Team Formation Toolkit The Guide to Getting Started with Your +Acumen Course Team
TEAM FORMATION TOOLKIT
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Thousands of people around the world have completed +Acumen courses in teams. This guide will walk you through 7 steps to get started with your own team.
1
SEND A FRIENDLY INVITATION TO OTHERS
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SCHEDULE YOUR TEAM MEETINGS
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REGISTER YOUR TEAM ON THE COURSE PLATFORM
4
SEND REMINDERS TO YOUR TEAM
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FACILITATE YOUR TEAM MEETINGS
6
COLLABORATE BETWEEN MEETINGS
7
STAY IN TOUCH
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“The reason I pushed other people to take these courses in a team was that it was really good use of time. You need to put in the prep work, but the amount of hours I spent on the course were well worth the amount of learning. “ -Chloe Stull-Lane Nairobi, Kenya
What Makes a Successful Team? Leadership: A team needs someone who takes the initiative to get everyone started. Step up and be that person! Scheduling: The most successful teams schedule all of their weekly team meetings as soon as they register. We suggest forming a team of 2-6 people because scheduling becomes difficult for larger teams. Preparation: The most successful teams are made up of individuals who are committed to completing their individual prep work before meeting with their team. Don’t be the weakest link! Co-Creating the Learning Experience: Successful teams realize that real learning comes from meaningful interactions based on trust, respect and accountability. Set ground rules for successful collaboration.
Commitment to Having Fun: Don’t take yourself too seriously. Teams should strive to make the course experience positive, creative and energizing for all. You’ll learn more when you’re having fun.
Want to learn about what the data says about the best teams? Check out our EdSurge article: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-10-05-peer-pressure-will-help-you-finish-that-mooc
7 Steps to Get Started
1. Send a Friendly Invitation +Acumen courses like this one work best if you can find a team to work with in person. Reach out to your friends, colleagues, acquaintances or relatives. Many people are looking for an outlet for their creativity or a way to give back to their communities, but need a group leader and structured activities to get started. Be that leader! You might be surprised at how many people respond positively if you take the first step of sending out an invitation. See the Appendix to this Guide for some sample emails to send to your friends and colleagues to ask them to join your team. If you can’t find a team to meet with in person, you’ll be able to post to the “Find a Team” thread in the NovoEd forum once the course launches. It’s helpful to include your name, timezones, and interests in that message. We’ll also walk you through some steps to search your fellow students by interest and geography to find others who might be a good match. Keep in mind that virtual teams typically require an added level of commitment and coordination to keep your team in sync at a distance.
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2. Schedule Your Team Meetings When you register for the course, you should receive a Course Syllabus that will outline the number of weeks in the course and the number of hours suggested for each team meeting. Using this course syllabus as a guide, take out your calendars and schedule the required number of team meetings. The sooner you can coordinate the times, the more likely you are to find dates that work for everyone. Send out those calendar invites now!
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3. Register on the Platform Once the course has launched and everyone in your group has signed up for the course on NovoEd, you’ll be able to register as a team. To do so, start with Assignment 1, which will be a Team Formation Assignment. If you need further assistance on how to register your team and invite your peers to join, follow these steps from NovoEd.
Once everyone on your team has accepted the invitation to join your team, you will have access to a collaborative workspace where you can trade chat messages and share files. You can learn more about how to access the Team Workspace here.
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4. Send Reminders to Your Team Once the course has started, send a friendly reminder to members of your group confirming the time of your team meeting for that week and reminding them to complete the individual preparation work. Typically, there is approximately 1 hour of readings, videos, or self-reflection exercises that your team members should complete before you meet together. If they come to the meeting prepared, you will all be better able to take advantage of your collective time! See sample email in Appendix 2.
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5. Facilitate Your Team Meetings When the time has come to hold your first meeting, you’ll want to make the experience positive and productive for everyone. Here are some of the best practices that successful teams have reported that they use to keep everyone one track: Print a copy of the workshop guide for facilitators. Check the workshop guide for the list of required supplies for the meeting and have those prepared and available. For most meetings, it is helpful if you can bring post-it notes and extra pens. Print extra copies of any worksheets or templates that people might need to complete as part of the team meeting. Find an inviting space that is amenable to team collaboration. Have lots of empty wall space or white boards available if possible. Bring snacks and drinks. People might get hungry as you start to dig into creative brainstorming or intense discussions. Have your laptop will an internet connection available. This can help in case you want to reference the course materials or post insights to the course forums as you go along. Start with introductions and ice breakers to establish trust and kick things off if the group has not worked together much before. Establish initial ground rules. What general guidelines will your team follow to make sure the time can be spent productively and everyone’s voices and ideas are heard? Who will be bringing supplies and snacks to subsequent meetings? After you complete the group activities, determine who will be responsible for uploading the assignment to the platform on behalf of the team. Share your thoughts and insights with the global course community on the discussion forums. Confirm the time for the next team meeting before your group disperses. In between group meetings, your team members can also check out the submissions from other teams on NovoEd to get inspired!
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6. Collaborate Between Meetings You may need to work on assignments in between the times you meet in person. Here are some tools that other teams have found helpful to facilitate virtual collaboration. Have others to share? Post them to the discussion forums and we’ll add them to this list!
