HRM 221 - International Team Building

Objectives

Globalisation demands that managers possess the basic skills required to work together in international teams. Many companies actively encourage the development of these skills through teambuilding or team development programs. Especially for change management, team development plays an increasingly important role. Here the critical goal is to optimise how the group members work together as a team. Key factors affecting a team’s success include organisation, structures, processes, culture and relationships.

International Team Building is conducted at the beginning of the semester as a three day off-campus seminar. The hands-on, outdoor training gives the students intensive exposure to the multifaceted nature of group dynamics.

By working together to solve complex problems and through structured feedback sessions, the participants become sensitised to the rolls they assume in group interactions, to the limitations imposed by the German and their own cultures, and to the conditions required for effective team work.

The course supports the integration of foreign students into campus and social life and helps build lasting working relationships among all participants.
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The skills of giving and receiving of feedback are learned in the protective atmosphere of small groups through intensive exchanges between instructors and participants.  This leads to improved observation and communication skills.

Moreover, the group members continually switch roles. This promotes a deeper understanding of social interaction, helps members to reflect on their contribution to the group process, encourages members to experiment with new behavioural concepts, and improves the group’s capacity to
cooperate and perform. Final feedback rounds offer the possibility to align the members’ self images with the perception others have of them, to reduce “blind spots”, to increase  self confidence and their ability to reflect.

The capacity to give appropriate feedback in various situations, to monitor one’s self image as well as the consequences of one’s own behaviour form the basis for a successful career in management.

Content

• Group dynamics, processes and structures in groups
• Roles in groups (roles in tasks and supporting roles)
  
• Group leadership
  
• Effect of one’s actions in groups
  
• The “give and take” of feedback
  
• Self image and how others see you
  
• Communication levels (content versus relationship)
  
• Conditions for successful co-operation
  
• Cultural influences on teamwork