# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Determine why you need or want other people to get involved. Some possibilities may include:

1. As objectives are achieved, the organization has chosen to broaden its goals, which will require additional membership support.

2. Those who could benefit most from your effort are not currently participating.

3. The group's membership does not include representation from key sectors and those individuals who can provide crucial insight into planning appropriate interventions.

4. The effort is not publicly visible or supported in the community and expanding the membership base will bring about greater community and/or political support.

5. The organization or group lacks members with specific knowledge, relationships, or experience (e.g., fundraising) needed to accomplish its goals.

6. You do not currently have enough participants to carry out the legwork involved with action planning steps.

What are the reasons your organization wants or needs additional members?

Related resources:
Encouraging Involvement in Community Work

Maximizing Community Stakeholders' Engagement

1. Identify those who need to be involved in order to accomplish your group's objectives or specific projects. (These are often the people suggested by Step 1.)

1. Review potential participants and partners:

1. Who in the community that you are serving can most benefit if they were to participate?

2. Who in the community can be most effective in bringing about the vision and mission?

3. What roles are currently unfilled or need to be created and who might best fill them?

4. Where would these new members be found?

5. Why would you choose one or the other individual or organization? What additional resources would they bring to the initiative?

6. When is the right time for them to be recruited or join the effort?

7. How should they be involved in the group's planning and activities?

8. What potential barriers exist to recruiting these new partners, and what strategies can help overcome those barriers to their involvement?

9. How many members do you want involved? Should there be a membership target?

10. Is there anyone that the group would turn away if they wanted to be involved, and why? How might involving members of other organizations enhance or conflict with your goals?

Related resources:
Recruiting and Training Volunteers
Developing a Plan for Increasing Participation in Community Action
Identifying Targets and Agents of Change: Who Can Benefit and Who Can Help

2. Plan to recruit participants and members from diverse backgrounds and viewpoints:

1. Include diverse groups (e.g., culture, age, income) at the inception of the initiative or project. What groups are missing currently?

2. Organize your group or effort in such a way that all participants and members have equal power and responsibility. What changes can you make to distribute power and responsibility more evenly?

3. Make diversity and community representation of those affected by the issue or problem a priority in future recruitment and outreach efforts. Who will take responsibility ensure diversity and community representation among members, and how can they be supported?

4. Recognize the experience of community members and the credibility their involvement lends to the effort. What kinds of knowledge and experience do community members have that could benefit your organization and its efforts?

Related resources:
Developing a Plan for Increasing Participation in Community Action
Promoting Participation Among Diverse Groups

3. Review representation from different sectors of the community as way to identify who should be involved and who is not. Consider representation from different sectors, including:

1. Social institutions (e.g., public and private schools, businesses, media, government).

2. Other community organizations (e.g., clinics and hospitals, housing and transportation authorities, neighborhood associations, parent-teacher organizations, professional groups, social service agencies, faith communities).

3. Specialized groups - organizations specifically oriented around issues central to your group's vision and mission.

4. Individual leaders and citizens - recruit those in the community with particular influence and/or commitment to your group's mission and objectives.

What sectors are currently not represented or underrepresented that could substantially help your organization accomplish its goals?

Related resources:
Developing a Plan for Increasing Participation in Community Action
Promoting Participation Among Diverse Groups
Using Community Sectors to Reach Targets and Agents of Changes

4. After considering your personal contacts, find other specific people or organizations to involve though such sources as:

1. Area phone directories

2. Local community guides

3. Community home pages on the internet/world wide web

4. Lists of health and human service agencies (e.g., the local United Way may probe a good starting point)

5. Directories of community organizations or associations - might be found at an area library .

6. Local or community newspaper - provides information on who is already doing what in the area.

After reviewing sources, what additional persons or organizations did you identify as possible new members?

Related resources:
Developing a Plan for Increasing Participation in Community Action
Promoting Participation Among Diverse Groups

5. Create conditions that will allow the greatest diversity of people and organizations to participate. Consider how each potential barrier will be addressed:

1. Language (e.g., conduct the meeting in the language of the majority and provide interpreters for additional languages used by participants).

2. Child care (e.g., offer child care services at group functions).

3. Transportation (e.g., initiate creative transportation solutions for those without easy access to meeting places, such as community vans or car pools).

4. Time (e.g., be considerate of members' time commitments to their families and other responsibilities by asking them about preferred meeting times and by beginning and ending meetings on time).

5. Hospitality or welcoming atmosphere (e.g., provide refreshments or a meal if the meetings occur over meal times, introduce new members and plan social activities to encourage members to get to know each other personally).

What barriers are present that may limit who is participating and how can they be removed?

Related resources:
Methods of Contacting Potential Participants
Promoting Participation Among Diverse Groups
Modifying Access, Barriers, and Opportunities

2. Reach out to those who can benefit and contribute (those we most want to involve) through people who can connect with and persuade others.

1. Indicate those "connectors" (people who link others) who may be particularly helpful in reaching or connecting with potential participants and members.

2. Identify the "persuaders" who may be able to convince people to participate through their credibility and standing in the potential participant's community.

Related resources:
​Identifying Targets and Agents of Change: Who Can Benefit and Who Can Help
Using Outreach to Increase Access
Using Community Sectors to Reach Targets and Agents of Changes
Involving Key Influentials in the Initiative

3. Indicate core components of the effort to encourage participation and involvement, including:

1. Communicating "sticky" messages (ones people remember) about the desired behavior including:

1. Credible content and source (e.g., testimonial by someone like me, celebrity, or person in authority)

2. Images that convey the appropriate tone (e.g., serious, humorous, friendly)

3. Memorable sayings (e.g., "Be part of the community - get involved") and narrative stories (e.g., about why this was important to particular people and communities)

4. Specific prompts about participation and involvement to be sought (e.g., be clear about what people could do and when)

5. How involvement fits with the circumstances of people's lives (i.e., how it is compatible with people's available time, the places where they live and work, and the situations they experience)

6. How this minimizes time and effort (i.e., how the time and cost is acceptable)

7. How participation results in positive consequences (e.g., increased social approval from peers)

2. Making the participation and involvement more rewarding or attractive by increasing available positive reinforcement (e.g., using media campaigns to show how participation led to benefits valued by friends and family; holding honoring ceremonies for those who contribute). What reinforcements for involvement in your organization can you identify and how might you assure them?

1. Making participation easier or of lower cost (i.e., modifying access, barriers and opportunities; e.g., having meetings at convenient times, providing translators and child care as needed). What would make it easier for people to participate in your organization's efforts?

2. Improving peoples' abilities to be involved (e.g., providing information, skill training, and support for participants and members). What skills and supports are current members able to provide to encourage new people to get involved?

Related resources:
Providing Information and Enhancing Skills
Communicating Information About Community Health and Development Issues
Providing Incentives for Staff and Volunteers
Honoring Community Champions
Modifying Access, Barriers, and Opportunities
Developing a Plan for Communication
Using Personal Testimony

4. Use particular sources and influential persons and organizations to reach the specific groups you hope to involve

1. Indicate the particular sources of information that will be used to influence particular subgroups (i.e., people trust messages that come from others who are similar in age, ethnicity, etc.) What sources of information may be most likely to reach those you want to involve?

