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Teamwork Skills: Being an Effective Group Member | Centre for Teaching Excellence

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Audio version of “Teamwork skills: Being an effective group member” tip sheet (MP3)

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Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation

"More hands make for lighter work." "Two heads are better than one." "The more the merrier."

These adages speak to the potential groups have to be more productive, creative, and motivated than individuals on their own.

Benefits for students

Group projects can help students develop a host of skills that are increasingly important in the professional world (Caruso & Woolley, 2008; Mannix & Neale, 2005). Positive group experiences, moreover, have been shown to contribute to student learning, retention and overall college success (Astin, 1997; Tinto, 1998; National Survey of Student Engagement, 2006).

Properly structured, group projects can reinforce skills that are relevant to both group and individual work, including the ability to:

Break complex tasks into parts and steps

Plan and manage time

Refine understanding through discussion and explanation

Give and receive feedback on performance

Challenge assumptions

Develop stronger communication skills.

Group projects can also help students develop skills specific to collaborative efforts, allowing students to...

Tackle more complex problems than they could on their own.

Delegate roles and responsibilities.

Share diverse perspectives.

Pool knowledge and skills.

Hold one another (and be held) accountable.

Receive social support and encouragement to take risks.

Develop new approaches to resolving differences.

Establish a shared identity with other group members.

Find effective peers to emulate.

Develop their own voice and perspectives in relation to peers.

While the potential learning benefits of group work are significant, simply assigning group work is no guarantee that these goals will be achieved. In fact, group projects can - and often do - backfire badly when they are not designed, supervised, and assessed in a way that promotes meaningful teamwork and deep collaboration.

Benefits for instructors

Faculty can often assign more complex, authentic problems to groups of students than they could to individuals. Group work also introduces more unpredictability in teaching, since groups may approach tasks and solve problems in novel, interesting ways. This can be refreshing for instructors. Additionally, group assignments can be useful when there are a limited number of viable project topics to distribute among students. And they can reduce the number of final products instructors have to grade.

Whatever the benefits in terms of teaching, instructors should take care only to assign as group work tasks that truly fulfill the learning objectives of the course and lend themselves to collaboration. Instructors should also be aware that group projects can add work for faculty at different points in the semester and introduce its own grading complexities.

References

Astin, A. (1993). What matters in college? Four critical years revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Caruso, H.M., & Wooley, A.W. (2008). Harnessing the power of emergent interdependence to promote diverse team collaboration. Diversity and Groups. 11, 245-266.

Mannix, E., & Neale, M.A. (2005). What differences make a difference? The promise and reality of diverse teams in organizations. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 6(2), 31-55.

National Survey of Student Engagement Report. (2006). http://nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2006_Annual_Report/docs/NSSE_2006_Annual_Report.pdf.

Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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What are the benefits of group work? - Eberly Center - Carnegie Mellon University

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1921/gpwk.v30i1.1567

Keywords:
groups, community, research, benefits, challenges

Abstract

Research can facilitate mutual learning, allow participants' voices to be heard, increase practical usefulness of studies and foster empowerment. This paper discusses ways that groups can take part in research, outlines advantages and limits of each and explores strategies for enhancing benefits. This content is illustrated with brief examples from recent research publications and from two longer case studies. Groups and members can be involved as participants or co-producers of research. As participants, they either act as research subjects by contributing data, or as collaborators who are consulted at various times to help keep a study relevant to community issues. Being a subject offers an opportunity to reflect and share views, while collaborators and researchers can learn from working together. Though collaborators can exert influence, they have little control over decisions around focus, design, methods or dissemination of a study. Co-producing knowledge offers community groups more power, learning and empowerment but requires high levels of mutual trust, commitment and persistence. Potential gains and risks increase as involvement intensifies. However, researchers can enhance benefits at any level, by keeping this goal in mind when planning studies.

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Enhancing the benefits of group involvement in research

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https://doi.org/10.1921/gpwk.v30i1.1567 groups, community, research, benefits, challenges Research can facilitate mutual learning, allow participants' voices to be heard, increase practical usefulness of studies and foster empowerment. This paper discusses ways that groups can take part in research, outlines advantages and limits of each and explores strategies for enhancing benefits.

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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.

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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.

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Funktion Events - Hen Party Ideas, Stag Do Ideas, Birthday & Team Building Ideas

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Funktion Events | Part of Funktion Leisure

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Read, think and put into action some of the most famous teamwork theories developed by an array of experts in their field. Develop your own path to success.

