Working together: Teamwork and Partnerships

Vocabulary & Listening

What skills and abilities do the people in these
photographs need?
2) How important are teamwork and regular meetings where you work|study?

3) Some companies do psychological tests to check if someone will be a good team

player. Complete the questionnaire and discuss in your groups.
TEAMWORK MAKES THE
DREAM WORK.
4) Harriet and Conrad work in the project management section of a large finance
group. The are looking for someone to join their team. 3) Listen to their
conversation. Which choices did the candidate make?
5)Match the words in A to the words in B to make phrases. Then listen
again and check your answers.

A B
take skills
team forces
work responsibility
join benefit
complementary alliances
common closely
form venture
joint goals
mutual player
shared ground
6) Work with a partner. Match the phrases you made in 5 to definitions
1~10

complementary skills
join forces
take responsibility
mutual benefit
form alliances
work closely
joint venture
shared goals
team player

common ground
Scenario 1:
Shawna works in a library. She and three other co-workers have been tasked to work together
on a project. Shawna turns in the completed product, but she completed it without input or
help from the others. Shawna said it was really tough to find time to meet together. She did
text the others (asking about working together), but got no responses. Her supervisor,
Nathaniel, knows that she is a promising young librarian who wants to advance to a leadership
position. Nathaniel also believes that Shawna has the potential to be a good leader, but feels
she is impatient when it comes to working with others.

DISCUSSION:
• What did Shawna do well?
• What could she have done differently?
• How might she handle herself in the future?
• How should Nathaniel handle this situation?
• Consider the fact that he probably wants to help Shawna to improve and not necessarily
punish her.
Role-play: Teamwork on the job

➢ In groups of 5 we will now prepare a role-play and complete it in front

of the class.
➢ Take 5 minutes to rehearse and think about how the characters will act.
Discussion:

➢ What was the real problem at the coffee shop?

➢ What could Jarrod and/or Steffy have done differently?
➢ Do you agree with how the manager handled the situation?
➢ What might you have done in this situation?

In your groups come up with a list of the benefits of teamwork and to illustrate or
give examples of each. (At least 5 benefits)
 Benefits of Teamwork
• Support - Teamwork leads to camaraderie between team members. This will not only lead
to better social relationships, but can also act as a support when things go wrong.
• Varied skills – Different team members bring with them different skills.
• Distribution of work - Distributing work not only reduces each individual’s burden, but
also increases responsibility and ensures better commitment to completing the task
individually and as a whole.
• Creativity - Different people have different skills and possess different perspectives.
Therefore any activity that involves teamwork benefits from the various creative thoughts
and inspirations of different people.
• Accomplish faster – People working together will tend to complete a project faster than if
one person was working alone.
Part of being a good team member is learning how to understand your personal strengths (what
you have to offer) AND where you might need to draw assistance from others. Listed on this
sheet are 10 of the characteristics that make a productive team member. Rate your level of
confidence in each skill (HONESTLY) – and then devise a plan for how you can improve
some of the areas you think might need a “jump start.”