2. Indicate how the particular channels of influence will be used to reach distinct populations (e.g., African Americans and Hispanics might be reached through church bulletins in their traditional faith communities). Indicate all those that will be used for person-to-person, small group or media communications including:

1. Informal networks and naturally occurring groups (e.g., those in faith communities, support groups)

2. Public and non-profit organizations (e.g., health and human service agencies, libraries)

3. Professional associations and groups (e.g., teachers' associations, labor unions)

4. Businesses (e.g., theaters, convenience stores, beauty salons, bars)

5. Point-of-purchase/activity materials (e.g., signs, displays, "take one" handouts)

6. Community events (e.g., soccer games, arts festivals)

7. Direct and electronic mail (e.g., bill stuffers, Internet/E-mail)

8. Print materials (e.g., brochures, fact sheets, newsletters, posters, flyers)

9. Print media (e.g., newspapers, daily and weekly)

10. Outdoor media (e.g., billboards, transit ads)

11. Broadcast media (e.g., television, radio)

12. Telephone directories (e.g., Yellow pages)

What channels would make it most likely that you reach those you wish to involve?

Related resources:
Developing a Plan for Communication
Involving Key Influentials in the Initiative
Using Community Sectors to Reach Targets and Agents of Changes
Using E-Mail Lists
Using Direct Mail
Creating Newsletters
Creating Posters and Flyers
Creating Brochures
Preparing Guest Columns and Editorials
Creating Fact Sheets on Local Issues
Writing Letters to the Editor
Media Advocacy
Preparing Press Releases
Preparing Public Service Announcements
Arranging a Press Conference
Using Paid Advertising

5. Create an atmosphere that fosters continued participation by staff and volunteers.

1. Ask why people or organizations would want to be involved in your community initiative or organization. Indicate how your initiative or organization will:

1. Address issues of genuine concern to the greater community.

2. Involve community members and organization in defining and creating solutions to the problem or goal.

3. Have a history of success that people will want to be a part of.

4. Include a diverse membership with a variety of strengths and resources.

5. Make special efforts to welcome new members and new ideas.

How will you promote to others the many positives of being involved in your organization?

Related resources:
Providing Support for Staff and Volunteers
Obtaining Feedback from Constituents: What Changes are Important and Feasible?
Participatory Approaches to Planning Community Interventions
Promoting Participation Among Diverse Groups
Methods of Contacting Potential Participants
Making Personal Contact with Potential Participants

2. Indicate how the crucial "6R" qualities will be incorporated into the group's meetings and activities to keep people involved and contributing to the organization. These should include:

1. Recognition - People want to be recognized for their contributions.

2. Respect - People want their values, culture, ideas, and time to be respected and considered in the organization's activities.

3. Role - People want a clearly meaningful role in the coalition that makes them feel valuable and in which they can make a contribution.

4. Relationships - People want the opportunity to establish and build networks both professionally and personally for greater influence and enjoyment.

5. Reward - People expect the rewards of participating in a collaborative partnership to outweigh the costs and to benefit from the relationships established.

6. Results - People respond to visible results that are clearly linked to outcomes that are important to them and that they can clearly link to their participation in the coalition.

What changes can be made in the way your organization holds meetings and activities that will incorporate the "6R"s and encourage continued involvement.

3. Explain how you will encourage community ownership and cultivate the credibility of the initiative or organization within the community

Related resources:
Rewarding Accomplishments

6. Plan for involving new generations of people and organizations.

1. Identify changing conditions and future developments that could change those who might benefit and contribute to the work. Who might be most affected by changing conditions and developments in your community in the future?

2. Indicate how new generations of people will be encouraged to participate. Who will identify and involve them in your organization's efforts?

Related resources:
Encouraging Leadership Development Across the Lifespan

7. Assess whether the participation plan is effective and make needed adjustments.

1. Specify what success would look like (and how we would know it) for:

1. Participation from those who would most benefit (e.g. reaching 80% of those experiencing the issue or problem).

2. Involvement from those who could contribute (e.g., active participation by 40 community members).

What would success look like?

Will the current participation plan result in your vision of success? If not, why not?

2. Indicate potential adjustments to address key issues in participation and involvement. Some possible issues may include:

1. Too few people participating.

2. Insufficient diversity.

3. Needed assets and relationships are missing.

What adjustments (if any) still need to be made to involve those you want or need in your organization?

Related resources:
Developing a Plan for Increasing Participation in Community Action

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
8. Increasing Participation and Membership

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Determine why you need or want other people to get involved. Some possibilities may include: As objectives are achieved, the organization has chosen to broaden its goals, which will require additional membership support. Those who could benefit most from your effort are not currently participating.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Call it "active learning," or "classroom participation" -- every teacher wants to know how to motivate students to particpate, and how to nurture more involved students and fewer apathetic ones. With a little extra planning, that is possible.

Below are four common reasons students don't participate and techniques to solve those problems and spice up your lessons.

Maybe it needs to be repetitive because the students don't really "get it," or maybe you're reviewing for a test. In any case, they're tuning out.

Solution #1: Assess their prior knowledge.

This could be as simple as asking students, "What do you know about (topic)?" and writing their responses on the board. You could also try a pre-test or a graphic organizer like a K-W-L chart . The goal is to find out what they already know (or think they know). You create buy-in for the students because they feel smart, and you can tailor your lesson to the information they don't know or don't remember correctly.

Solution #2: Try skills grouping.

Divide the class into groups based on what skills they need to practice - not forever, but for a class period or two, so they can focus on what they really need help with. So have a group that works on multiplying fractions, one on dividing fractions, and one on converting fractions to decimals. Make a group of "already got 100% on the test" kids and give them an extra credit activity or let them preview the next lesson. Then take time to move between the other groups and help them review. You'll have more students engaged in the lesson and they'll get specific, focused practice time.

Solution #3: Let them teach each other.

Especially good when reviewing before a test: divide the class into groups and give each group a topic. Set some guidelines and then let them teach each other. Encourage them to do interesting activities - write tests for each other, design review games, etc. - and evaluate each group on the accuracy of their content, the creativity of their approach, and how well they work together as a team. This is also a great way to discover how to motivate students.

This is really half the problem. The other half - especially with older students - is their fear of "looking stupid" by asking questions.

Solution #1: Allow anonymous questions.

Put out a "question box" where students can submit questions any time. Give each student an index card and ask them to write something about the reading assignment they did for homework. If they don't have a question, instruct them to write a comment on the reading. Collect the cards and use them to lead a class discussion. You'll easily recognize what parts of the reading confused a lot of students and they won't feel embarrassed.

Solution #2: Allow them to work together.

We can't do this all the time; individual students need to be assessed. Ask yourself: is the goal of this activity for them to learn the content, or for them to be assessed? If you want them to learn the content, why not let them work together? When they bring in their homework, do a quick survey for completeness, then put them in pairs and let them review the homework together. Encourage them to make changes if their partner's answer looks right. When they've finished, review as a class. Students may be less embarrassed to share a group's answer than their own and you may be able to complete the review more quickly.

Solution #3: Try a jigsaw approach.

No, we're not talking about puzzles or scary movies. If you're introducing new, difficult content, divide the class into groups and ask each group to master only one portion of it at a time. If, for example, you're teaching the American Revolution, have one group focus on the Continental Congress, one on Washington's Army, one on French support for the war, and so on.

Ask them to do a reading on their topic - to become the class "experts" on that subject. Then split up the class into new groups that include one "expert" on each topic. Ask these new groups to work together to write an essay or complete a worksheet that requires information about all the topics. They will teach each other in the process. Learn more about the Jigsaw Approach.

Problem: There's too much information to present in too short a time.

Sometimes there's no way around it: you simply have to get a lot of information out there in a short amount of time. So you opt for a lecture and just want your students to absorb the content. Instead, they fall asleep or stare out the window. What can you do?

Solution #1: Keep it "bite-sized."

Remember: research shows the average student's attention span is as long as her age. So even high school kids can only handle about 15 minutes. If you have a lot of information to convey, re-arrange your lesson plans so you never lecture for more than 10-15 minutes.

