Healthy Team Communication Analysis
Communication is essentially the most important skill that any human being will ever have to learn. Communication includes approaching other human beings in verbal or nonverbal contact. In the Twenty-first-century, many academic environments are changing the way students learn. Schools are not a hierarchal model of a teacher in charge of a class of students. An example of a hierarchal model of education involves a teacher handing out an assignment and students completing the assignment, with no questions asked. In this particular hierarchal model, communication among classmates is often discouraged. Today, many academic environments are taking an equality approach to education and learning by working in small groups or teams of about 3-5 fellow
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students. According to Wallis (2006), in the Twenty-first-century, teachers are pressured to change the way they normally teach to meet the requirements and demands of society. Recently, most schools started teaching children how to work in groups. This idea benefits the children by helping them learn from one another and to contribute his or her work to the group. Research suggests that children learn more from this type of teaching method. The idea behind the learning team is to complete assignments and projects together. Team communication is essential for success because, team members learn from one another and share similar goals.
Every person whom attends school is from a different walk of life. Each student has learned a piece of information that classmates or teammates may not know. In a learning team format, each person can teach and learn from one another. In order to teach effectively, and learn from team members, each member must use communication skills. An academic environment provides different methods to communicate among team members. The most important form of communication is to ask questions. When individuals ask questions, the critical-thinking process has begun. Asking questions helps team members integrate and interact with each other. One form of questioning team members is to ask for feedback. Feedback can consist of reactions, comments, compliments, or constructive criticism. Feedback is given to a student after asking teammates for input on ideas, assignments, and projects. Feedback is designed to help individuals improve on what has already been done. Asking questions and asking for feedback naturally leads to discussion. Discussions with fellow team members involve conversing about issues, problems, and group assignments. In discussions, conflict can arise among the learning team. Conflict can be good and bad for a learning team. Conflict is a disagreement that arises among many learning teams. Now, many schools are accepting the learning team concept. With this idea, students ask questions, engage in discussions, problem solve, and work out the differences. The phrase "peer learning," is a type of learning in which students work together to improve interaction between team members (Christudason, 2003).
In an online learning community such as, the University of Phoenix, provides many methods to interact within the learning team. E-mail (electronic mail) is a program that is used to write personal information between team members that are not read by other classmates. The learning team forum is used to write information for all the team members to read and respond to the information. The discussion forums are used to discuss information about readings, assignments, and projects. Specifically, this forum is for all students and the instructor to read and respond. The Instant Messenger (IM) system is used to chat with individuals at the same time. The use of an Instant Messenger system is often discouraged, because it defeats the purpose of attending school online. Team members have to agree on a specific time to log on and chat to each other, about information that is important. This system is to be used in case of an emergency. The use of a telephone to call team members is often discouraged unless the situation is an emergency. This device only is used for an important emergency situation when a student can not log on to a computer. In any type of online learning community, such as an online University, is dependent on the communication between the students. Encouragement from the instructors to interact within the learning team is essential (Porterfield, 2001). With this in mind, communication within teams is important because each team member learns from one another. Each member of a learning team has similar goals in common, whether the goal is academic, professional, or personal. When students have goals in common, no person is better or worse than any other person in the learning team. "We feel that one of the most important indicators of a learning community is the first: when students communicate not only on an academic level but on a personal level. Working together towards the goals of the course is what they are supposed' to be doing" (Misanchuk & Anderson, 2001, para. 5). Each team member needs to communicate effectively, build a sense of community and collaborate to reach a common goal. With this in mind, every member of a learning team, need to communicate effectively about strengths and weaknesses to help each other reach the common goals. The team members need to be open and honest about possible ideas or disagreements on certain issues. Each member needs to learn how to participate within a group, so everyone can work together. Communication among team members, leads to building a sense of community within the group. The word community is a term used to describe team members that have the same purpose. With this sense of community, each team member can share his or her ideas of how to work towards a mutual goal. This idea is known as collaboration. "In a cooperative learning situation, interaction is characterized by positive goal interdependence with individual accountability. Positive goal interdependence requires acceptance by a group that they sink or swim together'" (Johnson & Johnson, 1988/1997, para. 7). With these three ideas in mind, a relationship forms between communication and goal achievement. Healthy team communication will lead to many contributions in the academic and professional worlds.
