Building Effective Teams Using Strengths

Purpose

The purpose of this project is for students to:

·       gain an understanding of their Gallup Top 5 Strengths, and increase awareness for how the students use them in their everyday lives, and

·       increase understanding on using Gallup Strengths for building effective teams.

Target Audience

This project will target the social aspect of Millenials, who are “open about themselves, their opinions, and their emotions” (West & West, 2009, p. 25). It will also target working adults and nontraditional students, who will be able to bring in experiences they have had and the knowledge they have learned about themselves, which appeals to their desire to be “respected for what they already know and for the experiences they have already undergone” (West & West, 2009, p. 26).

Learning Objectives

1.       Increase understanding of Individual Strengths

2.       Increase understanding of how Individual Strengths are used in everyday life

3.       Increase understanding of diversity of others’ Strengths by learning about the Strengths of group members

4.       Increased understanding of how to increase team effectiveness using StrengthsFinder Team Grid

Rationale

Wikis are useful tools for learning because they “provide the tools and collaborative work space that enable contextual teaching and learning (West & West, 2009, p. 22). Wikis are particularly useful for critical thinking, where students can “organize ideas, conduct critical reviews, engage group members though comments and questions, and come to a consensus regarding final outcomes” (West & West, 2009, p. 80).

 “What if…?” scenarios can be designed to support collaborative critical thinking (West & West, 2009). Group members can brainstorm ideas, decide on appropriate scenarios and rationales, and then share them publicly on the wiki site. Others can then view the information and ask questions for the group members to respond to, furthering the critical thinking process.

It is necessary to create an atmosphere of trust among members of the group for effective collaboration (West & West, 2009). West & West (2009) suggest icebreakers for this purpose, however, the group members will be sharing personal information as part of their project so no additional icebreaker will be used in this course.

Wiki Use

Class members will be put into groups of 3-4 individuals. Each group will create their own wiki. The purpose of the wiki is to share their individual Strengths, and then complete a “what if…?” scenario:

You and the others in your group work for the same organization. You have been put in the same group to work on a big project together. The stakes are high for this project, so your boss has promised a bonus if you can meet the timeline and stay under budget. How will you work effectively as a team to be successful? Specifically, how can you improve team dynamics and team collaboration? Who (if anyone) would you add to the group (if anyone) and why?

Lesson Plan

Week	Method	Assignment
Week 1	Discussion Post	Take StrengthsFinder assessment and identify your Top 5 Strengths. Report Strengths in discussion post.
Week 2	Discussion Post	Answer the following questions based on your Top 5 Strengths: ·       Which Strength do you most identify with? ·       Where you surprised by any of the Strengths that appeared in your Top 5, or did not appear in your Top 5? ·       Which of your Top 5 Strengths do you want to learn more about and why?
Week 3	Discussion post	Students select one of their Top 5 Strengths to learn about how they use it in everyday life. Students create and maintain a log for one week tracking when they noticed they were using their Strength, and the result. Students share two examples
Week 4	Discussion post	Teacher assigns groups and distributes wiki pages. Students place Top 5 Strengths on wiki page. In Discussion post students respond to team members’ Strengths. What similarities and/or differences do you find?
Week 5	Discussion post, Wiki	Students are given Team Grid and add their Strengths to Team Grid, then add Team Grid to Wiki. In Discussion post students respond to Team Grid. What gaps exist in the Four Domains (Executing, Influencing, Strategic Thinking, Relationship Building)? What overlaps exist?
Week 6		Students are given “what if…?” scenario. Students are to work collaboratively to answer the questions.
Week 7	Wiki	Students post “what if…?” scenario on wiki, along with questions and answers.
Week 8	Wiki	Students view other group wikis and respond to at least two other groups.

Evaluation

Desired outcomes are:

·       Increased understanding of personal Strengths

·       Increased awareness of how Strengths are used in everyday life

·       Increased understanding of diversity of others’ Strengths

·       Increased understanding of how to increase team effectiveness using StrengthsFinder Team Grid

Students are evaluated based on the following rubric:

Outcome	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Score
Increased understanding of personal Strengths	Strengths listed with detailed examples and reflection on all 5 Strengths	Strengths listed, few examples and reflection	Strengths listed but no examples or reflection	No post	/15
Increased awareness of how Strengths are used in everyday life	Complete log (7 days) with detailed information about situations where Strength was used	Complete log (7 days) with some details about situations where Strength was used	Incomplete log (less than 7 days) with few details about situations where Strength was used	Incomplete log (less than 7 days), no situations described	/15
Increased understanding of diversity of others’ Strengths by learning about the Strengths of group members	Detailed comments on all other group members’ posts with reflection and examples of their strengths.	Comments on at least one group members’ post with reflection and/or example	Comments on at least one group members’ post	No comments	/15
Increased understanding of how to increase team effectiveness using StrengthsFinder Team Grid	Questions answered in detail using Team Grid	Questions answered using Team Grid	Incomplete or unclear answers to questions or not all questions answered	No use of Team Grid	/30
Total Score					/75

References

Clifton, D. (2017). Discover your CliftonStrengths. Gallup Press: New York.

West, J.A. and West, M.L. (2009). Using Wikis for Online Collaboration. Joss