Week 1: Why employers value teamwork

Introduction

Welcome to Week 1 of this free badged course on how to work in teams. Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step towards enhancing your team performance and articulating your teamwork skills effectively to future employers.

This week, you’ll explore why employers value teamwork skills so highly, developing your understanding of what a team is and the different types of team you might belong to. You’ll consider the advantages and challenges of working in a team and look at ways to enhance your teamwork skills and experience.

Now watch the following video in which Lynne Johnson introduces Week 1. Lynne has worked in adult career guidance for over 20 years, including for the Careers Service at The Open University.

Download this video clip.Video player: wdt_1_week_1_lynne.mp4

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Transcript

LYNNE:

If you've had recent experience of looking for work, then you're likely to be fairly familiar with the expectation from employers that you can evidence your ability to work in a team. You may have even been asked a competency question, beginning with the dreaded can you tell me about a time when you have? Whilst most employers ask for this skill in their job adverts, or person specifications, have you ever taken the time to think about what this means for you?

In this first week, you'll be looking at the difference between a group and a team, and why employers want their employees to be able to work well in the team. You'll consider your own reactions to this requirement, and start to evaluate what you perceive to be the advantages and disadvantages of this way of working. And you'll start to consider some of the team experiences you've had so far, how you could evidence these, and whether you need to gain more team working experience to progress.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR:

Get more from the Open University. Check out the links on screen now.

End transcript

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As suggested in the Introduction and guidance [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] , it is recommended that you record your responses to the activities throughout the course. As part of the course, you have been provided with an interactive toolkit in which you can keep your notes together. You will be directed to different parts of the toolkit at specific points throughout the course. However, if you’d prefer to use a notebook that is, of course, also fine.

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

• understand why employers value teamwork
• explain the difference between a group and a team
• identify some of the benefits and challenges of working in a team
• understand different types of team
• consider how you can increase your experience of working in teams.

The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.