Break up large concepts into smaller sections - give a brief lecture, then do an activity to help it "sink in." Repeat this process over several days. You'll increase participation - and improve comprehension, too.

Solution #2: Keep them busy.

Don't allow students to stare into space while you talk. Give them something to stay connected. Try "fill in the blank" lecture notes. Delete key words and phrases in your lecture notes to create a "fill in the blank" worksheet. Then ask students to fill in the worksheet while you lecture. Another fun variation - lecture bingo .

Solution #3: Look into the future.

Before a lecture, give students a prediction activity. For example, tell them you will be lecturing on Shakespeare and ask them to predict what you will say, or give them a set of true/false statements and ask them to take their best guess.

As you lecture, instruct students to compare their guesses with what you actually say.

When the lecture is over, have a class discussion and evaluate how accurate student predictions were.

Problem: The lesson emphasizes the teacher, not the students.

Solution #1: Keep them busier than you are.

The traditional classroom of yesteryear had the teacher at the front of the room, droning on while students doze. Re-imagine your classroom as a place where students are busier than you are.

Keep the "sit still and let me talk to you" moments as brief as possible; get those kids working! Give them worksheets, activities, discussions, and projects. That doesn't mean you get to sit around -- you will still be busy, moving from student to student or group to group, correcting, evaluating, or providing feedback. But now everyone is busy and involved.

Homogeneous grouping? Heterogeneous grouping? Tracking? Forget the buzz words: having students work in groups is one of the best ways to increase student participation. Don't keep them in the same groups all the time -give them a chance to be the "smart kid" who can help someone one day and the kid who needs help the next.

Take a traditional worksheet or activity and give it to students in groups. Offer a reward to the group who finishes first with the most answers correct and watch them go! Note: it helps to have additional prizes available to keep groups motivated after the first group "wins." Even high school students enjoy these competitions.

Solution #3: Give them a voice and a choice.

Do students ever get a "say" in your classroom? Of course you need to make most decisions, but there must be some things you could leave up to them - whether it's what color chalk you use today or how long they practice a specific activity.

Kids tune out because they feel like their ideas don't matter. Show them their opinions are important and they'll pay better attention and speak up more in class.

There will always be some unreachable student who won't respond, even with these efforts. But if you give these a try, you may be presently surprised at the previously unreachable students who just might join in!

How do you encourage participation in your class? In what ways did you discover how to motivate students? Share in the comments section!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
top 12 ways to increase student participation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Top 12 Ways to Increase Student Participation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Call it "active learning," or "classroom participation" -- every teacher wants to know how to motivate students to particpate, and how to nurture more involved students and fewer apathetic ones. With a little extra planning, that is possible. Below are four common reasons students don't participate and techniques to solve those problems and spice up your lessons.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Create Learning Activities That Are Complex

Students need a reason to collaborate. If the assignment is too simple, they can more easily do it alone. At most, they may check in with each other or interact in superficial ways. The real reason to collaborate is because the task is complex-it is too difficult and has too many pieces to complete alone.

Complex activities are challenging, engaging, stimulating, and multilayered. Complex activities require "positive interdependence" (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 2008), a situation in which attaining the goal, completing the task, being successful, and getting a good grade require that the team work together and share knowledge.

One way to do this is through rigorous projects that require students to identify a problem (for example, balancing population growth in their city with protection of existing green spaces) and agree-through research, discussion, debate, and time to develop their ideas-on a solution which they must then propose together.

Prepare Students to Be Part of a Team

Collaborative groups can't be assigned-they have to be built and nurtured. Students often need to learn how to work effectively with others and as part of a team. We have to help students understand the what, why, and how of collaboration. We can do this in several ways:

Help students understand the benefits of collaboration and what successful collaboration looks like.

Guide students through the stages of team building (forming, storming, norming, and performing).

Give students time and opportunities within the activity to develop leadership, decision-making, trust-building, communication, and conflict-management skills.

Establish expectations and norms for working together.

Design, or have students design, protocols for handling conflict disagreement so they can resolve issues within their teams.

Teach students active listening skills.

Minimize Opportunities for Free Riding

When students complain about collaborative groups, it often has to do with the free riding of one member who lets others do all the work and then benefits from the group grade. We can eliminate free riding in a number of ways:

Create small groups of no more than four or five people. When there is less room to hide, nonparticipation is more difficult.

Ensure a high degree of individual accountability (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 2008) by assessing students both individually and as a group. For example, at the end of the day give students an individual quiz based on the intended outcome of their collaborative activity.

Design meaningful team roles that relate to the content and to the task. Roles like time keeper are episodic and don't intellectually engage students in the content, and this can encourage free riding. In contrast, more meaningful roles such as manager, monitor, and leaders for each subtask of the activity give students ownership in the process and allow the teacher to assess students based on successful completion of these roles.

Have students evaluate their own participation and effort and that of each team member and triangulate those assessments with your own

Build in Many Opportunities for Discussion and Consensus

Many group projects are based on efficiency, dividing labor to create a product in the most effective way possible. This focus on the product means that we often ignore the process of collaboration. Rich discussions that connect students with the experiences of others, that engage them deeply in a shared intellectual experience, and that promote coming to consensus are essential to collaboration.

For instance, students can come to consensus around a solution or decision where they must defend or propose a common vision or develop a set of beliefs or principles. This focus on discussion and consensus builds both academic and social skills-students learn to defend their ideas through evidence and analytical reasoning, to negotiate meaning, and to argue constructively.

Focus on Strengthening and Stretching Expertise

The challenge of designing good collaborative activities is ensuring that all students, even those who struggle, play an important role. Collaboration should not just strengthen students' existing skills but ensure that their interactions stretch existing knowledge and expand one another's expertise. If, for example, a student is much stronger in one skill than her peers in her group, she can teach others and her grade can be contingent upon how much her peers learn.

In collaborative activities, we want to ensure that students don't just occupy the same physical space but that they share an intellectual space-that they learn more, do more, and experience more together than they would alone. As teachers, we can promote real collaboration by shifting our role from instructor to coach-promoting team autonomy, checking in on students and providing instant feedback, and helping them increasingly learn to work together productively to attain a common goal.

Reference:

Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R., & Holubec, E. (2008). Cooperation in the Classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Strategies to Deepen Student Collaboration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Students need a reason to collaborate. If the assignment is too simple, they can more easily do it alone. At most, they may check in with each other or interact in superficial ways. The real reason to collaborate is because the task is complex-it is too difficult and has too many pieces to complete alone.

# data[].attributes.headline
Theories or methodologies of working together

# data[].attributes.subject
Theories or methodologies of working together

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teamwork Theory: Tuckman's Stages of Group Development
Probably the most famous teamwork theory is Bruce Tuckman's "team stages model".
First developed in 1965, Tuckman's model is widely known as a basis for effective team building. Yet how many people really know how to use it?

Below we explain Tuckman's model and offer some fresh insights on how to take it further.

But before reading on why not take the chance to "team-up" with our great range of e-guides . The complete set is now available at half price!

You'll find advice, tips, tools and new models which you won't find anywhere else. You can read about the real benefits of our teams bundle in our article on team building activities. Or why not download your half price offer right now! You're in good company with satisfied customers from over 30 countries around the world. Click the image below to view some of our most popular e-guides:

Tuckman's model is significant because it recognizes the fact that groups do not start off fully-formed and functioning. He suggests that teams grow through clearly defined stages, from their creation as groups of individuals, to cohesive, task-focused teams.