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The Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970) was an American psychologist and behavioural scientist who also spent some of his career working in industry.

His book, Motivation and Personality, was published in 1954 and his theory has become an important part of the study of workplace motivation.

Maslow saw human needs as a hierarchy which was represented as a triangle for ease of understanding. The first need, Survival, is placed at the bottom.

Maslow surmised that people could not commit to moving on to the next need until the previous need was fully attained.

Once the needs were attained they would cease to be a motivator, so motivated people would start to look to the next need in order to satisfy themselves.

If a manager can see where an employee is in the hierarchy then they will understand how best to motivate that individual.

Maslow wrote that there are certain conditions which are immediate prerequisites for satisfying needs; such as the freedom to speak, freedom to express or defend oneself, justice, fairness and honesty.

A threat to these is perceived almost as if it were a threat to the needs themselves.

How to motivate people

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a useful tool to consider the nature of motivation.

In Twyla Dell's book How to Motivate People (Kogan Page 1988) she matched ten work linked qualities to Maslow's work to help readers to link the theory to more familiar concepts:

Efficient managers
Employees who think for themselves

See end result of work
Interesting work

Be listened to
Be informed

Challenge
Skill development

The Team Building Company can organise team building events based around Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

This will be led by a facilitator who is familiar with the model, who can show a team how it works and use it to encourage team building with the group.

In our usual style this will be set around events which are designed to be fun and motivating so that your team really will get the best out of the training.

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A brief look at the work of Abraham Maslow focusing on The Hierarchy of Needs.

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Center for Positive Organizations - Michigan Ross

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Reciprocity: Asking for What you Need and Helping Others (Wayne Baker)

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Social Reciprocity: The Science of Giving

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What is Reciprocity | Explained in 2 min

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Powered by AI and the LinkedIn community

Accountability is a key ingredient for high performance teams. It means that each team member takes ownership of their roles, responsibilities, and results, and that they can be trusted to deliver on their commitments. But how do you define and measure accountability in your team? Here are some tips to help you create a culture of accountability and track your team's progress.

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How do you define and measure accountability in your team?

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Learn six tips to create a high performance team with accountability, from setting clear expectations to reviewing and improving.

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"We need to hold people more accountable." How many times have you said this in the past year? When things aren't going well - maybe your numbers are down, you haven't met your goals, or your pipeline is dry - it's easy to turn to this familiar mantra. But when you say it, what your team members actually hear is: "You are letting me down," or, "We are failing." Instead of lighting an inspired fire under people, you can end up deflating them.

While there will undoubtedly be times when your team could put in a more focused effort, in my experience, a "lack of accountability" is rarely intentional. More often, it's the result of an underlying issue, such as unclear roles and responsibilities, limited resources, a poor strategy, or unrealistic goals. This is why leaders who default to a plea for accountability often end up hitting a wall and feeling even more frustrated.

Further, verbalizing that there is "a lack of accountability" on your team can easily come off as threatening or condescending to people on the receiving end. This is hardly productive when you are trying to inspire change, and more importantly, it doesn't help you get to the root of the problem.

When you need to push those around you to get better results (that's really what you are looking for, right?), a better approach is to tackle the issue with a leadership mindset. Use the following steps to guide yourself on how to start the conversation, identify the real issue at hand, and execute a plan that will help you solve it.

Check in with yourself first.

When a work issue is causing you stress, pointing "outward" and blaming others is a normal first instinct. But if you want to have a productive conversation with someone who appears to "just not be getting it," first consider if you may be contributing to the problem (even unintentionally). Instead of asking, "Why aren't they doing their part?" ask "Is there anything I can do differently to help?"

While you should avoid feeling compelled to complete someone else's work, it is beneficial to consider whether gaps in communication, process, or other areas, are setting you both back.

Before even approaching the other person, consider:

Have I been clear about my expectations?

Have I asked what I can do to help?

Have I taken time to brainstorm and review processes?

Have I built a plan of action with my team member?

Self-awareness is a leadership super power, and reflecting in this way may help you recognize any unhelpful patterns that you can fall into.

