The Technique
Teamwork and leadership are two essential skills that are required in workplaces, particularly in project management. In the recent Project Management Institute Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide, the role of project manager as a leader and the importance of effective teamwork are considered as fundamentals for project management processes and knowledge areas.
Taking into account the nature of project management practices (usually by teams), I have embedded group work in my courses. One technique I often use is the Team Lead Session, which can be applied in other courses and programs that intend to develop students’ teamwork and leadership skills.
The main idea of Team Lead Sessions is to provide the students with a chance to work together and deliver a one-hour learning module to their fellow learners. It is a collaborative approach for learning by teaching.
The technique can offer opportunities for developing students’ teamwork and leadership skills by having them:
- Jointly conduct research and determine necessary materials
- Coordinate sessions with different roles and tasks
- Lead and deliver sessions to other students in their class.
To deliver a Team Lead Session, each team must research a topic and identify materials beyond the textbook that support it. Each team, therefore, takes on the responsibility of being the educator of that session for learners.
How I Use It
By the end of Week 2 in my course, I create teams of four to six students for this first team assignment. Doing so early allows these learners to get to know each other and form processes that will help them to deliver their Team Leader Session confidently and effectively.
Step-by-step setup:
- A set of five or six topics are shared with the teams. The teams have until the end of the third week to pick their top two or three topics and let me know their preferences.
- By the start of Week 4, I send all teams their assigned session topic. At this time, I also provide them with the schedule of delivery for the next five to six weeks.
- I set up each group’s topic discussion board. This space can be used by each team to share materials, post questions connected to materials shared, and/or post pre-session surveys. This discussion board should be made public for everyone in the class to see.
Step by step for implementation:
- Teams do research by identifying relevant reports, white papers, software, etc. that take the topic beyond the course textbook.
- Teams share back to me the scope of materials they’ve identified that they want to share with their classmates, and we refine this list until we have a final set of materials. *
- Teams prepare the presentation/activity they want their classmates to do in their session and populate their topic discussion forum.
- On the day: I moderate/audit each session. I give an entire class to each team and only intervene to assure timing or technology issues are resolved.
- After a session is delivered, I step back into the role of teacher and give a five minute recap of the session along with a set of takeaways.**
- Peer assessment from the other students is done online in D2L.
* Important here is that the amount of materials shared is realistic for the amount of time learners invest in each topic.
** Each session lasts approximately one hour, including my intro and recap
Feedback from Learners
This technique has been used in the Project Management course (MBA Program at the Faculty of Business Administration) for three years, and it has also been recently extended to the Supply Chain Management course.
Students in both classes have reacted to the session positively with a greater motivation from both both the lead-teams and remaining students. Students have commented that the whole process provides a great opportunity to shift their roles from learners to educators. They closely collaborate with each other and lead the session as a micro project. Through this unique experience they develop their teamwork and leadership skills for their future career.
A Short Task to Challenge You!
Welcome to your Topic Portal. Below you will find three different topics to choose from. Select your preferred topic, and post an interesting or informative link, discussion question, comment, or external resource.
One Final Task
Is this something you can use in your classroom? How might you utilize it? If you share your results somewhere on social media, share a link to this lesson for context.