Our e-guide: Build a Better Team, has been specifically designed to help you understand and use a team stages model. It contains a tool for each stage to help you build a high-performing team - as quickly as possible.

Tuckman's Teamwork Theory

Tuckman describes working with a team of social psychologists, on behalf of the U.S. navy. The team studied small group behaviour, from several perspectives. In doing so, Tuckman reviewed 50 articles on group development and noticed that there were two features common to these small groups: the interpersonal or group structure, and the task activity. From this he identified that groups evolved into teams via four common stages.

Firstly an orientation, testing phase which often led to a period characterized by a degree of conflict. This then generally resolved itself, leading to a more socially cohesive phase. Finally, groups settled to a functional phase, during which they focused on role-relatedness. To summarize these four phases, Tuckman coined the oft-quoted terms: "forming", "storming", "norming" and "performing".

Tuckman's teamwork theory is best illustrated on a graph which shows the link between group relationships (the horizontal axis) and task focus (the vertical axis). The optimal or "performing" position is reached when relationships have developed within the group and it has started delivering with a clear focus on the task.

However, Tuckman's ideas clearly indicate that it takes time to reach the "performing" stage, and it's normal for these teams to go through ups and downs as they develop relationships. Particularly in the early period, which is perhaps why Tuckman called it the "storming" phase!

The 4 Phases of Tuckman's Teamwork Theory

Forming:
The initial stage of team development during which individuals have not yet gelled together. Everybody is busy finding their place in the team, sizing each other up, and asking themselves why they are here! Find out more in our articles: Team Building Techniques and Teamwork Tips. The first offers advice on starting a new team while the second will help you take over an existing team (perhaps a far more common situation).

Storming:
People begin to see themselves as part of a team. However at this stage they may challenge each other, and the team leader, about such things as what the team is doing, and how things should be done. As the stage title suggests, conflict and confrontation typify this stage, as differences surface. This may result in some loss of performance or focus on the task, as the diagram illustrates.

Norming:
This is the phase where team members start to come together, developing processes, establishing ground rules, clarifying who does what, and how things will be done. This phase is characterized by a growing sense of "togetherness". Find out more about both the Storming and Norming phases in our article: Team Building Concepts.

Performing:
This is the final stage where increased focus on both the task, and on team relationships, combine to provide synergy. Performance is delivered through people working effectively together. We have written two articles to further develop this stage. Team Building in the Workplace will help you build a performing team. Characteristics of Effective Teamwork will help you and your team sustain that performance.

The value of Tuckman's model is that it helps us understand that teams evolve. It also helps us to consider how they may encounter different problems at different stages of their development.

One limitation of the model may be that it makes team building appear too linear and sequential. Although it's a useful analytical tool, we must remember that some teams may "loop" around in their development.

For example, not all teams evolve smoothly through Tuckman's stages but may yo-yo between norming and storming until they either begin to function, or are disbanded! Regardless of limitations, all well-conceived models can be useful in helping us to understand and better manage our circumstances.

Beyond Tuckman

Read our new book:

Uncommon Leadership: how to build competitive edge by thinking differently
"a tour de force ... all integrated into a fascinating intellectual package"

Professor Dennis J. Garritan, Adjunct Professor, Harvard University

Tuckman's famous phases are part of a teamwork theory based on stages of team development. His theory may have gained popularity partly due to the catchy labels for each of his stages.

However, it also provides a useful and simple way to think about how we humans interact in team situations. Firstly by illustrating that it's normal for teams go through stages as they develop. Secondly, by highlighting the need to manage different aspects of team behaviour at each stage of that development. The beauty and usefulness of Tuckman's model is perhaps in its simplicity.

Team development theories such, as Tuckman's group development stages, recognise that teams develop through different stages, from forming through to performing.

Whilst these theories give a useful understanding of different team requirements at different times, there are a number of questions that aren't particularly well answered by the models. For example:

How should you lead at the different stages of a team's development?

How do you identify when you are progressing through a stage?

How does the team develop in the organisational setting?

How is it affected by other outside influences?

The theory of group stages alone doesn't answer these questions. To do so, and thus to build a more robust teamwork concept, ideas about team leadership and outside factors need to be introduced. We've done just this in our STAR team performance model. You can see how this model applies to group stages in: Stages of Team Development.

This is the first of ten articles in our teamwork series. But for some practical tips on using teamwork theory, look at our great-value guides (below), or at our Team Building Exercises for all team stages.

Team Building Exercises and Team Stages

The exercises in this guide are grouped according to our team stages model. Remember, each team is unique and needs to be led through several developmental stages. These include:
Creating a new team or taking over an existing team

Exercise 1: Being a TEAM together

Exercise 2: True or false

Exercise 3: Who does what in a team?

Exercise 4: Getting the mix right

Exercise 5: Doing something for the first time

Exercise 6: Two years from now

Developing a team

Exercise 7: A clearer vision

Exercise 8: Mad, sad or glad

Exercise 9: Seeing the bigger picture

Exercise 10: Positive feedback

Exercise 11: Conflicting views

Performing and achieving results with a team

Exercise 12: Did you notice?

Exercise 13: Limiting beliefs

Sustaining team performance

Exercise 14: Scarce resources

Exercise 15: Keeping going

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Probably the most famous teamwork theory is Bruce Tuckman's "team stages model". First developed in 1965, Tuckman's model is widely known as a basis for effective team building. Yet how many people really know how to use it? Below we explain Tuckman's model and offer some fresh insights on how to take it further.

# data[].attributes.headline
Theories or methodologies of working together

# data[].attributes.subject
Theories or methodologies of working together

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teamwork plays an important part in successful business operations. Definitions of teamwork include a group of people working together for a common goal with each member contributing to the project or program. Social scientists and group-theory researchers study teams to develop theories to define effective practices.

Business-administration programs teach team techniques, and employers ask management-job applicants questions about team-building techniques and practices. An understanding of teamwork theory helps impress job interviewers and also improves work management.

Productive teams help build businesses and create effective companies. Maslow's team building theory suggests that teams are motivated by opportunities for growth and actualization, as explained by Halo Psychology. Highly motivated teams tend to be more creative and productive. Firms focused on high production levels study teams and interpersonal interactions at the business with an eye on making changes to improve productivity.

Apple founder and former Pixar head Steve Jobs, for example, incorporated teamwork as an important part of his corporate operations. Jobs thought the key to high-performing teams involved frequent employee interaction, as described by Inc. He used teamwork theories in the construction of his corporate headquarters to increase worker interaction. Despite the fact that Jobs pioneered communication through electronic media, he also promoted personal interaction to fuel successful teams and workplaces.

The first scholarly study of teamwork took place in the 1950s under the direction of psychologists examining how humans relate to themselves and others. This group looked at how work influences team interactions and the actions team members take to tap the talents and skills of other members in solving a task or problem at work.

Additional studies explored the changes in teams over time and how teams integrate technology in completing tasks. The earliest formal studies of teamwork took place after World War II and focused on discovering the reasons for the failure of military teams.

Using a label to describe a theory allows easy recognition and a foundation to discuss the basic concepts. Major theories evaluating team-member role development include Interaction Process Analysis, a theory proposed by sociologist Freed Bales in 1950. Bale's theory evaluates individual members using a formal inventory system.

David Buchanan and Andrzej Huczynski published a major theory in the 1980s focusing on the elements of power and status in team management theory. Other important theories such as Meredith Belbin's theory of team roles also presented in the 1980s, propose ways to examine assigned team-member roles and compare these with the roles developed as a result of the individual team member's personality. More recently, John Adair's leadership theory emerged offerring a framework for team leaders that integrates tasks, managing the team and managing individual contributions, Mind Tools reports.