Another tip for increasing your self-awareness is to pay attention to what's happening in your body. When you think about having this discussion with your team member, do you feel tense? Do you clench your jaw, fidget, pace, bounce your leg, change your facial affect, talk more or shut down? For example, if you find yourself defaulting to an intense glare, see if you can pause and shift to a lighter or softer gaze. Awareness of your physical reactions can help you identify feelings of anger, frustration, or discomfort you may be burying. It will also help you to be more attune to how your body language may negatively impact others. Work to shift your mindset from a place of hostility to a place of curiosity with respect to how you can help.

Create a safe environment for the other person.

After you have checked in with yourself, and you feel ready to approach the conversation from a place of curiosity, remember to be mindful of your tone, whether you initiate a meeting in person or through an email. A great place to start is by asking the person if you can schedule some time or make a date with them to discuss a business challenge. Making an appointment shows your commitment to taking the time to listen. In addition, when you frame the topic around a business challenge, you eliminate the risk of finger pointing and indicate that you have enough respect to collaborate.

Once you've set up time to talk, begin the conversation by asking questions. For example, if your team member is constantly missing deadlines, you could begin by saying, "I've noticed that you seem to need a little more time to get the work done lately." Provide specific examples, then ask, "What can we do to help you get back on track?" If a team member has failed to reach their quarterly goals, you could say something as simple as, "How do you feel your work has been going this quarter?" and gauge their initial reaction.

Avoid jumping directly into critical feedback or using judgmental language such as, "Why would you...", "You should have...", or "That's wrong." It helps to assume positive intent in the other person. The goal here is to listen and to remain genuinely open to their "take" on things.

Listening, paying attention, and understanding the needs and motivations of the other person will help you put aside any assumptions you may be making about their character. You may discover that they are not "lazy," "incapable," or "unreliable," but rather, that they are unclear on organizational goals, and therefore, are not properly prioritizing projects. You may discover that they need more feedback to do their best work, or that other obstacles are holding them back. While none of these things entirely excuse a lack of initiative or follow through, understanding the underlying issues can give you a clear idea about how to move forward.

When you are only aware of what you are trying to achieve, without considering the experience of others, you can easily slip into the habit of shaming or blaming. If your team member feels they are truly being heard, they are more likely to feel emotionally safe and work with you to solve the problem. Whether you are in a leadership position or seeking to be a better peer, listening with positive intent is a skill that will help you reach your goal.

E nsure that there is clarity and a mutual agreement on how to move forward.

Now that you have identified any underlying issues, it's time to clarify that your intention in starting this conversation is to address the core of the issue and agree upon path forward (taking into consideration any new information you have just been given). Whether your goal is to help a direct report meet deadlines or to collaborate more effectively with a team member on a project, it's vital to make sure that you both understand what the issue is, how to address it, what success looks like, what needs to be done, by who, and by when to achieve it.

You might begin by recapping what you have heard from them so far to be sure that you understand where they are coming from. Once they confirm that "you get it," acknowledge that what they have shared makes sense. It's important to note that "making sense" doesn't necessarily mean you agree, it just means that you are clear on their point of view.

Next, directly own and express your personal frustration with what you see to be the problem. For example, you might say, "I know you are not intentionally missing deadlines, and now I have a clearer understanding of everything on your plate. But when you do miss deadlines, the result is that I have to take on your unfinished work, which causes me to get behind on my own projects. I often feel frustrated by this."

Finally, ask if the other person would be open to trying some new strategies to address the issue. Your approach to this last step may vary depending on who you are having the conversation with. If you are talking to a direct report, for instance, you might then say, "I want to set you up for success here. To make sure we are on the same page, can you repeat back to me what you understand the problem is and we can work together on a plan to move forward?" If you are confronting a peer, a better approach may be, "Based on our conversation, let's try to agree to a mutual set of objectives and then brainstorm on how we might develop an approach to achieving those goals. "

In all cases, seek to demonstrate empathy, and work towards a mutual commitment around a goal. From there, you can brainstorm and agree to some concrete next steps.

Commit to setting those you work with up for success.

As you begin to devise your plan, work with your colleague to set up realistic expectations. This is the only way to make sure you are both set up to win. Whether you are working with a peer, a direct report, or even somebody above you, before agreeing on next steps, ask them (and yourself): Does this all feel doable, given everything else on our plates? If the answer is no for either of you, go back to the drawing board.

For example, imagine your team member appears unaccountable because they have failed to meet their quarterly sales goals. After discussing the issue with them, you might discover that the real problem is that they lack confidence in their knowledge about the product. Maybe pushing them to make more pitches isn't the right next step. Instead, with a mindset of "success breeds success," focus on getting them what they need to be able to better position the product. If the goal is to close 20 deals in the next quarter, you may choose to lower the goal temporarily and provide them with more training so they are better prepared for the following quarter and can get back on quota.

