Leading High-Performing Teams

This course will blend business theory and real-world insights to teach you the skills you need to better lead people and teams within your organization. Key topics will include motivation, communication, conflict management, team dynamics, and development of a healthy organizational culture.

These “people skills” rank among the most challenging competencies for both novice and experienced leaders. This course will challenge you to understand your followers on a deeper level, as well as help you to reflect and improve on your own leadership practice.

The course will draw on knowledge from psychology, human resource management, and organizational behavior, as well as the expertise of the management faculty and The University of Queensland. Through a series of engaging videos, interviews, written reflections, peer feedback, self-insight activities, and simulations, we unpack the ingredients that are critical for developing more effective people and higher performing teams.

MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION TO TEAMS
Focuses on recognizing the distinction between groups and teams; developing an understanding of your own group/team loyalties and priorities and considering the building blocks for high-performing teams.

MODULE 2: MOTIVATING AND ENGAGING PEOPLE
Examines what motivates and engages people at work, developing strategies for improving motivation and engagement in your employees, and what motivates and drives your own behavior.

MODULE 3: MANAGING WORK RELATIONSHIPS
Considers the nature of your work relationships, how to develop strategies for strengthening employee trust and attachment to the group, how to manage those particularly difficult people at work, and recognizing the importance of external stakeholder relationships.

MODULE 4: LEADING TEAMS FOR EXECUTION
Considers how to recognize the ingredients for team execution, how to identify challenges in team communication and coordination, and how to develop strategies to enhance team communication/coordination.

MODULE 5: LEADING TEAMS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS
Focuses on recognizing the value of openness and inclusion for problem solving and creative teams, how to develop better problem solving in your teams - both in execution and in team culture.

MODULE 6: WHEN GOOD TEAMS FAIL (PART 1): TOO MUCH CONFLICT!
Examines the causes and consequences of serious and escalating conflict, developing strategies for preventing serious/escalating conflict, and developing competencies for resolving serious conflict.

MODULE 7: WHEN GOOD TEAMS FAIL (PART 2): TOO MUCH COHESION!
Enables you to recognize the warning signs that your team is too cohesive and develop strategies for promoting productive conflict in teams.

MODULE 8: BRINGING DIVIDED GROUPS TOGETHER
Enables you to recognize patterns and implications of intergroup behavior in your organization, develop strategies for bridging organizational silos and identify the steps for building an inclusive organizational identity.

MODULE 9: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Enables you to identify the impact of organizational culture and its (non) alignment to a broader organizational strategy, and recognize points of potential influence when trying to change organizational culture.

MODULE 10: BRINGING IT TOGETHER: ANALYZING AND DEVELOPING YOUR TEAM
Develops skills in recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of your team, critically analyzing the processes affecting team effectiveness, and considering ways to further develop your team for high-performance.