The frequency of IBD students working in teams

PROJECT NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS IBD@NEU TEAM-WORKING SKILLS OF IBD STUDENTS Chu Nguyet Quynh Nhu Supervisor: Mrs.Bui Thi Thanh Binh Projects I16S4 December 23rd , 2020 PROJECT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I have made a great effort to complete this project, however, but without the kind encouragement and assistance of many people, I have not been able to achieve this successful outcome Thus, I would like to give a heartfelt gratitude to all supporters for their substantial help in conducting this survey First of all, I would like to express my special thanks to our project teacher – Ms Bui Thi Thanh Binh – who has been always able to support and provide me with useful guidance during this project Secondly, I would like to thank many students of International Bachelor Degree at National Economics University who have taken part in my survey questionnaire and helped me to collect the data for this project Finally, thanks to all the valuable contributions of my peers, who have always given me a lot of valuable comments and encouragement to finish my project Therefore, I offer my regards and blessings to all of them Hanoi, December 2020 Table of Content PROJECT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .2 INTRODUCTION I Background and Context II Rationales/ purposes III Research Questions: IV Research methods .6 LITERATURE REVIEW INTRODUCTION BODY The advantages of working in teams The importance of team-working skills How students improve their teamwork skills 10 CONCLUSION 10 MAJOR FINDINGS 11 Figure 1: The frequency of IBD students working in teams 11 Figure 2: IBD students roles in working teams 12 Figure 3: Students opinions about working in teams .13 Figure 4: Reasons why students unsatisfied when working in teams 14 Figure 5: Skills that team members need in the process of team working 15 Figure 6: Factors that create a good teamwork 16 Figure 7: Reasons why students prefer to work in groups .17 Figure 8: Reasons why students dislike to work in group 18 PROJECT Figure 9: The most important role of a team leader 19 Figure 10: Reasons why team working skills are important 20 Figure 11: Teamwork skills that are necessary in schools 22 Figure 12: Methods to improve team working skills 23 CONCLUSION 24 REFERENCE LIST .25 APPENDIX 27 PROJECT INTRODUCTION I Background and Context Nowadays, team-working skills are becoming more and more important in schools as well as the workplace Most people believe that "teamwork makes a dream work" because in reality, successful teamwork can lead to amazing outcomes, much better than the overall results of any person who works independently In addition, the ability to work in teams is one of the most essential soft skills that is commonly taught in universities to be practiced in the workplace as well as required in everyday life However, according to Thanh (2016), employers are not confident about the soft skills of graduates, particularly team-working skills In addition, Yamashita (2012, as cited in Tuoitrenews, 2012) also said that many international companies have expressed dissatisfaction at the communication skills and teamwork spirit of recent Vietnamese college graduates Skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, time management, communication and interpersonal skills are targeted by most employers as a key need for recruiting, especially in a team setting It is also very critical for undergraduates to have the technical skills of working in teams so that they can produce better academic results The purposes that I aimed in this research were to show out IDB students’ opinions about their team-working skills and how they are doing to improve it From that, we have collected needed information to understand why there is still lack of graduates with fully equipped soft skills and what we need to solve this problem II Rationales/ purposes My research is willing to investigate the practical issues that people have whenever they team-working and how they deal with it in order to lead the teams and achieve the PROJECT success Generally, the study focused on IBD students to collect data and then analyze how they are doing to improve their ability of working in teams Besides, this essay could show some effective ways to help them build team-working skills as well as being excellent group members III Research Questions: - What IBD students think about their team-working skills? - Which problems IBD students have when working in groups? - Why IBD students think that they need these skills? - What can IBD students to improve their teamwork skills? IV Research methods - Research type In this study article, I performed a quantitative analysis which is conducted by a survey In order to have correct information and data, I asked 65 students from IBD@NEU 12 different questions via Google Forms Then I analyzed the data that I had received and summarized it Based on the collected data, I found out more information and finalized my research This research proposal include both primary and secondary sources - Sources Most of my surveyed subjects will be on IBD students aged from 18-22 years old - Research methods PROJECT I asked 65 students from IBD about 12 different questions as I mentioned before via Google Forms I created a form on Google with