No matter what the situation is, you need to be prudent - cut back, reframe, offer support, or delegate work to others where necessary. Your revised plan might be smaller in scope than what you had originally anticipated, but often baby steps lead to walking then to running.

Regularly track and measure progress.

You've heard of the importance of leaving a paper trail. While we don't use paper much these days, the lesson is the same. Make sure you get the agreed upon plan in writing so it can be revisited going forward if there are ever any questions on what was originally decided. Don't just set it and forget it. Determine what communication tools you will use to check in on progress.

Some helpful tools include:

Roles and responsibilities write-ups (to use as references)

Scorecards (to measure outcomes)

Regular progress check-ins (to give feedback)

Metric dashboards (to track performance)

Weekly meetings (to stay aligned)

Process write-ups (to gauge what is working and what is not)

Checklists (to stay organized)

Project plans (to outline future goals)

The above documents will help you identify what's working and what's not over a period of time, as well as course correct as needed.

Pleading for more accountability isn't the answer to your problem. Anyone can express frustration around an issue, but those who harness self-awareness and empathy not only find effective solutions but also build winning teams and colleagues for life. If you want to be a next-level leader or peer, one that people actually want to work with, shift your mindset, and practice these five steps. You'll end up driving better results, more impactful change, and reducing your own frustration to boot.

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Does Your Team Have an Accountability Problem?

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"We need to hold people more accountable." How many times have you said this in the past year? When things aren't going well - maybe your numbers are down, you haven't met your goals, or your pipeline is dry - it's easy to turn to this familiar mantra.

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Salespeople are often viewed as individuals who hold themselves accountable. Accountable to getting up and out every day and pushing themselves to get to the next level. They are most often seen as doing things that others don't want to do. They hold themselves accountable.

What's the reality? It's not always that easy. Many salespeople would say (my educated guess) that holding themselves accountable is one of the toughest things they face.

For years I've looked at ways to stay focused and on point with my business. There are several things I do that work, for example, my cookbook: 1.) tracking my results daily and have them roll up to measure against my goals, 2.) sharing goals with my family, and 3.) having my family share their goals. These are all things that work well.

One addition really changed the momentum - An Accountability Group. I found a group of business owners, in my "space" that share similar goals. They want to get better, work smarter, grow their business and learn best practices, and at the same time they want a place to go where they are held accountable.

Let's face it, as business owners, we can do what we want when we want. We call the shots, and that can be dangerous. We need someone to say - How's it really going?

So how do we make an accountability group work?

1. Find individuals that want more - don't find a group of "wimps", they'll bring you down. Surround yourself with winners! Bonus: Find one partner that's hitting it out of the park.

2. Establish a preset meeting time - lock it in now and keep it sacred.

3. Meet weekly - this is not a long meeting & it can be done by phone.

4. Decide on at least 3 metrics that you'll report on each meeting. My group shares a simple red, yellow & green format and we track new appointments added, new sales and lessons learned/journaling.

5. Stay on point - you can talk about other things, AFTER you've readout your results.

6. How can I help you? - When someone gets "stuck" ask how you can help them.

7. The time is non-negotiable. This should be treated as the most important meeting of the week. In rare cases you may have to miss it - but don't make it a habit.

8. End on time - that's part of being accountable to each other! Get back to building your business.

I don't think there's much rocket science here. Once you've identified a couple of accountability partners and get this rolling you'll wonder why you didn't do it before.

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Top 8 Tips for an Accountability Group that Works | Sandler Training

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Salespeople are often viewed as individuals who hold themselves accountable. Accountable to getting up and out every day and pushing themselves to get to the next level. They are most often seen as doing things that others don't want to do. They hold themselves accountable. What's the reality?

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Student success should be a teacher's number one priority. For some students, success will be getting a good grade. For others, it might mean increased involvement in class. You can help all of your students attain their full potential, regardless of the way they measure success. Following are eight strategies that you can employ to help students succeed.

Set High Expectations

Cultivate an academic environment in your classroom by setting high, but not impossible, expectations for your students. Push students to achieve higher standards and they will eventually get there-and along the way, offer lots of praise. Some may take more time than others, but all students want to be told, "You're smart and you're doing a good job." Give high school students college material to read and tell them, "This story/book/math concept is taught in first-year colleges around the country." Once the students tackle and master the material, tell them, "Good job students-I knew you could do it."

