How to teach students to work in teams

Teaching students to work in teams is instilling an essential life skill in them. Students learn best through teamwork. As their teacher or tutor you must structure the way teams are formed and how they function. You must know or have an estimated number of people you want students to work with. You must set goals for your groups and understand what you want your students to achieve by the time the teams exercise is over. To do so, here are some tips on teaching your students to work in teams.

Selection of group members

Know the right method to use for the formation of the groups. You may select members of different teams personally or give students a chance at choosing their group members. Some students may complain about the way the teams have been formed and may want to be reassigned to another group, but this should not be encouraged since in future they may be forced to be in a team with members whom they dislike or disagree on many issues with. 

Assign them a challenging project or topic 

The topic should require a lot of research so that every student will have a responsibility and have a chance to contribute to the teamwork. The project should require students to meet several times and work together towards completing their project. The project should have an oral presentation where at least everyone gets a chance to say something and they should have a presentation of their research, such as a poster. 

Assigning of responsibilities to each team members 

In a team, every member should have a role to pay for the team. There should be group leaders who make sure that the members are still aiming towards achieving the same objective. During the assessment the teacher should access each team member at an individual level to find out if the member did his part. 

Setting rules for the teamwork 

If they are holding a group discussion in a class, their voices should not be loud enough to disturb other members in the room they are holding their discussion. Teachers should ensure there are penalties in case team members fail to take on their responsibilities like attending the teams' meetings to ensure each member remains committed. 

A teacher should create time to monitor the groups 

A teacher or the lecturer in charge could sacrifice one of his lessons in a week to monitor how the teams a working. This will create room for members from different teams to do their presentations. The teacher can give guidance to the students to increase their skills on teamwork and even give assistance to the teams where needed so that they can meet their team objectives. 

Coaching students on teamwork skills 

When the teacher is in class, he or she should teach the students the importance of teamwork skills. Communication, conflict management, leadership and decision-making should be on top their lists. To enhance student teamwork skills, the teacher should spread multiple opportunities for teamwork skill building using simple lectures and practice exercises on topics including constructive feedback and active listening, followed by reporting and committing on their responsibilities to the team. 

Teaching students how to work in teams in a great life skill that will later serve students when they take on internship or holiday jobs. There is hardly any work environment this day that does not build on the ability to work in teams. Teacher can therefore apply the tips above in teaching students how to work in teams. If you have any other great ideas, feel free to share with is.