"Whether is be in business, with your children, or with your spouse, the essential skills for communication success will not only improve every aspect of your life, but it will transform it" (Du Plessis, 2007). Team communication will build healthy relationships with team members, future hopeful employers and employees. Team communication also helps a person learn and build lifelong skills such as, effective communication, professional writing skills, proper grammar usage, and learning to work together in a group. The most important part of team communication is to learn time management and to prioritize activities and projects. Without these skills, a team could essentially fall apart. Every team member will learn how to balance between their professional and personal lives. This is a very difficult skill to master even for graduate students and professors. Poor communication skills in a learning team can hurt every student academically and professionally. Some learning teams have an individual who is labeled the "bad-apple." This particular individual does not contribute to the team on purpose. This individual is always the one to point the finger at everyone but does not do anything to help himself. The lazy student's purpose is to hurt the team not help it (Amble, 2007) Gossip is the number one problem among many learning teams. Gossip is communication that is used to hurt a team member's feelings and ruin his or her reputation. This form of communication is not allowed in any type of team situation. This leads to a breakdown of academic and professional relationships among team members. Another problem with team communication is a team member with no motivation. This particular person does not care whether a project gets finished or not. The team member feels the situation is not important and they do not care about anyone else. No motivation often leads to no
interaction among the team members. When very little or no interaction arises in a learning team, the rest of the group often has to accommodate for the missing person. The team member's that help accommodate the neglectful team member often grow very bitter towards the unmotivated individual. This conflict leads to a breakdown of team community. In stable learning teams, some team members may be able to ignore the unmotivated individual and move on with the project. The unmotivated team member can often have very low self-esteem. A team member with low self-esteem can cause these behaviors without realizing it. This is why team communication is essential for success.
Although team communication can be unacceptable, team communication is an essential skill that has to be learned by everyone. In the Twenty-first-century, academic environments are not what they used to be years ago. Teachers are not the head of a classroom but a facilitator to help students work through their problems with a group of classmates. Each group of students are about 3-5 individuals out of the class. The idea behind groups or teams of students is to work together to complete assignments and projects. People tend to learn better by working in teams. When team members share similar goals and learn from one another, he or she will communicate successfully.
Reference Page
Amble, B., (2007, February 14). How One Bad Apple Can Create A Toxic Team. Management Issues. (para. 2). Retrieved July 18, 2007, from http://www.management-issues.com
Christudason, A (2003). Peer Learning. Successful Learning. CTDL (n.37, para. 1). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/success/sl37.htm
Du Plessis, D., (2007, March 18). Public Speaking: Three Essential Skills For Communication Success. (para. 2). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from http://www.SelfGrowth.com
Johnson, R. T., Johnson, D. W., (1988, 1997). Cooperative Learning: Two Heads Learn Better
Than One. In Context. (para. 7). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from Context Institute http://www.context.org
Misanchuk, M., Anderson, T., (2001) Building Community in an Online Learning Environment:
Communication, Cooperation, and Collaboration. IT Conference. Middle Tennessee State University (para. 14). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from, http://www.mtsu.edu/~itconf/proceed01/19.html
Porterfield, S. (2001, April). Towards The Development of Successful Virtual Learning Communities. Educational Communications and Technology. University of Saskatchewan (para. 5). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from http://www.usask.ca/education/courseword.802papers/porterfield/porterfield.htm
Reference Page
Wallis, C., Steptoe, S., (2006, December 10). How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century. Time Magazine. (para. 27). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from http://www.time.com
students. According to Wallis (2006), in the Twenty-first-century, teachers are pressured to change the way they normally teach to meet the requirements and demands of society. Recently, most schools started teaching children how to work in groups. This idea benefits the children by helping them learn from one another and to contribute his or her work to the group. Research suggests that children learn more from this type of teaching method. The idea behind the learning team is to complete assignments and projects together. Team communication is essential for success because, team members learn from one another and share similar goals.
Every person whom attends school is from a different walk of life. Each student has learned a piece of information that classmates or teammates may not know. In a learning team format, each person can teach and learn from one another. In order to teach effectively, and learn from team members, each member must use communication skills. An academic environment provides different methods to communicate among team members. The most important form of communication is to ask questions. When individuals ask questions, the critical-thinking process has begun. Asking questions helps team members integrate and interact with each other. One form of questioning team members is to ask for feedback. Feedback can consist of reactions, comments, compliments, or constructive criticism. Feedback is given to a student after asking teammates for input on ideas, assignments, and projects. Feedback is designed to help individuals improve on what has already been done. Asking questions and asking for feedback naturally leads to discussion. Discussions with fellow team members involve conversing about issues, problems, and group assignments. In discussions, conflict can arise among the learning team. Conflict can be good and bad for a learning team. Conflict is a disagreement that arises among many learning teams. Now, many schools are accepting the learning team concept. With this idea, students ask questions, engage in discussions, problem solve, and work out the differences. The phrase "peer learning," is a type of learning in which students work together to improve interaction between team members (Christudason, 2003).
