COHR 411 - Managing and Building Teams

Groups and teams are becoming increasingly part of organizational life. An understanding of effective group processes and work teams can be critical to individual and organizational success. The objective of this course is to provide students with an understanding of how to develop and be a part of an effective team. In doing so we will define what is meant by a high performing team, and explain conditions under which teams are most likely to make a contribution to the organization. We will also discuss conditions and processes that detract from team and organizational effectiveness and how the detrimental effects can be addressed. We will also consider how to help manage virtual teams.

Learning objectives

By taking this course, students will:

• identify characteristics and behaviours associated with high-performing teams.
• develop trust amongst members.
• increase creativity and decision-making effectiveness.
• manage conflict in teams.
• learn from the benefits offered by diversity.
• design team processes that create synergy.
• facilitate accountability and achieve results.

Prerequisite: COMM 203.