During the Unit on Teamwork and leadership, young people define, create and make distinctions between teams, groups, leaders/managers, and develop skills for a constructive conflict resolution within a team.
The target group comprises young people, 15 to 30 years of age, who are exposed to teamwork (during their education, employment, civic activism, in their family, and the like), but are not familiar with the ways and mechanisms that can help them to effectively pursue their efforts and perform teamwork.
This Unit is very important to young people, especially if we take into account the circumstances upon and during their first employment. Employers look for young people who are willing and who are competent to carry out various activities, take the initiative and responsibility. On the one hand, this workshop is an introductory and animating model for the participants experienced in the field of teamwork and team management, but even for those who lack for such experience, and, on the other hand, it grasps the inner significance of the need for teamwork and the leadership approach. The training lays the foundations for a more successful implementation of other training modules since it prompts the participants to acquire leadership competencies, the sense of teamwork based actions and non-formal education that is used even for delivering the training course on this topic.
During the workshop, the participants are enabled to acquire and improve team and leadership skills, upon being guided through the following stages:
1. defining teamwork,
2. recognising advantages resulting from teamwork and the participants’ role in a team,
3. exploring the differences between a team and a group,
4. learning about the team development phases,
5. becoming familiar with constructive conflict resolutions in a team according to the sources of conflict occurrence,
6. realising the differences between a good and a bad team,
7. defining leadership,
8. exploring different leadership types and styles,
9. learning about the features of a good leader and a leadership network.
The Unit objectives are:
1. introduce young people to the concepts of team, teamwork and leadership,
2. animate them to strive for developing the features of a good team player and a prominent leader,
3. train the participants to recognise the branches of knowledge which require their additional efforts, pursue education and self-improvement according to the fields of their interests and recognised personal features,
4. introduce them to the benefits resulting from good team work,
5. motivate them, by keeping other team members informed, to build the team spirit and to more successfully undertake a joint task for which they feel collective responsibility,
6. become cognisant of personal and team advantages of the leadership approach and of the team leading concept compared to team management.
Young people who have successfully undertaken the workshops on Teamwork and leadership have a tendency to show more knowledge and abilities to perform various tasks assigned to them. Furthermore, they convey their knowledge to other young people and teams in which they work. They become active and equal participants in decision-making processes. In this way, they are no longer frivolously treated, but they become partners in organisations, public institutions, local authorities, and the like, within which they volunteer or work.
The methodology incorporates group work performed in smaller or larger groups, plenary discussions, audiovisual presentations, simulations of real-life situations, and various creative workshops that promote an active acquisition of knowledge. During one of the workshops, the participants are asked to line up and place a balloon between each other. The next task is to cross a few meters having a balloon next to each other, so as to see what kind of problems a team without a leader faces. Following this exercise, the participants discuss the consequences for such a team.
According to a test, the participants assess the composition of their own team and plan the improvement of each team member’s skills.
The Unit centres upon numerous practical exercises that facilitate the participants to recognise the features of a bad team and a bad leadership.
2 days, 9 hours, 6 units (1.5 hours each)