Virtual Classroom English

Features of an effective team

Communication in teams
Leadership in teams
Conflict management

Warm-up | Do you work in a team?

Is there a team leader?

How many people are on your team?
Do you get along with your team?

Yes, I work on a team with 5 people, and one is the leader, and we get along really well together.
In fact, we sometimes have lunch together.

Idea storming | Effective teams

Commitment:
They know their goals and strive to reach them. They are committed to the work and also to
each other to support one another.

Flexibility:
They can compromise when needed and let another team member's idea take center stage, for
example. They are willing to take on more work at times.

Responsible:
They comply with their duties and responsibilities.

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Cooperation:
They try to work well with others and to help keep the harmony in the team.

Participative:
Each member listens when needed but gives opinions and ideas at other times.

Supportive:
Each member helps the others and there is a spirit of helping and cooperation.

Trust:
Each one trusts that the others are doing their work and contributing to the good for all.

Speak up! | Qualities of good communication

Honest open communication:

All team members need to be open and clear with others so there is no misunderstanding.

Nonverbal communication:
Turning your back on someone or folding your arms and leaning back show disinterest and
disagreement strongly, despite your words spoken.

Listening:
All team members' ideas are valid and potentially important, and it is a sign of respect to listen
attentively.

Tone of voice:
As with nonverbal communication, a nice, respectful tone of voice is important in all
communications, shows respect and willingness to work together.

Humor and happiness:

Adding positive, proactive attitude to the team and happiness is contagious and helps all team
members work happily.

Recognize others:
Recognizing when others have good ideas or work well helps motivate the whole team.

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In my opinion, humor and respecting others are the most important qualities of good
communication because if we are respectful, the other person will not be offended and will treat
us well in return, and humor breaks the ice and keeps things light and positive.

Tell us about it | An effective team leader

Organizational skills:
Needs to keep all tasks and team members organized, keeping track of deadlines, projects, etc.

Integrity:
Defined as "being honest and having strong moral principles". This is important as a base for
everything else, to accomplish goals, treat people fairly, etc.

Respect:
Team members work better if they feel worthy and respected.

Fairness:
Workers are motivated when they feel that a leader is fair in handing out duties and workload.

Facilitator:
The leader needs to be able to lead meetings effectively so that tasks progress.

Negotiator:
Sometimes a leader needs to be able to negotiate tasks nobody wants to do, negotiate more
work for one person, or other things.

Communication:
This is the base of all progress. When you work with people, clear communication is crucial, if
not, unnecessary work will be done and that will reduce morale, etc.

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What do you think? | Tools for overcoming conflict

1. Attack the problem, not the person.

Focus on the issue or problem maintains objectivity and maintains good relationships.

2. Focus on what can be done, not on what can't be done.

Focusing on positive, proactive action makes progress.

3. Encourage different points of view and honest dialogue.

Talking the situation out and not being judgmental often helps improve things.

4. Express your feelings in a way that does not blame.

Blame is nonproductive and doesn't help solve the problem, but it is important to state feelings
to deal with them.

5. Accept ownership for your part of the problem.

Take responsibility for contributing to the problem or at least for not helping solve it before it got
to this point.

6. Listen to understand the other person's point of view before giving your own.
Allowing others to speak first signals respect and collaboration.

7. Show respect for the other person's point of view.

Regardless of whether you think the other person is right or wrong, respecting their opinion
helps solve the problem.

8. Solve the problem while building the relationship.

Take this opportunity to improve the team relationships. Conflict is sometimes a way to a better
team.

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Over to you! | How would you solve this issue?

Missed deadlines:
Talk to the leader and the team about why this happened, what information they need to meet
deadlines.

Slow progress:
Talk with team about why they are not progressing from ideas and talking to action. What
obstacles are in their way?

Discussion but little implementation:

Is the leader facilitating action and goal setting? Is the team dragging their feet or blocking
leader's progress?

Arguing and disagreement:

One might use quality improvement strategies and structured brainstorming for example to keep
discussion objective.

Reluctance to speak at meetings:

This is a signal that the leader or team members are overbearing and there is not a spirit of
equality.

Discuss! | Your team

How does your team communicate?

How does your team deal with conflict, when it arises?
How does your team delegate tasks and responsibilities?
What qualities and skills does an effective team leader need?

My team is really friendly, and we have an informal style of communication, but when we have
a problem, we tackle it head on and talk about it directly. We delegate tasks fairly, and the team
leader usually does that so it's consistent.
An effective team leader needs the same skills as a manager: fairness, respect, honesty,
confidence, organizational skills, etc.

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