The major elements examined by teamwork studies include the team environment, member actions, communication used by the team, traits and roles of team members and the team work assignment. Scholarly studies also explore the attitudes and beliefs of the team members. In-depth team study also looks at the use of employer reward systems, both real and perceived by the worker.

Modern scholarly studies compare new teamwork theories with earlier theories, and also create mathematical equations to represent the behavior of individual team members and the group as a whole. The math equations attempt to predict team behavior under various employment conditions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teamwork theory was developed by organizational psychologists and social scientists. Applying teamwork theory in the workplace can maximize team performance and overall productivity. Important theorists to know include Maslow, Bales, Belbin, Adair and others.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It's a fact that we are able to accomplish more by working together than as individuals. In a large study conducted by Salesforce regarding workplace challenges, 86% of leaders agreed that failing to work together as a team was the leading cause of project failure. Teamwork is an essential element of a successful company. Businesses that struggle in working together as a unified team will quickly fall behind.

Scrum is defined as a "team-based approach to delivering value to the business." This framework promotes effective collaboration between team members so they are able to tackle large projects and accomplish them together. Whether your business decides to follow a Scrum approach or not, applying some of these key components that Scrum teams implement can certainly help improve your results.

1. Teach Self-Management Principles

Scrum teams are designed to be self-managing so they are able to accomplish everything on the to-do list during a Sprint, without constant supervision or direction from leadership. This level of self-sufficiency varies based on how familiar the team is with Scrum principles and how complex the project may be. That being said, leadership and management is still necessary for setting directions and goals within the team's structure initially. Additionally, a self-managing team is not entirely self-sufficient as they do still require managers to guide them and help keep organized.

For self-managing Scrum teams, managers are merely responsible for the beginning stages of a Sprint by figuring out the best team structure and helping to improve development capacity. It is then up to the members of the team along with the Scrum Master, to ensure that everyone is on track to hit their Sprint goals and take action if any members are slacking or falling behind.

It may sound counterintuitive to lead your team by taking a step back from management, but many businesses have found that teams with more independence generally increase their efficiency. GE recently adopted a self-managed team approach, and they have reported a tremendous increase in both employee productivity and satisfaction as they are more involved with the day-to-day processes of their work.

Encourage your teams to take responsibility and handle challenges together, rather than taking their problems directly to a supervisor. Not only will this save time for managers, but it will also encourage employees to develop stronger problem-solving skills and teamwork capabilities.

2. Work on Internal Communication Skills

A Scrum team cannot function without communication. It is an essential building block for team trust and collaboration. During the Daily Scrum Meeting, team members must openly share and talk about wins, losses, and any internal issues that may be holding the team back from finishing every task during a Sprint. This type of transparency requires all members to be able to clearly communicate their ideas and concerns in a proper manner.

During Sprints, inter-communication skills are necessary so that everyone knows exactly what their duties are. A breakdown in communications could cause tasks to slip between the cracks and slow down progress. In order to keep everyone organized, many Scrum teams adopt project management software into their systems to stay connected. Nutcache's program is specifically designed to follow Scrum and Agile principles with dashboards that show teams task assignments and progression. Team members can also communicate with each other by posting questions or notes within the program.

Developing inter-communication may require some employees to relearn or change the processes that they have become accustomed to. However, teaching better communication skills doesn't have to be a chore. Experiment with group exercises designed to encourage teamwork and soft skill development. This can be an exciting way to help teams learn how to work together.

3. Spend More Time on Retrospective

If you aren't totally familiar with Scrum daily meeting practices, then you probably have not heard of the Retrospective. It is the time when team members get together after every Sprint session to talk about everything that happened during that time period. Teammates may bring up any challenges they ran into that hindered their progress, or they can suggest ideas to make things run smoother during the next session.

The retrospective is not meant to be a time of complaining or listing off excuses for poor output. Instead, it is a brainstorming session where everyone should offer up ideas for positive actions that could improve future outcomes.

Inspire this time of reflection within your organization by holding meetings where everyone can share any tasks they are struggling with or offering up alternative practices that could help the team succeed. This practice will significantly help struggling teams to find solutions to their problems.

4. Focus on Individuality

Again, this piece of advice seems to go directly against the whole concept of teamwork and unity, however, individuality plays an important role in team-based success. One of the main Scrum values is to place individuals and interactions over processes and tools. Scrum teams understand that each member matters as an individual, and if one person is struggling, it effects the entire organization.

While the Sprint is an overall team effort for sure, many tasks are assigned to individuals to complete. Teams and leaders must remember that every person operates differently; some are more independent, while others desire more interaction with their leaders and co-workers. By placing emphasis on the individual, teams can operate more effectively by finding systems that work for everyone involved.

Play to each team member's strength and hold individuals accountable for their actions, whether positive or negative. Only one-third of employees feel that leadership routinely recognizes their efforts, and studies have shown that positive praise directly relates to productivity and output. As a leader or manager, be sure to recognize developments or accomplishments and encourage members to keep up the good work.

5. Push for Team Decisions

Scrum teams are responsible for determining the next Sprint workload together and allotting assignments within the group. They must also collaboratively decide how to handle internal issues that may arise. Of course, Scrum teams are not going to agree on everything, so they must also be willing to negotiate and compromise for the overall good of the team.

Due to the self-managing structure of the Scrum framework, everyone is required to make decisions together, rather than relying on management to do it for them. This type of collaborative decision making is quite beneficial for Scrum teams and other organizations alike. Studies have proven that when businesses involve employees in decision-making processes, the outcomes are much better.

By getting everyone on the team involved with decision making, employees feel more empowered and important, which in turn boosts their productivity and morale levels. It's difficult for workers to stick to a strategy they did not plan out themselves, especially if they don't agree with the practices or find them inefficient. Find ways to include everyone in the planning process and encourage teams to be willing to compromise with each other to find a solution that works for everybody.

Final Thoughts

"Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." - Henry Ford

Encouraging a culture of teamwork within your organization could be the key to long term success, but it is by no means an easy task. Businesses are made up of people from various backgrounds and cultures, and personalities may not always mesh well in a group setting. Therefore, it is up to leaders to set a strong example of how teams should operate by implementing practices that encourage collaboration.

Effective Scrum teams follow key principles in order to stay on track with their goals, so applying those values to your own organization, Scrum or not, can certainly help to improve collaboration practices within your business.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Ways to Improve Teamwork with Scrum Methods

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It's a fact that we are able to accomplish more by working together than as individuals. In a large study conducted by Salesforce regarding workplace challenges, 86% of leaders agreed that failing to work together as a team was the leading cause of project failure. Teamwork is an essential element of a successful company.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Over the last year, I have taken part in three separate processes to review state ESSA plans. As a result, I have had the pleasure-and some would say pain-of reading all 51 submitted plans.

Through Higher Ed for Higher Standards, we found nearly all states included strategies to strengthen K-12 and higher education alignment, with 10 states incorporating three or more of the recommended actions.

In a partnership with Advance CTE, we found a deep commitment to college- and career-ready accountability measures in Round 1 state plans, yet noted several areas where states could better leverage the ESSA opportunity to strengthen career readiness for all students. Our forthcoming review of Round 2 plans confirms and expands upon those themes-check back on December 14 for that release.

Finally, I served as a reviewer in Bellwether Education Partners and the Collaborative for Student Success's "Check State Plans" peer review process. In Round 1, we found a number of promising practices across goals, indicators and methods for identifying schools. On December 12, the peer reviews for Round 2 state plans will be released.