Plan Meetings
Hold Virtual Discussions
Virtual Workspaces
• Doodle • Meeting Planner
• • • • •
• • • •
Skype Google hangouts appear.in Whatsapp LINE
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Google docs Mural.ly Post-it App Padlet
7. Stay in Touch We encourage you to stay in touch with the people you meet through +Acumen courses. This is an online community of global change makers who have shared potential to change the world. People have met co-founders, co-authors, codiscussants, and new best friends through this community. If you collaborate further with people you meet through +Acumen courses, we’d love to hear about it! Email your story to courses@plusacumen.org
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“I met amazing people through taking this course. Connecting through a course gives us a structure and strategy that has been wonderful.” “ -Francessca Piaza London, England
FAQs about Teams All use, reproduction and distribution of this work is subject to a CC-BY-NC-ND license.
Frequently Asked Questions Question: I really like working according to my own schedule. Do I have to form a team? Answer: You are welcome to go through +Acumen courses on your own. However, keep in mind that our activities and materials have been designed primarily for teams. Even if you work with just one other people, that can add to your learning experience! People who sign up for the course with a team are more likely to complete & report having a richer learning experience. If you can’t find anyone nearby to complete the course with, you’ll have a chance to reach out to others on the NovoEd platform once the course launches.
Question: Does every member of a team have to sign up for the course individually? Answer: Yes! Anyone who wishes to earn a Statement of Accomplishment for the course needs to register individually. Typically registration remains open up to 2 weeks after a course start date. Once the course launches, then the group leader should create a team and invite all individual team members to join. See more details here: http://help.novoed.com/hc/en-us/articles/200091467-Starting-a-Team-and-AddingPeers
Question: Can I join more than one team? Answer: No, you can only belong to one team at a time. Trust us, you’ll be busy enough! If you wish to switch teams after the course launches, you can follow these steps: http://help.novoed.com/hc/en-us/articles/200722148-How-do-I-switch-teams-
Question: It seems like a lot of work to coordinate a team. How much time should I anticipate spending on this learning experience? Answer: The time commitment required for +Acumen courses varies, but, in general, you should expect to spend about 1 hour doing individual prep work and about 2 hours meeting with your team. Look at the course website to see more details about the particular course you are signing up for. Yes, the course will be a lot of work, but deep learning often requires a level of time commitment and investment to get something worthwhile out of the experience! Don’t feel like you have time now? We offer most +Acumen courses multiple times a year so that you can fit them into more available periods of your schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions Question: Some people on my team might be busy during this course. What if we can’t keep up with the course? Answer: Most of the deadlines in the course, with the exception of the final course closing date, are soft. This means that you work according to your own schedule, although we strongly encourage that you strive to keep pace with the recommended timeline. Most +Acumen courses have an extra week or two built into the schedule at the end so that you can catch up. If you can’t meet in person with your team one week, try to arrange for virtual collaboration.
Question: I have more questions! Who can I ask? Answer: Email courses@plusacumen.org. We’re happy to help!
Appendix All use, reproduction and distribution of this work is subject to a CC-BY-NC-ND license.
Appendix 1: Sample Emails Want to invite others to join you afor the course but not exactly sure how to make the ask? Use these email templates for some ideas. SAMPLE EMAIL 1 I’ve spoken to most of you about the free online courses I’ve taken with +Acumen (http://plusacumen.org/courses/) and the incredible people I’ve met through them. There is a new course on____ that I’m interested in signing up for! Would you like to join me? It will require meeting for ___ hours once per week from _____ to ____. It will be a good opportunity for us to develop a new project that could ___________________. I’d love to share this experience with you. I promise great conversation, creative activities, snacks and a bunch of incredible people. Date: xxxx Venue: xxxx Time: xxx What you need to do ahead of this: 1. Confirm by replying to this email that you will be joining 2. Sign-up to the course ______________ 3. Complete the individual preparation activities. 4. Show up at said venue on time and be ready to discuss
SAMPLE EMAIL 2 Hey team, We spend many hours everyday working on [insert work description]. I thought it would be a great change of pace to take a moment and exercise our creativity and build our skills iwht this new course offered by +Acumen (http://plusacumen.org/courses/). You can sign up here: <<insert course link>>. I’m offering to facilitate and I suggest meeting in the conference room from <<insert time and day>>. Let me know if you’d like to join.
Appendix 1: Sample Emails SAMPLE EMAIL 3 Hey! We should do this! Are you in? See <<insert course link>>. It is a free course offered by +Acumen (http://plusacumen.org/courses/). I see that it requires about an hour for prep (individually) and about two hours together to discuss. Let me know if interested! (Once you register to the course, you will receive access to the course materials).
SAMPLE EMAIL TO REMIND OTHERS ABOUT PREP WORK SAMPLE EMAIL 1 Thanks again for agreeing to join me for the +Acumen course on <<insert course topic>>. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m really excited to get started!
As a reminder, our first team meeting will be held <<insert time and location>>. In advance of the meeting, remember to log into the course on NovoEd and accept my invitation to join our team. Then complete the individual preparation work (should take approximately 1 hour). Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll look forward to seeing you on <<insert date of team meeting>>!
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