Establish a Classroom Routine

One of the key ways to help young children behave at home is to create an effective and consistent schedule for them to follow. Without this type of structure, young children often end up misbehaving. Secondary school students are no different. While classroom procedures often take a bit of time and effort to implement at the beginning of the school year, once established, they create a structure that will allow you to focus on teaching rather than handling disruptive issues.

Classroom management should also become a part of the daily routine. If rules have been made clear from day one, rules and consequences are posted throughout the classroom, and you consistently tackle any and all problems as they arise, students will fall in line and your classroom will run like a well-oiled machine.

Practice the 'Daily Fives'

Do the same opening activity during the first five minutes of class and the same closing activity the last five minutes so that students know, "OK, it's time to start class, or, "It's time to get ready to leave." It could be something as simple as having students get out their classroom materials and sit at their desks ready to begin at the start of class and putting away their materials, sitting down and waiting for the bell to ring at the end of class.

If you are consistent with your daily fives, it will become second nature to your students. Establishing routines like this will also help when you need to get a substitute. Students don't like to deviate from the established norms and will become advocates in your classroom to make sure things run smoothly.

Continually Grow in Your Profession

New ideas and research that can enhance your day-to-day teaching become available yearly. Keeping up with the latest information through online forums, workshops and professional journals can make you a better teacher. This will lead to increased student interest and greater success. In addition, teaching the same lessons each school year can become monotonous over time. This can result in uninspired teaching. Students will definitely pick up on this and become bored and distracted. Including new ideas and teaching methods can make a huge difference.

Help Students Climb Bloom's Taxonomy Pyramid

Bloom's taxonomy provides teachers with a great tool that they can use to measure the complexity of homework assignments and exams. Moving students up Bloom's taxonomy pyramid and requiring them to apply, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information will result in an increased use of critical thinking skills and a greater chance for authentic learning.

Bloom's Taxonomy can also help you move students from a basic understanding of concepts to asking more complex questions like: "What happens if?" Students need to learn how to go beyond the basic facts: who, what, where and when and question the world around them. They should be able to explain their answers as to why they feel a certain way about a concept, posit changes they would make and explain why. Climbing the Bloom's Taxonomy ladder can help students do just that.

Vary Your Instruction

When you vary teaching methods, you provide students with a greater opportunity to learn. Every student has different strengths and weaknesses. Instead of just focusing on one method that only appeals to a single learning style, varying your teaching techniques allows you to cater your lessons to different learning styles. Students will be more successful if they are not bored.

For example, instead of lecturing for an entire 90-minute class, do 30 minutes of lecture, 30 minutes of work-involving as much music, videos and kinesthetic movement as possible-and then 30 minutes of discussion. Students like it when you change things up and they're not doing the exact same thing every class period.

Show That You Care About Every Student

This might seem obvious, but every year, do a gut check concerning the students in your class. Are there any students you have written off? Are there students who are difficult to reach or who just don't seem to care? Students can sense your feelings about them, so be very careful with your own beliefs.

Regardless of your personal feelings, it is important that you work with each of your students to ensure their success. Be excited with them. Act like you want to be at work and you're happy to be there and see them. Find out what their hobbies are, take an interest in their personal lives and try to incorporate some of that into your lessons.

Be Transparent and Ready to Help

How to succeed in your class should be easy for all students to understand. Provide students with a syllabus at the beginning of the year that explains your grading policies. If you assign a complicated or subjective assignment such as an essay or a research paper, give students a copy of your rubric beforehand. If students participate in science labs, ensure that they understand exactly how you will be grading their participation and their work.

For example, if you just toss a C- on an essay but you haven't edited it or explained why the student got that grade, your student has no buy-in and will likely put little effort into the next assignment. Make students check their grades frequently, or provide them with printouts so they're constantly aware of where they stand in your class. If they've fallen behind, meet with them and create a plan to usher them toward success.

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8 Teaching Practices That Can Help Students Succeed

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Helping students grow and succeed is the goal of every teacher. This article looks at 8 things that you can do to foster student success.

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5 Strategies for Academic Success: Using Your Strengths | Harvard Extension School

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These five tips show you how to keep a clear head and have a successful semester.

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The main responsibility that teachers have is to support students to aim high and be successful in the subject that they teach. As we creep towards the exam period, now more than ever teachers will be looking for ways to support their students to do this effectively.