While each of these projects reviewed the state plans from a particular angle, I have not had a chance to offer my broader reflections on where I believe work remains to deliver on the promise of college and career readiness for all students. Luckily, we have some promising examples from state ESSA plans that can be useful reference points for policymakers and practitioners as states turn from planning to implementation.

While each of these projects reviewed the state plans from a particular angle, I have not had a chance to offer my broader reflections on where I believe work remains to deliver on the promise of college and career readiness for all students. Luckily, we have some promising examples from state ESSA plans that can be useful reference points for policymakers and practitioners as states turn from planning to implementation.

In my view, far too many states made aspirational statements about valuing college and career readiness for all and then did not include any true measures of that readiness in high school accountability ratings. And, despite more than 40 states setting clear benchmarks for postsecondary credential attainment, not even a quarter of the states aligned their K-12 long-term goals with those in higher education, which is a huge missed opportunity for kids.

An aligned system-from aspirations to goals to accountability measures-should be the objective for every state. Two states provide powerful examples of how this can work in practice.

Tennessee's "Drive to 55" postsecondary attainment goal is the driving force behind the state's entire ESSA plan. All the state's strategic goals point toward meeting that vision, even including a goal for the majority of the high school class of 2020 to earn a postsecondary credential or degree. The state recognizes that to reach its goal, it will need to ensure that more students enter postsecondary education prepared to persist and succeed. As a result, Tennessee will hold high schools accountable for students meeting the ACT college readiness benchmark and participating in early postsecondary opportunities, such as dual enrollment and earning an industry certification in an approved program of study.

Louisiana is updating its accountability system to align expectations for students with its long-term goals. That means schools will receive an "A" rating only when their students are demonstrating "mastery" (i.e., level of college- and career-readiness) on state assessments, graduating greater than 90 percent of their students, and have an average ACT score at the college-ready benchmark (e.g., 21). The state set these long-term goals based on projections for dramatically increasing the postsecondary attainment of Louisiana residents to meet the needs of the economy. And the state's "ACT Index" and "Strength of Diploma Index" indicators directly connect with its long-term goals for improvement, both in terms of the measures used and the performance expectations for school ratings.

I have long been an advocate for including a school's relative performance in accountability systems (see this paper from early 2012). I think it is fantastic that ESSA provided considerable flexibility to include relative measures of performance, such as growth. Yet, in my opinion, too many states took that flexibility to the extreme. A significant number of states proposed to base their entire rating system only on how a school compares to others in the state, without regard for whether schools are meeting high expectations. In this case, states may have lost the trees for the forest. We must continue to be laser-focused on preparing all students for success beyond high school and recognize that schools face different hurdles on their path to realizing that goal.

Massachusetts presents a compelling middle ground that others may want to replicate in the future. The state proposed a two-step process for rating its schools. First, the state will look at a school's relative performance with all students and in closing gaps for "high needs" students based on a number of factors including average scale scores, academic growth, chronic absenteeism, and success in grade 9 courses. The combined performance on the indicators will place a school into one of six performance levels. Secondly, each school will have increasingly ambitious targets for each measure that, if met, would allow the school to move its overall school rating up one performance level. As the state lays out, "in this way the expectations for performance are clear and known ahead of time for all schools, and performance level designations do not depend solely on the performance of other schools."

By and large, states were not very forthcoming with their approaches to support and/or implement consequences for chronically underperforming schools. ESSA largely devolves turnaround responsibilities to districts, but that does not mean states have no responsibility. Simply providing more general "support" is unlikely to meet the challenges these schools face. While there is no simple solution here, I will be watching New Mexico and New York closely for their responses.

New Mexico is one of the few states that clearly defined what action must be taken in schools that fail to improve within three years after being initially identified for comprehensive support and improvement. Schools must choose between a concrete list of intervention options, or the state department will choose one for it.

New York plans to use a rigorous "inspection" process to compare a school's practices against a set of research-based "optimal conditions of learning" and make recommendations for improvement. They will also institute a "receivership" program for tougher interventions if a school continues to struggle.

State and national pundits and advocates-myself included-put a lot emphasis on the importance of ESSA plans for laying out the next generation of education reform. States did not always see it that way. And that's fine. A main objective of the new law was to empower state and local leaders to support student success in whatever way they saw fit. While there may be debates about whether specific aspects of the state plans meet the letter of the law, it is important to remember that the plans are simply that: plans. They represent the minimum floor of state action.

I would hope to see states get more ambitious as they go from plans to action, building high-quality pathways from high school into postsecondary education, standards and assessments aligned with the expectations of entry into college and the workforce, supports for struggling schools that go beyond general assistance, and strategies to help traditionally underperforming student populations close gaps to reach the promise of college and career readiness for all. And I'd like to see states steal innovative strategies from each other and embrace collective action opportunities when joining forces will get them better results. It will be up to local and state practitioners and advocates to ensure that the state is responding to gaps in meaningful ways-regardless of what is in the state's ESSA plan.

Let's trust state leadership, verify state actions, and learn from this exercise to ultimately help realize dramatic improvements in students' preparation for success in college, careers, and life. Hopefully, we can all agree on that.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Where We Go From Here on K-12 Accountability - Education Strategy Group

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It's getting chilly in Washington, D.C., and not just because of the recent snow. Two of the pundits with the biggest social media followings-Rick Hess and Andy Rotherham-traded barbs about whether critiquing states' ESSA plans provides any value now that they've been submitted. While my minimal social media presence (follow me @RyanEReyna) will keep me...

# data[].attributes.headline
 Videos that convey sharing responsibility and/or reciprocity

# data[].attributes.subject
 Videos that convey sharing responsibility and/or reciprocity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sharing responsibilities according to RACI model

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Accountability is the primary practice that will make collaboration a success. After all, if no one is held accountable for the practices that emerge from the collaborative group, then collaboration was a complete failure.

# data[].attributes.headline
 Videos that convey sharing responsibility and/or reciprocity

# data[].attributes.subject
 Videos that convey sharing responsibility and/or reciprocity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learning Responsibility with Classroom Jobs

# data[].attributes.headline
 Videos that convey sharing responsibility and/or reciprocity

# data[].attributes.subject
 Videos that convey sharing responsibility and/or reciprocity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Tips for Great Group Work in the Classroom

# data[].attributes.headline
Ensure support is provided to all class members during an assignment

# data[].attributes.subject
Ensure support is provided to all class members during an assignment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From online teaching resources to in-room consultations, the Center for Teaching and Learning supports instructors by helping them take their teaching to the next level.

# data[].attributes.body
I google and writing the topic that was looking for.

# data[].attributes.headline
Ensure support is provided to all class members during an assignment

# data[].attributes.subject
Ensure support is provided to all class members during an assignment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Two widely accepted principles about learning-learners construct their own knowledge and learning is an inherently social phenomenon-support the use of group learning. Working in small groups provides learners with opportunities to articulate ideas and understandings, uncover assumptions and misconceptions, and negotiate with others to create products or reach consensus. Group activities enable students to discover deeper meaning in the content and improve thinking skills. The most effective use of group work is that which engages students with higher-level content that is thought-provoking, difficult to understand, or has multiple interpretations.

The terms collaborative learning and cooperative learning are often used interchangeably, but a distinction is helpful. Collaborative learning highlights the contributions of individual group members, stresses the sharing of authority, and leads to dialog and consensus building on topics without a clear right and wrong answer. Group governance and group processing remain in the hands of the students (Panitz, 1997). Cooperative learning is often thought of as a subset of collaborative learning that involves more teacher intervention. The instructor designs the task and a group structure for accomplishing the task, including the assignment of roles to group members. Students then interact under specific conditions set up by the teacher: positive interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual account ability, collaborative skills, and group processing (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1998). Both collaborative and cooperative learning can take place with informal and formal groups, however both settings will require that the instructor plans carefully how the assignment is designed, monitored, and assessed.
Short-term groups
These are temporary groups, with little or no time spent on assigning people to groups, getting into groups, or assigning roles. They last one session or less and are used to ensure cognitive processing and engagement in learning. Some informal short-term group activities include the following:

Think-Pair-Share: Students are given a prompt (a question, problem, visual, etc.), and asked to think about the prompt individually and jot down ideas. Students then form pairs, talk about their responses, and formulate a joint response. Some pairs are called on to summarize their discussion for the class.

