Teams are becoming a staple in today's workplace. In this course, you'll learn the components of a successful team and the stages of its development. You'll master the skills you'll need to effectively manage projects, make decisions, and solve problems in a team setting. Plus, you'll have a chance to learn the pitfalls of unhealthy group interaction and minimize any of its effects on your team.

Along the way, you'll follow real-life examples and scenarios to help you identify with the team-building process. There's a lot more to it than just getting a number of people together in a room at the same time. Are you eager to develop your leadership qualities and be a quality team participant? Many of today's teams rotate leadership roles, so it's crucial to understand both perspectives as you learn the best ways to communicate and work together for positive change.

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Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

If you're on a team, this course is for you. Only by understanding teams fully and completely will you be able to create an outstanding team that works effectively and with high energy. In our first lesson, you'll learn the characteristics of teams, the ways they can transform your workplace, and how to deal with resistance.

Friday - Lesson 02

Do you want to know the secrets of building passionate and dynamic teams? It's not as hard as you might think—I promise. We'll begin today's lesson by going over the basics: The different kinds of teams and the optimal number of members. Then, we'll discuss how to choose participants and clarify everyone's roles and responsibilities.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

Don't go into a team blind. In this lesson, you'll learn all the stages that teams go through and how to move successfully through each one. We'll also discuss the importance of creating a strong charter that will guide your team in accomplishing its goals. What can you do if members don't live up to your charter agreements? We'll also discuss how to approach them and get the best response.

Friday - Lesson 04

Are you aspiring to be a team leader, or do you already have a team to direct? A lot of today's teams even have rotating leadership where everyone gets a chance. In either case, this lesson is for you. First, you'll find out what your specific leadership qualities are. Next, learn how to develop the two areas of leadership responsibility: designing and coaching. By the end of this lesson, you'll be confident enough to accept a leadership role with poise and purpose.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

Everyone needs to understand how to work well with other teammates. At the beginning of this lesson, you'll measure your affinity for working with a team and learn how to develop strong relationships. Team spirit comes along with those strong relationships, rounding out your interactions to be complete and fulfilling.

Friday - Lesson 06

Have you ever attended a meeting that made you yawn and want to dash for the door? Nobody likes to sit through those. In this lesson, you'll learn how to avoid those types of meetings by understanding the ground rules. We'll also talk about some of those first-day jitters every new team has. Finally, we'll talk about the problems that derail meetings from their full potential.

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

Your team exists in order to make good decisions and solve one or more problems. Communication is the key to accomplishing both. In this lesson, you'll learn how to communicate in a team setting as well as different techniques your team can use to make the best decisions possible and solve problems effectively.

Friday - Lesson 08

Your team's job is to deliver the project on time, within budget, and working well when it's first put into place. This is a lot of responsibility, and in order for the team to get going, it needs a plan. In this lesson, we'll talk about how you can create this plan. You'll also learn how to share your plan with stakeholders, people who aren't on the team but experience the effects of your decisions, and how to interview those stakeholders so you can take their input into account.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

If you're a fan of all the technology gizmos on the market today, I think you'll really like this lesson. Have you heard of virtual teams? With these teams, members live and work in different places. Today, you'll discover what virtual teams are, what technology they use, and how teammates can work well in this environment.

Friday - Lesson 10

You have your team up and running, and all of a sudden, things start going awry. Why? You may be facing one of the many obstacles that teams confront. It's better to know how to avoid negative traps before you fall into them. In this lesson, you'll learn how to deal with common team obstacles, including the bandwagon effect, the Abilene Paradox, core group domination, and escalation of commitment.

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

In this lesson, we're going to deal with something that none of us likes very much—conflict. You may think that because teams come together to achieve a common goal, everyone should be working for the greater good and harmony should rule. Nothing could be further from the truth. Conflict is a natural part of dealing with other people, and it's typical in teams as well. We'll look at what conflict is, how it comes about, how to handle it, and how it can actually benefit your team.

Friday - Lesson 12

How do you know your team is doing what it's supposed to be doing and if there's room for improvement? The best way is to assess your team's progress and use different methods to realign when necessary. That's what we'll discuss today as we finish up the course.

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This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Vivian Harte.

As a professor at two colleges for over 14 years, Vivian Harte taught students how to build and maintain successful teams. In the workplace, she helped teams create a city's strategic energy plan, write a state's recycling manual, organize and facilitate educational conferences for recycling coordinators, and make recommendations for improving college policies for faculty members. But perhaps her favorite work is interacting with students online to help them build the kind of teams that make a difference in workplaces across the country.

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Requirements:

Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader).

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