GRA 2427 Building and Leading Effective Teams: Contemporary Issues
GRA 2427 Building and Leading Effective Teams: Contemporary Issues
Organizations increasingly rely on teams to accomplish tasks, and several factors may affect teams’ effectiveness. Yet, organizations’ approach to building and leading effective teams is not always evidence-based nor consistent with contemporary research. It often fails to account for the increased uncertainty and volatility of the environment in which teams operate, as well as for the changing composition and nature of teams (i.e, multicultural and virtual). This course aims to provide students with up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills to build and lead effective teams. It tackles contemporary issues and discusses contemporary theories and research rather than classical theories and research. As part of the course, students will work extensively in teams and participate in several team interventions. The goal is for students to be able to develop team interventions based on contemporary research and methods to promote team effectiveness. They will be asked to solve problems in teams, and critically discuss theories, research, and practical cases in teams.
The candidate
- Has advanced knowledge of contemporary issues associated with team effectiveness, including central contemporary theories and research associated with team effectiveness.
- Has advanced knowledge on how to work effectively in a team, as demonstrated by team exercises/activities, case studies, and presentations throughout the course.
The candidate
- Can recognize and identify critical factors influencing team effectiveness, and use relevant theories and research to explain team effectiveness in contemporary settings.
- Can critically reflect on theories and research explaining team effectiveness in contemporary settings.
- Can present and discuss theories and research about team effectiveness in contemporary settings.
- Can apply research findindings and methods to develop effective team interventions in organizational settings
By the end of the course, students should have acquired knowledge and gained experience on how to best build and develop contemporary teams. They should be able to critically reflect on the issues faced by contemporary teams and on the strategies that can help solve these issues.
- Central theories and research for understanding team functioning in contemporary settings
- Central theories and research for understanding team development including team interventions in contemporary settings
- Central theories and research for understanding leadership in contemporary teams
- Central theories and research for understanding virtual teams
- Central theories and research for understanding team composition (i.e., personality, multicultural teams)
The course is structured as a combination of lectures, team exercises, online team simulations, case studies, and class discussions. Students will be asked to work extensively in teams. The course requires a substantial amount of preparation by the students and active involvement in the teams throughout the entire semester.
Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.
The examination for this course has been changed starting academic year 23/24. It is not possible to resit the old version of the examination.
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Disclaimer
Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.
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| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 100 Grouping: Group (3 - 4) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Exam code: GRA 24271 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 36 Hour(s) | |
Student's own work with learning resources | 124 Hour(s) |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.
The term paper will consist of critical reflections of the team interventions the teams have participated in throughout the semester, and a thorough presentation and discussion of their own team intervention they developed in their respective teams.