In an online learning community such as, the University of Phoenix, provides many methods to interact within the learning team. E-mail (electronic mail) is a program that is used to write personal information between team members that are not read by other classmates. The learning team forum is used to write information for all the team members to read and respond to the information. The discussion forums are used to discuss information about readings, assignments, and projects. Specifically, this forum is for all students and the instructor to read and respond. The Instant Messenger (IM) system is used to chat with individuals at the same time. The use of an Instant Messenger system is often discouraged, because it defeats the purpose of attending school online. Team members have to agree on a specific time to log on and chat to each other, about information that is important. This system is to be used in case of an emergency. The use of a telephone to call team members is often discouraged unless the situation is an emergency. This device only is used for an important emergency situation when a student can not log on to a computer. In any type of online learning community, such as an online University, is dependent on the communication between the students. Encouragement from the instructors to interact within the learning team is essential (Porterfield, 2001). With this in mind, communication within teams is important because each team member learns from one another. Each member of a learning team has similar goals in common, whether the goal is academic, professional, or personal. When students have goals in common, no person is better or worse than any other person in the learning team. "We feel that one of the most important indicators of a learning community is the first: when students communicate not only on an academic level but on a personal level. Working together towards the goals of the course is what they are supposed' to be doing" (Misanchuk & Anderson, 2001, para. 5). Each team member needs to communicate effectively, build a sense of community and collaborate to reach a common goal. With this in mind, every member of a learning team, need to communicate effectively about strengths and weaknesses to help each other reach the common goals. The team members need to be open and honest about possible ideas or disagreements on certain issues. Each member needs to learn how to participate within a group, so everyone can work together. Communication among team members, leads to building a sense of community within the group. The word community is a term used to describe team members that have the same purpose. With this sense of community, each team member can share his or her ideas of how to work towards a mutual goal. This idea is known as collaboration. "In a cooperative learning situation, interaction is characterized by positive goal interdependence with individual accountability. Positive goal interdependence requires acceptance by a group that they sink or swim together'" (Johnson & Johnson, 1988/1997, para. 7). With these three ideas in mind, a relationship forms between communication and goal achievement. Healthy team communication will lead to many contributions in the academic and professional worlds.
"Whether is be in business, with your children, or with your spouse, the essential skills for communication success will not only improve every aspect of your life, but it will transform it" (Du Plessis, 2007). Team communication will build healthy relationships with team members, future hopeful employers and employees. Team communication also helps a person learn and build lifelong skills such as, effective communication, professional writing skills, proper grammar usage, and learning to work together in a group. The most important part of team communication is to learn time management and to prioritize activities and projects. Without these skills, a team could essentially fall apart. Every team member will learn how to balance between their professional and personal lives. This is a very difficult skill to master even for graduate students and professors. Poor communication skills in a learning team can hurt every student academically and professionally. Some learning teams have an individual who is labeled the "bad-apple." This particular individual does not contribute to the team on purpose. This individual is always the one to point the finger at everyone but does not do anything to help himself. The lazy student's purpose is to hurt the team not help it (Amble, 2007) Gossip is the number one problem among many learning teams. Gossip is communication that is used to hurt a team member's feelings and ruin his or her reputation. This form of communication is not allowed in any type of team situation. This leads to a breakdown of academic and professional relationships among team members. Another problem with team communication is a team member with no motivation. This particular person does not care whether a project gets finished or not. The team member feels the situation is not important and they do not care about anyone else. No motivation often leads to no
interaction among the team members. When very little or no interaction arises in a learning team, the rest of the group often has to accommodate for the missing person. The team member's that help accommodate the neglectful team member often grow very bitter towards the unmotivated individual. This conflict leads to a breakdown of team community. In stable learning teams, some team members may be able to ignore the unmotivated individual and move on with the project. The unmotivated team member can often have very low self-esteem. A team member with low self-esteem can cause these behaviors without realizing it. This is why team communication is essential for success.
Although team communication can be unacceptable, team communication is an essential skill that has to be learned by everyone. In the Twenty-first-century, academic environments are not what they used to be years ago. Teachers are not the head of a classroom but a facilitator to help students work through their problems with a group of classmates. Each group of students are about 3-5 individuals out of the class. The idea behind groups or teams of students is to work together to complete assignments and projects. People tend to learn better by working in teams. When team members share similar goals and learn from one another, he or she will communicate successfully.
Reference Page
Amble, B., (2007, February 14). How One Bad Apple Can Create A Toxic Team. Management Issues. (para. 2). Retrieved July 18, 2007, from http://www.management-issues.com
Christudason, A (2003). Peer Learning. Successful Learning. CTDL (n.37, para. 1). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/success/sl37.htm
Du Plessis, D., (2007, March 18). Public Speaking: Three Essential Skills For Communication Success. (para. 2). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from http://www.SelfGrowth.com
Johnson, R. T., Johnson, D. W., (1988, 1997). Cooperative Learning: Two Heads Learn Better
Than One. In Context. (para. 7). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from Context Institute http://www.context.org
Misanchuk, M., Anderson, T., (2001) Building Community in an Online Learning Environment:
Communication, Cooperation, and Collaboration. IT Conference. Middle Tennessee State University (para. 14). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from, http://www.mtsu.edu/~itconf/proceed01/19.html
Porterfield, S. (2001, April). Towards The Development of Successful Virtual Learning Communities. Educational Communications and Technology. University of Saskatchewan (para. 5). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from http://www.usask.ca/education/courseword.802papers/porterfield/porterfield.htm
Reference Page
Wallis, C., Steptoe, S., (2006, December 10). How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century. Time Magazine. (para. 27). Retrieved July 19, 2007, from http://www.time.com