some questions so that people can access and answer the question immediately I will also interviewed some students when we are in break time and ask them some short questions immediately In addition, I could get the answers right away without travelling PROJECT LITERATURE REVIEW INTRODUCTION Teamwork can be characterized as the process in which individuals work together in a group to achieve a shared purpose or objective through collaboration, communication and sharing of vital information Teams have an important role in our professional and personal life Team work is undoubtedly an unavoidable life experience, even for individuals who choose to work alone Today, because of its often powerful benefits, researchers are moving strongly and specifically in favor of collaboration, despite the ease of individual work (Shneiderman, 2016) According to Shneiderman (2016), working in teams are really helpful in solving complex and difficult problems They also achieve better work by conducting more ambitious projects, offering complementary skills and applying a range of testing methods In addition, teams now have larger social networks than individuals to collect feedback during study and disseminate findings as they emerge Pauli (2018) pointed out in learning environment, teamwork will help sensitive students conquer their fears and learn how to cope with criticism, because the more they engage in a team and make a contribution, the more positive they become Making an attempt to their best in partnership with others is vital to their own development which is going to support students in their future career This study is going to include extensive research into the benefits of working in teams as well as the reasons why team-working is an essential skill for students, especially undergraduates I will also investigate some methods which people can to have better skills of working in teams BODY The advantages of working in teams Some research suggests that the feeling that we work with others can significantly increase our motivation to perform complex and demanding tasks, even though we are PROJECT basically working on our own According to Gaskell (2017), Stanford's research a few years ago showed that survey respondents who were primed to work collaboratively stuck to their tasks were 64% longer than their independent colleagues, while also displaying higher levels of engagement, lower feelings of depression and increased rates of achievement A similar finding has also pointed out that companies encouraging collaborative work are times more likely to have great performance (Gaskell, 2017) In addition, Carr and Walton (2015) have concluded that even subtle recommendations to be part of a team greatly improved the motivation and enjoyment in relation to difficult tasks, leading to greater perseverance, dedication and even higher levels of output The importance of team-working skills Teamwork can allow students to gain a wide variety of skills that are increasingly relevant to the business world Moreover, supportive community interactions have been shown to contribute to learning outcomes, retention and overall college performance (Astin, 1997; Tinto, 1998; National Survey of Student Engagement, 2006, as cited in “What are the benefits of group work?”, 2020) Group work may also strengthen the relevant skills to both group and individual work, such as the ability to split complicated tasks into parts and phases, schedule and manage time, refine understanding through discussion and clarification, provide and receive feedback on results, question assumptions and develop stronger communication skills (“What are the benefits of group work?”, 2020) When working as a group, students learn how to listen to their leaders and peers in order to accomplish their responsibilities Teamwork skills allow students to express their ideas and thoughts with respect and trust in a group environment (Marlborough, 2019) According to Wehbe (2017), in today's information economy, most of our jobs include engaging with people who are not in the same field As a result, the need for successful teamwork skills is essential for any company The ability to succeed as an individual and together with your colleagues or employees in collaboration is the secret key to success In every department of the organisation, team work skills are PROJECT required to achieve success, and to make use of every opportunity you have to participate in teamwork so that you can develop excellent communication skills (Wehbe, 2017) How students improve their teamwork skills There are various skills that people need in order to have an efficient teamwork and from that, they can produce incredibly results According to Shneiderman (2016), as a team member, people should write a shared vision of the overall goals and explain responsibilities, particularly when working in broad scattered teams In addition, teams are best when they have regular and open conversations Teams in which a number of people interact during meetings generally better than the teams in which one or two people dominated the conversation Modest controversy is always a healthy one in choosing between alternative directions and in cultivating trust among team members (Shneiderman, 2016) Weir (2018) also showed that, what researchers call teamwork ABCs are shaped by these deep-level factors: attitudes, activities and cognitive statements that collectively influence whether a team achieves its objectives These elements rely to some extent on the context and goals of the team Another research has found that individuals who appreciate working in groups appear to be both more optimistic and more cooperative in team environments When team members have a high degree of conscientiousness, they are better at self-regulation of their teamwork (Bell, 2018, as cited in Weir, 2018) CONCLUSION With the existing research studies, we will summarise the information about the important of team working skills Based on our study, we will analyse these information and research on students in IBD to collect more primary sources 10 PROJECT plan who is doing what, know what their roles, and then let it be known if they are doing too much work (Flavin, 2018) Figure 12: Methods to improve team working skills Obj ect30 The graph shows information about how IBD students would in order to improve their team working skills Overall, all the methods mentioned are highly appreciated by the students due to their equal figures It can be seen from the chart that effective communication is the most popular method to improve the quality of team working skills with almost half of the votes, at 68.2% (46 people) The second highest is the establishment of team rules and purpose in teams with 33 people choosing this method (48.5%), exceeds the method of sharing enthusiasm by people Following by, the way of clarifying the roles of each person in a team and having good time management share the same number of votes of 27 out of 50 (40%) 23 PROJECT CONCLUSION According to the survey results, most of students not have team-working frequently in their classes and there are nearly 80% respondents teamwork only when they have team projects Interestingly, a lot of them usually choose to be the team-worker in the groups while leader and shaper role also shared a high vote in the survey Besides, IBD students have different opinions about working in teams but they mostly think that they can have skills improved and great ideas provided thanks to teamwork There are nearly one third respondents believe that teamwork is really enjoyable Meanwhile, the main reasons why students are unsatisfied when working in groups are teammates behavior and the connection between members The most common skills which students think that team members need when doing teamwork are communication skills and the ability to build rapport between members Surveyed students also showed that team members need the conflict resolution skill in order to have a great team-working Besides, almost all the respondents think that willingness to share and listen is the main factor that create a good teamwork The main reasons why they prefer to work in groups is that they can improve productivity and achieve better results as well as teamwork can facilitate idea generation and creativity On the other hand, the most common reason why students are not interested in team-working is the blame and responsibility issues between team members Also, the communication breakdowns is considered to be one of the main reasons In addition, most of students believe that external coach is the most important role of a team leader Most respondents answered that team-working skills are really essential because they would help to tackle complex and difficult problems as well as produce better teamwork results One of the methods which can improve team-working skills is communicating effectively, which was chosen by two third of surveyed students According to the result, another efficient solutions are establishing team rules and purposes as well as sharing enthusiasm with the group work 24 PROJECT REFERENCE LIST Bank, L.O (2020) Positive Leadership: Roles Of The Leader Retrieved 21 November 2020, from https://www.liveoakbank.com/veterinary-resources/roles-leader/ Four Benefits of Teamwork for Student Development & Success (2019) Retrieved 25 October 2020, from https://www.marlborough.org/news/~board/stem/post/four-benefitsof-teamwork-for-student-development-success Gaskell, A (2017) New Study Finds That Collaboration Drives Workplace Performance Retrieved 20 October 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/adigaskell/2017/06/22/new-study-finds-that-collaborationdrives-workplace-performance/?sh=7abacfd33d02 Group and Team Roles (2013) Retrieved 21 November 2020, from https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/group-roles.html Just Feeling Like Part of a Team Increases Motivation on Challenging Tasks (2015) Retrieved 25 October 2020, from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/mindsbusiness/just-feeling-like-part-of-a-team-increases-motivation-on-challenging-tasks.html Ogbonnaya, C (2019) When Teamwork Is Good for Employees — and When It Isn’t Retrieved 21 November 2020, from https://hbr.org/2019/08/when-teamwork-is-good-foremployees-and-when-it-isnt Pauli, J (2018) The Importance of Teamwork in School and at the Workplace Retrieved 25 October 2020, from https://aboutleaders.com/teamwork-school-workplace/#gs.osg5v4 Premuzic, T.C (2017) A Psychologist Finally Explains Why You Hate Teamwork So Much Retrieved 21 November 2020, from https://www.fastcompany.com/3068194/apsychologist-finally-explains-why-you-hate-teamwork-so-much 25 PROJECT Shneiderman, B (2016) How to Do Team Research Insidehighered Retrieved 25 October 2020, from https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2016/04/06/advantagesdoing-research-teams-essay Tarricone, P., & Luca, J (2002) Successful teamwork: A case study In Herrington, T (Eds.), Research and Development in Higher Education: Quality Conversations Vol 25 (pp 640-646) Australia: HERDSA Office Thanh, N (2016) Employers lament lack of soft skills in graduates Retrieved 20 October 2020, from https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php? story=20160119123408402 Thanh, V.T.T (2016) Ky nang lam viec nhom hoc tap va nghien cuu Retrieved 21 November 2020, from http://www.vjsonline.org/career/k%E1%BB%B9-n%C4%83ng-l %C3%A0m-vi%E1%BB%87c-nh%C3%B3m-trong-h%E1%BB%8Dc-t%E1%BA %ADp-v%C3%A0-nghi%C3%AAn-c%E1%BB%A9u Tuoitrenews (2012, December 10) College grads lack teamwork, communication skills Retrieved 20 October 2020, from https://tuoitrenews.vn/education/4962/college-gradslack-teamwork-communication-skills Weir, K (2018) What makes teams work? American Psychological Association, 49(8), 46 Retrieved 25 October 2020, from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/09/cover-teams Wehbe, S (2017) Important Reasons Why Teamwork Matters! Retrieved 25 October 2020, from https://www.potential.com/articles/5-important-reasons-why-teamwork- matters/ What are the benefits of group work? (2020) Retrieved 25 October 2020, from https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/groupprojects/b enefits.html 26 PROJECT APPENDIX Obj ect33 Figure 1: The frequency of IBD students working in teams Obj ect36 Figure 2: IBD students roles in working teams 27 PROJECT Obj ect39 Figure 3: Students opinions about working in teams Obj ect41 Figure 4: Reasons why students unsatisfied when working in teams 28 PROJECT Obj ect44 Figure 5: Skills that team members need in the process of team working Obj ect47 Figure 6: Factors that create a good teamwork 29 PROJECT Obj ect49 Figure 7: Reasons why students prefer to work in groups Obj ect52 Figure 8: Reasons why students dislike to work in group 30 PROJECT Obj ect54 Figure 9: The most important role of a team leader Obj ect56 Figure 10: Reasons why team working skills are important 31 PROJECT Obj ect59 Figure 11: Teamwork skills that are necessary in schools Obj ect62 Figure 12: Methods to improve team working skills 32 PROJECT QUESTIONNAIRE I am Quynh Nhu, from class I16S4 As part of my project at IBD@NEU, I am conducting a questionnaire to examine teamwork skills amongst IBD students Therefore, I need your support by filling in thr questionnaire to finish my research I really appreciate your help with my project! How often you have a team working?  Everyday in class  In some projects  Rarely  Never What are your roles in a team?  Leader  Shaper  Completer/ Finisher  Coordinator  Team Worker  Others:… How you feel about working on a team?  Enjoyable  Skills improved 33 PROJECT  Great ideas provided  Cannot get along with other members  Unsatisfied with the tasks  Others:… What makes you unsatisfied when working in teams?  Teammates behaviour  Leader  Connection between members  Assigned tasks Which skills that team members need in the process of team working?  Communication skills  Ability to build rapport  Feedback skills  Persuasion and influencing skills  Conflict resolution  Others:… Which factors create a good teamwork?  Trust among team members  Prepare to engage in debate around ideas  Learn to commit to decisions and plans of action 34 PROJECT  Focus on achieving collective results  Willingness to share and listen  Others: Why you prefer to work in group?  Facilitate idea generation and creativity  Improve productivity and bring better results  Boost the morale and motivation  Have conflict resolution skills  Others:… What you dislike about working in group?  Personality clashes  Blame and responsibility issues  Organizational challenges  Leadership issues  Communication breakdowns  Others:… What is the most important role of a team leader?  Supervisor  Facilitator  Internal coach  Participation 35 PROJECT  External coach  Others:… 10 Why are team working skills important?  Boosting the confidence in contributing ideas  Producing better work  Bringing complementary knowledge  Tackling complex and difficult problems  Others:… 11 Which teamwork skills you need in school?  Communication  Time management  Problem-solving  Critical thinking  Collaboration  Leadership  Others:… 12 How you improve your team working skills?  Clarify your roles  Manage time efficiently  Share enthusiasm  Establish team rules and purpose 36 PROJECT  Communicate effectively  Others:… Thank you for completing this survey questionnaire Each of your answers will be ensured to be collected and contributed to my project 37 ... FINDINGS 11 Figure 1: The frequency of IBD students working in teams 11 Figure 2: IBD students roles in working teams 12 Figure 3: Students opinions about working in teams. .. FINDINGS Figure 1: The frequency of IBD students working in teams Obj ect3 The pie chart illustrates how often IBD students have to work in teams According to the results, there are 51 out of. .. ect33 Figure 1: The frequency of IBD students working in teams Obj ect36 Figure 2: IBD students roles in working teams 27 PROJECT Obj ect39 Figure 3: Students opinions about working in teams Obj ect41