Think-Pair-Square: Same as above, but two pairs of students join together to share and compare the results, rather than moving to a whole group discussion.

Turn-To-Your-Neighbor Discussions: Students "turn to a neighbor" and brainstorm answers to a question or discuss a solution to a problem. Call on students for answers. Ask the class for a show of hands of who agrees or disagrees with an answer.

Pair-And-Compare: During a two to three minute break in lecture, students form pairs and compare notes, rewriting the notes by adding information or correcting as needed.

Small-Group Homework Check: Have students do their homework individually outside of class. During class on the day the assignment is due, have students form groups and then compare their answers to the assignment. The students in each group must agree on answers and turn in a group solution along with their individual work.

Some short-term group activities require a bit more structure and planning. These include the following:

Jigsaw: This structure is useful when a topic or problem is complex and involves multiple perspectives. Each group member takes responsibility for one part of the problem, meets with students from other groups who have the same responsibility (expert group), and then teaches his or her part to the members of the original group.

Roundtable: After the group is given a prompt, the group members take turns recording a response to the prompt on a single page that is quickly passed from one member to the next for a specified amount of time.

Send-A-Problem: Problems or issues are identified by the groups or by the instructor. Each group proposes solutions to these problems or issues.

Dyadic Essay Confrontation: In response to an assigned reading, each student writes an essay question and model response to that question. During class, students pair off, exchange essay questions, and each writes a spontaneous response to the question he or she receives. The pairs compare the spontaneous responses with the model responses for the two questions.

Long-term groups or teams
These groups are formed by the instructor and may stay together for an extended period of time (weeks or even the entire semester) to work on a broader task or project. One type of formal group is the student team-a stable group that works on major course projects and often involves peer evaluation. Some specific suggestions for getting started with organizing long-term group projects include the following:

Develop a clear description of the project and what you expect.

Decide what kinds of team compositions are critical for the project.

Break the project down into smaller pieces, establishing a timeline, and having the teams submit progress reports on their learning and how they are working as a team.

Provide students with a rationale for the team project. Include an explanation of the value and purpose of working as a team, and establish guidelines for how the teams should work together.

Establish clear and fair guidelines for how the team project will be graded.

This depends on your purpose for using groups. Teams usually have three to five students who are assigned to the group randomly or purposefully by you. Capstone projects may require a larger number of students. Student-selected groups are not generally recommended.
Random selection
You can form random teams by any of the following methods:

Simply having students "turn-to-your-neighbor" or "form teams of three."

Counting off-24 students would form groups of four by counting off from one to six. All of the ones would become a group and so on.

Using color-coded cards or playing cards-students pick up cards as they enter class and all students with the same color (or same number) work together.

Instructor-selected teams
For longer or more complex projects, instructors may want to create heterogeneous teams that distribute students into different groups based on ability, strengths, experience, gender, ethnicity, or some other characteristic. Instructors first learn about the students and then form teams according to the plan. You can learn about your students in one or more of the following ways:

Collect student data sheets that include the following:

Course-related information: Major, courses taken in the discipline

Experience: Work, travel

Personal information: Where they live, phone number, e-mail address, interests

Administer questionnaires with questions relevant to the project:

Strengths: Self-rating on ability with computers, writing, organization

Learning styles

Have students prepare a resume. Doing this may be most appropriate when the students are likely to have a resume already prepared.

Cooper, J. (2003). Group formation in cooperative learning: What the experts say. In J. L. Cooper, P. Robinson, & D. Ball (Eds.), Small group instruction in higher education: Lessons from the past, visions of the future (pp. 207-210). Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.

Cuseo, J. B. (2002) Igniting student involvement, peer interaction, and teamwork: A taxonomy of specific cooperative learning structures and collaborative learning strategies Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.

Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (1998). Cooperative learning returns to college: What evidence is there that it works. Change, 30(4), 27-35.

Millis, B. J., & Cottell, P. G., Jr. (1998). Cooperative learning for higher education faculty. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Two widely accepted principles about learning-learners construct their own knowledge and learning is an inherently social phenomenon-support the use of group learning. Working in small groups provides learners with opportunities to articulate ideas and understandings, uncover assumptions and misconceptions, and negotiate with others to create products or reach consensus.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Leaders have a huge challenge when it comes to accountability.

They must both visibly model personal accountability and instill accountability in their team members.

This can be especially challenging when team members have the mentality that they have done enough, or it's not their job, or they can't do anything about the results being produced.

When people don't feel accountable, they drop to the lowest possible level of performance that their leader will accept. The accountable leader assumes responsibility for all associates, vendors, customers, and the organization as a whole. These leaders help team members shift into the "discretionary" performance zone. This zone is where members do their best to take responsibility for their individual success and for the success of the team and the organization.

What Is Accountability?

Accountability is taking ownership and acting in a responsible way, despite personal feelings, potential outcomes, or even possible consequences.

Accountable people demonstrate maximum effort in terms of fulfilling their responsibilities and keeping the promises they have made-and as they fulfill those expectations, they also proactively respond to challenges and obstacles that they encounter.

Sometimes just being an accountable leader and teaching others about accountability isn't enough to reach the level of discretionary performance that you need on your team. Leaders must have a mechanism to ensure accountability in others and a specific process for setting up and executing on agreements. The consistent use of accountability measures will elevate the performance of team members and solidify a culture of accountability.

Being an Accountable Leader

You must also take your own commitments and agreements seriously. When accepting an assignment or responsibility, be clear about what is within your power to complete. When you violate an agreement, admit your mistake, apologize, and repair the situation or relationship as quickly as possible. Always be honest and forthcoming with others and provide information that is clear and accurate.

In some situations, you may be privy to information that cannot be shared with employees. Act with integrity and simply share the information that you can. Always do your best and align your actions with your values. When you face adversity, be constructive in your response.

Leadership is a huge responsibility. You are accountable for bottom-line results, quality, productivity, and the motivation of other people. Thinking about and solidifying the accountability measures you have in place will ensure the lines of communication stay open on your team.

The Benefits of Accountability in Business

It can also greatly improve your team's ability to make decisions and solve problems. Individual team members will be more confident taking action if they know they are empowered to produce quality results without explicit direction and on their own terms.

People in your organization's culture will become more creative and shift into a proactive mindset. Every individual will contribute to the success of the team and organization. They will also strive to do the right thing.

As you enable others to become more accountable for success, you will have the energy and freedom to focus on longer-term strategic plans. As a leader, there is no better way to manage your time than to instill accountability in others.

CMOE has helped many leaders reach new levels of accountability within their organizations. Contact CMOE to learn more about how we can help your team take real ownership for results and accomplish more than ever before.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Improve Team Performance with Accountability | CMOE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Leaders have a huge challenge when it comes to accountability. They must both visibly model personal accountability and instill accountability in their team members. This can be especially challenging when team members have the mentality that they have done enough, or it's not their job, or they can't do anything about the results being produced.