Setting goals in itself isn't a new concept, but our understanding of what makes goal setting effective has developed over time. Simply setting a target of getting a 5 in GCSE maths, as many teachers will have experienced, is largely ineffective by itself for the majority of students.

In this blog, we'll take a deeper look into how teachers can support their students to aim high by setting goals in a way that makes them more likely to be achieved.

Aiming high is the ability to set clear, tangible goals and devise a robust route to achieving them. This essential skill is about being able to plan effectively - both in relation to organisational goals, as well as personal development targets.

A goal is something that an individual wants to happen, and that they will work towards achieving. Individuals will set goals in lots of different areas of their lives. For example, to learn a new language, score more goals for their football team, or do more exercise.

Many students make goals with regards to their academic achievement and at this time of year these often relate to achieving certain GCSE grades. Teachers across the country will be working hard to support their students to achieve those goals, often going over and above to do so.

One simple way that teachers can support students to achieve their goals is to make sure they are setting effective goals.

Effective goals

Effective goals are those that are in a students' 'stretch zone'. These will be goals that are not so easy that they are sure they will achieve them but also not so difficult that they are almost impossible to achieve. By setting goals in their stretch zone, students have the best chance of being successful and learning a lot along the way.

Let's take the example we started with of getting a 5 in GCSE maths. This goal will be useful for a student who is currently working at a grade 4 or maybe 3. However, for students who are working at a grade 2 or below, at this stage achieving a 5 in their exams may be unrealistic. Unrealistic goals lead to demotivation and students may disengage very quickly when they realise their goals are not achievable.

On the other hand, a student who is already working at a grade 5 will also not benefit from this goal. They may already feel they have achieved it and therefore do less revision in the run up to exams, potentially causing their grades to decrease.

Self-improvement goals

As demonstrated above, one way that students can help themselves with setting goals in their stretch zone is to focus on past achievement. Research shows that goals focused upon improving on past achievement are extremely effective in increasing academic success. These are called growth goals or self-improvement goals.

Research carried out by Martin and colleagues [1] has demonstrated that this type of goal setting can help to improve students' perseverance and aspirations with regards to their academic achievement. It can also improve students' engagement with school including attendance and completing homework.

So again going back to the example that we started with, rather than setting goals such as 'getting a 5 in my maths GCSE', a more effective goal might be 'I want to get a grade higher in my GCSEs than I did in my mocks' or 'I want to spend more time revising for my GCSE exams than I did for my mocks'.

Teacher support

Students may benefit from teachers modelling how they use this type of goal setting in their own life, focusing on past achievement and assessing whether a goal is in their stretch zone.

Teachers can also reinforce this way of setting goals in the language that they use in the classroom. For example, by being given improvement-oriented feedback rather than purely corrective feedback, students learn to engage in self improvement goal setting rather than comparative goals, i.e. to do as well or better than others.

Setting targets

While setting goals is generally about making a high-level statement which describes an outcome, targets help to break down a goal into tangible steps.

SMART targets

An important part of setting goals is creating clear targets, and the best targets are also those that are SMART. This means that they are:

Specific - it is clear exactly what you are trying to do.

Measurable - you can measure whether the target has been met or not.

Achievable - it is in your stretch zone - not too hard or too easy.

Realistic - it is something that makes sense to do.

Timed - you know when it needs to be done by.

By setting targets in relation to their goals, students are much more likely to achieve those goals in the future. For example, a student could create a target of ' being able to confidently answer problem solving questions on fractions, which I could not do before, by a week before my exam ' to help them to progress towards their goal of getting a grade 5. That student will then be able to assess whether they have achieved this target and their progress towards it quicker and much more easily than they will be able to assess whether they are working at a grade 5.

Teacher support

As demonstrated, putting numbers and deadlines on targets is particularly helpful for students because it means they can see exactly what success looks like and also clearly recognise whether they have been successful. Teachers, again, could model this for the class, coming up with targets towards a goal in their own life. They could also provide students with examples of targets which they could then categorise into SMART or not SMART targets.

Students will need to be given time and support to create their own SMART targets which will help them to achieve their goals. Students can then assess their own targets, or each other's against the SMART criteria and improve them if needed.

For teachers who have little time to plan a goal setting session with their students, there are teaching resources available on Skills Builder platform ' The Hub' as well as teaching guidance on the Universal Framework.

