feedback in your course. For sample methods, see CTE Teaching Tip: Receiving and Giving Effective Feedback . Create an assignment that involves them giving feedback to group members and make it part of their final grade. 
• Help students recognize and make the most of their own and one another’s preferred roles. Outline with them a list of team roles (see the CTE Teaching Tip: Group Roles for examples), have them determine which role(s) suits them best, and give them time to discuss how their role(s) will complement those of other group members. Asking students to rotate their roles helps them to expand their skillset. 

Appendix A: Encouraging self-awareness and reflection in group work 

One of the most important things you can do as an instructor is to have students reflect regularly on their group experiences. Their self-reflection will reinforce and further develop critical teamwork skills. Based on your objectives for the group project, create a set of prompts using the questions below. Have students use these prompts to journal about their reactions to group climate and process. The journals encourage self-reflection and can help students see teamwork issues in new ways and create ideas for resolution. They can also provide a good basis from which students can choose comments to share with their group members in debriefing sessions.

If students submit their journals periodically throughout the term, give them feedback orally or in writing, and to the extent appropriate, discuss any trends that you have identified through observation or in the journals (remember to reassure students that other groups may be facing similar challenges). Also, requiring all students to submit a final reflective report after the group project can help them to see the value of the teamwork expertise they have developed through practice. 

• What have you enjoyed the most/the least about getting to know your group members? 
• How is your attitude towards your group members demonstrated in how you function within the group? 
• How do you demonstrate trust and openness towards the other members and their ideas? 
• How much do you feel you can rely on your group members to complete the required task(s)? 
• How do you make sure that group members feel supported, encouraged, and appreciated for their work? 
• How does the team ensure that all voices are heard? 
• Do you participate willingly in discussions? If not, why not? 
• Do others appear to understand your ideas? If not, why not? 
• What do you do if another person’s ideas are unclear? 
• What do you focus on when others speak? How could you improve your listening skills? 
• How do you respond to others’ ideas? How do they respond to yours? What could be improved? 
• What are your group’s ground rules and goals? What changes to these rules and goals might improve the functioning of your group? 
• How is everyone encouraged to stay accountable for the tasks they have been assigned? 
• To what extent do you and others follow the feedback methods laid out in class? How could you and your group members improve the way you give and receive feedback? 
• To what extent does your group reflect on how well its goals are being achieved? How would more (or less) discussion about goals help or hinder your group’s functioning? 
• How are decisions made in your group? Who is involved and in which ways? What has been effective about the processes you have used? How could your decision-making processes be improved? 
• What happens if a group member is unhappy or uncomfortable with a decision made by the group? 
• What conflicts have arisen within your group? How (if at all) have the conflicts been resolved? What role do you play in resolving these conflicts? What could you (or others) do to improve your group’s ability to deal productively with conflict? 
• How do your meetings typically proceed? What do you accomplish and in how much time? What is effective about your group functioning during meetings? What changes would improve your meetings? 
• Who has emerged as the leader in your group? Which other roles do you see team members playing? Which role(s) do you play? Which role do you prefer and why? 

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help. View the  CTE Support  page to find the most relevant staff member to contact. 

References 

• Bosworth, K. (1994). Developing Collaborative Skills in College Students. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 59. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. pp. 25-31. 
• Breslow, L. (1998). Teaching Teamwork Skills, Part 2. Teach Talk, X, 5.  
• Burke, A. (2011). Group work: How to use groups effectively. The Journal of Effective Teaching, 11(2), 87-95. 
• Hills, H. (2001). Team-Based Learning. Burlington, VT: Gower. 
• Lang, J. M. (2022, June 17). Why students hate group projects (and how to change that). The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/why-students-hate-group-projects-and-how-to-change-that   
• Shier, M. (2020). Student Success. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/studentsuccess/  
• UWaterloo’s  Student Success Office  
• UWaterloo’s  Office of Academic Integrity  

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