FFYE Forum – Facilitating Teamwork: Attending to the socio-emotional aspects of effective collaboration | 16 August

About the Event

We invite you to join us for another great FFYE forum on 16th August from 1:45pm for 2pm start. In this Forum, we are highlighting research and practice on ways to build trust, relationships and team cohesion by addressing the socio-emotional side of what it means to be an inclusive and agentic team member (See Powell, Picollo and Ives, 2004). 

Educational neuroscience has shown that teams who notice, understand, and respect the feelings of their team members perform more effectively than those who do not (Gilbert, 2017). Feeling socially safe in task-focused groups allows team members to engage with agency and at a higher cognitive capacity than those whose social anxiety or defense mechanisms have been triggered.  

Creating the conditions for social safety within teams can be addressed by attending to the socio-emotional mechanisms that build trust, relationships and team cohesion, and this requires intentional design and effective and scaffolded facilitation. Being an effective team member is actually a matter of skill, including self- and intercultural awareness, and the learnt ability to contribute and listen in a team environment where all voices are heard and diverse perspectives are valued.  

In this Forum, we will showcase practices that intentionally create the socio-emotional dynamic necessary for effective teamwork. Faculty academics will share their designs for building collaborative teams (both large and small) in undergraduate and postgraduate subjects. Students in the roles of HELPs Peer Advisors and UPass Leaders, will share their insights into the interpersonal aspects of teamwork related to building trust, relationships and team cohesion. HELPs staff will share the student resources they have created to support students working in teams, and there will be numerous opportunities to reflect, interact, and engage in collaborative activities.  

Please join us, academics, professional staff and students are very welcome. 

References

Powell, A. Picolli, G. & Ives, B. (2004). Virtual Teams: A Review of Current Literature and Directions for Future Research. SIGMIS Database 35, 1 (Winter 2004), 6–36. https://doi.org/10.1145/968464.968467

Gilbert, T. (2017). When Looking Is Allowed: What Compassionate Group Work Looks Like in a UK University. In P. Gibbs (Ed.) The Pedagogy of Compassion at the Heart of Higher Education, Springer International Publishing AG, Ch 13. 

What is the UTS FFYE Program?

The UTS FFYE (First and Further Year Experience) Program is an institutional wide program, designed to support the successful transition of students in their journey through their degrees and into the workplace. The program has three foci: curriculum, people and the university infrastructure, drawing from community and connection in collaboration with academic and professional staff.

One key element of the program is community building. FFYE Forums (regular meetings) and FFYE community (MSTeams) provide spaces for sharing, learning and ongoing collaborations connecting research, practice and student experience. Contact Kathy Egea (FFYE coordinator) to join.