When working towards a target, students will need to think about the tasks that need to be done to achieve it. Achieving targets and ultimately goals can require the completion of many different individual tasks, especially with mid and longer term goals, so organisation is key.

If students are serious about achieving their goals, they need to be able to break those goals down into targets and then the tasks needed to achieve them.
Identifying key tasks
For example, if a student wants to improve their confidence in answering fractions problem solving questions, they may set themself tasks such as; identifying what fractions-related skills they have the most difficulty with, watching videos relating to these skills, completing simple practice questions, and finally attempting problem solving questions as part of them working towards this target.
Prioritising tasks
To plan their time effectively students will also need to be able to order and prioritise these tasks. There are several ways to do this:

Dependency: It might be that some tasks can only be completed in a particular order. In the example above, there is a logical order in which to complete those revision tasks, as each one depends on the previous one being completed.

Priority: In some cases, when tasks are not dependent on each other, it helps to think about which tasks are most important or will have the most impact. For example, a student might set tasks like reading through their maths book as well as watching revision videos online. If they don't think they will have time to do both they will need to prioritise the task which will be most helpful for increasing their understanding (they may need some help deciding this).

External dependencies: It might be that some tasks rely on something or someone else out of your students' control to complete them. For example, students might need to get results from a practice exam before deciding which topics to focus on in their revision. In this case, they could create a revision timetable ready to be filled in with the topics that need to be revised.

Parallel tasks: In some cases, it might be possible to work on more than one task at a time. For example, after revising a topic, students may want to complete a mix of basic and problem solving questions so they get practice of both.

Teacher support

Students should use the principles outlined when setting goals. This will help them to arrange tasks needed to achieve the goal into the order that makes it most efficient to complete them.

They are likely, however, to need support in identifying the tasks which are key to achieving goals. Teachers could use revision sessions to model this, and provide students with a set of possible tasks that they can use or adapt to suit their goal.

Within this session they should also think about how long tasks are likely to take, so that they can put them on a timeline or in a timetable, and work out how long achieving a goal is expected to take as a result.

are those things that we need to use to complete a task. Lots of things can be described as resources, and they can be divided them up into different categories:

Human Resources: These are things that humans bring to complete a task. These include: the time and effort of people who can complete tasks, as well as their knowledge, skills and experience.

Physical Resources: These are tangible things that we might need to be able to complete tasks. These include: machines, technology, buildings or physical spaces.

Financial Resources: This is the money that we might need to pay for things we might need to complete the tasks.

Natural Resources: These are the materials that we might need to complete the task like water, gas and minerals.

Students may need a variety of different resources to complete the tasks linked to their goals.
Identifying and obtaining the resources needed
It is important that students are given the time to think about what resources they will need and how they will secure them. For example, a student may need access to a computer or the internet (physical resources) to watch revision videos. If this is not possible from home, teachers may want to support students to make plans to stay in school for a revision session, or visit the local library to use a computer.

Students may also benefit from completing revision with a teacher or another student present (human resources) and so they will need to ask for this help and organise their revision plans around the relevant people.

It is also worth reminding students that if they can't obtain particular resources, there might be other ways of achieving their goals without them, or by changing some of the tasks they have decided to carry out.

Teacher support

Again, modelling will help students to be successful with this. A teacher could model how a goal can be broken down into tasks, and then identifying the resources that would be needed to complete them. They may then want to set learners a team challenge on an unrelated task, so that they can practise identifying the tasks and resources needed to achieve a goal.

Teaching resources that include these types of activities are also available on the Hub, should you wish to use them.

Overall, aiming high by setting effective goals, prioritising tasks and securing relevant resources is likely to see those goals reached more successfully. Students will be more motivated when goals are effective and relevant to them, and related to SMART targets which enable them to more efficiently track their own progress.
To learn more about aiming high and how to build this skill, visit our Universal Framework pages for Aiming High
Martin, Andrew & Burns, Emma & Collie, Rebecca & Bostwick, Keiko & Flesken, Anaid & McCarthy, Ian. (2021). Growth Goal Setting in High School: A Large-Scale Study of Perceived Instructional Support, Personal Background Attributes, and Engagement Outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology. 114. 10.1037/edu0000682.
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How can you support your students to aim high?

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The main responsibility that teachers have is to support students to aim high and be successful in the subject that they teach. As we creep towards the exam period, now more than ever teachers will be looking for ways to support their students to do this effectively.