# data[].attributes.headline
Ensure support is provided to all class members during an assignment

# data[].attributes.subject
Ensure support is provided to all class members during an assignment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The idea for sharing this post came from a session I recently conducted at the annual teaching conference organized by my university. A pedagogical conundrum was raised by a colleague whose enthusiasm and question stayed with me and inspired me to write this post. The question posed by this colleague is relevant to all instructors who have ever used group work to assess their students: How should one deal with the issues that arise when members of a group are not picking up their share of the responsibilities during a group work project?

The benefits of group work are well recognized (e.g., http://goo.gl/N8kqhy), as are the reasons students don't like working in groups (Taylor, 2011). We have all had groups that operated magically, when group members brought out each other's strengths and helped each member shine; but we have also had groups that failed miserably when members did not get along or did not pull equal weight in completing a group project.

Although much has been written about group work and its benefits and challenges, as well as variables, features, or components that can contribute to positive learning outcomes (Tomcho, & Foels, 2012), issues of implementation seem to pop up every time instructors get together to talk about their teaching challenges. In this post I focus on the persistent challenge of imbalance when not all group members contribute equally. What follows are a few simple ideas you might wish to consider that have worked well for me during years of trial and error in my teaching, as well as insights from my research.

1. Design a group project in which the students work in phases.

For instance, starting with a project idea, then moving to project development, followed by preliminary project outcomes - and requiring students to "check-in" at each phase before delivering the final project. Not only does this help ensure that the groups won't wait until the final deadline is upon them to work on their project, but it also enables the instructor to touch base with every group and to offer guidance, support, or mediation, if needed, during the process.

2. Develop an element of the project that allows group members to make their own choices.

In my teaching, I usually give students the freedom to choose a topic area that interests them within the scope of the course or that is the most relevant or meaningful to the team members. This decision helps create a sense of ownership and enhances the students' level of engagement, both of which are crucial for working on large group projects, and especially for those requiring students to carry out the work in phases throughout the term (see, for example, Enghag & Niedder, 2007, on the theoretical basis for student ownership of learning).

3. Within a group project, include a component requiring individual students to submit non-onerous individual work.

For example, the project could include a personal reflection piece (e.g., e.g., Huang, 2011a), in which each member individually reflects on the process and product of his or her own portion of the group work. Apart from the pedagogical benefits of learners engaging in individual reflection (Pavlovich, Collins, & Jones, 2009), this task or component will inevitably provide insights about the division-of-labor issue commonly raised by instructors and students alike. Both learners and the instructor can glean a great many insights from those individual reflection pieces, which instructors can take into account when assigning either project or final grades, depending on their individual approach to assessment. This process also enables students to gain greater understanding about what worked well and what could be improved.

One important matter to keep in mind when implementing the reflection component is the need to ensure that we, as instructors, clarify what we mean by "reflection" in order to minimize a potential mismatch between our expectations about reflective learning and our students' understanding of what it entails. What we'd like our students to do is to engage in critical reflection - that is, thinking that involves different levels of reflection, rather than simply restating or describing what they did, or what I have called "non-transformative" reflection.

The goal is to encourage students to move beyond simply recalling what they did either individually or together within the group and instead to reflect on their personal discoveries about their own learning and the process of working collaboratively (i.e., understanding, analyzing, and evaluating the process and the product of their group efforts), and, importantly, to "verbalize" what they would do differently the next time around (i.e., pointing to the future).

This component is an example of what is called "writing/speaking to learn" (Manchón, 2011). For this task, it's important that students not be required to follow any formatting or style guidelines. The reflection should be an informal piece of writing, much like a diary entry, and can be in any modality (e.g., writing, audio recording, video clip) that suits the characteristics or preferences of individual students to allow for their individual expression. For some additional simple guidelines about implementing learner reflection, refer to Huang (2011b).

4. Devote a segment (30 minutes or so) during class before all group projects begin to implement two important steps.

Step 1: Get to know each other. The first 10 minutes can be a period for all students to find and meet with the group members they have either been assigned or have self-selected. They should then spend some time exploring each other's communication styles, which may arise from personal or culture-related differences (Lewis, 2006), to help them better anticipate different communication preferences and approaches to group work. This time can be spent sharing responses to guiding questions or statements, such as "I would describe my communication style/personality as ...," "I tend/prefer to deal with conflict by ...," and "I would appreciate my team members doing/not doing ...." (Huang, 2014). Guiding questions are especially helpful for groups that are culturally and linguistically diverse.

Step 2: Establish group norms. During the next 20 minutes, encourage each group to negotiate its own group norms (derived from Step 1) and ground rules. During this time, members of each team should elucidate, negotiate, and establish roles, responsibilities, and expectations. This process makes explicit the specific contributions and ownership of responsibilities that each team member negotiates and agrees to.

Below is a sample checklist that instructors can modify and use to facilitate this process and help prepare each group project to succeed (Huang, 2014). You can revise the items to suit a project or provide the list as an example for each group to use in creating its own list. The list can also be revisited during each check-point mentioned earlier and adjustments made as needed. Upon completion of the project, instructors can request the checklist(s) to be submitted (but not graded), along with other deliverables that are due.

5. Prepare students to expect the unexpected.

Rather than directing their every concern to you, students should be encouraged to become problem solvers not only by identifying problems, but also by developing solutions and choosing and evaluating the best ones so as to balance personal learning with the group's project goals. At the same time, you'll want to create and maintain a culture of openness that lets your students know you are readily available to provide guidance when groups reach an impasse.

In any group work situation, it is always possible that compatibility issues will arise between or among team members, as well as conflicts or problems with unequal distribution of work. The pre-group-project considerations described above, however, can easily be implemented to help minimize the likelihood that conflicts will develop that could negatively affect learning and outcomes. They may also help instructors and students in dealing with the specific common challenge of students who are not pulling their own weight in group collaborations, while maximizing the benefits of a group project not only in terms of content, but more, if not most, importantly, in learning how to work with others - a valuable life lesson that's best learned through experience.

References:
Enghag, M., & Niedderer, H. (2008). Two dimensions of student ownership of learning during small-group work in physics. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 6(4), 629-653.

Huang, L.-S. (2011a). Language learners as language researchers: The acquisition of English grammar through a corpus-aided discovery learning approach mediated by intra and interpersonal dialogues. In J. Newman, S. Rice, & H. Baayen (Eds.), Corpus-based studies in language documentation, use, and learning (pp. 91-122). Amsterdam: Rodopi Press.

Huang, L.-S. (2011b, Fall). Key concepts and theories in TESL: Learner reflection. TEAL News: The Association of B.C. Teachers of English as an Additional Language, pp. 9-13.

Huang, L.-S. (2014). Lessons learned from team-facilitation in ELT: Strategies for navigating the challenges and making it work. IATEFL ES(O)L Newsletter, pp. 13-17.

Lewis, R. D. (2006). When cultures collide: Leading across cultures (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Manchón, R. M. (Ed.). (2011). Learning-to-write and writing-to-learn in an additional language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Pavlovich, K., Collins, E., Jones, G. (2009). Developing students' skills in reflective practice: Design and assessment. Journal of Management Education, 33(1), 37-58.

Taylor, A. (2011). Top 10 reasons students dislike working in groups...and why I do it anyway. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 39(2), 219-220.

Tomcho, T. J., & Foels, R. (2012). Meta-analysis of group learning activities: Empirically based teaching recommendations. Teaching of Psychology, 39(3), 159-169.
Dr. Li-Shih Huang, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, Learning and Teaching Scholar-in-Residence, Learning and Teaching Centre, University of Victoria, BC, Canada.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Students Riding on Coattails during Group Work? Five Simple Ideas to Try

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How should faculty deal with the issues that arise when some students ride on the coattails of others during a group work project?