Introductory Level
Please Choose A Webquest
Assessing my collaboration skills
Trust and empathy
Assessing my collaboration skills
This WebQuest is structured in a way to assess your own abilities that are related to collaboration. Most of the questions are theoretical assessments so it is important that you state the truth, and not what you would like it to be. The aim of the following steps is to be able to assess your own collaboration skills. This assessment is especially important when looking for a job, but not only. Knowing ourselves, our skills and capabilities will give us a much better understanding of how to act to achieve success. So let's get started!
Step 1: Problem solving techniques
The first step to assess your collaboration skills is to test your knowledge of problem solving skills. To do this, please answer all the questions:
(a)Imagine that at your work two employees have been given the task of choosing the main medium to promote the company. One of the employees is convinced that Instagram will be the best choice and the other that tik tok - what do you do in this situation to solve the problem?
b) Can you identify the problem? If yes, describe it below. In other situations, do you feel you are also more likely to be able to identify the problem or not
c) can you generate potential solutions?
d) Can you pick one of the solutions and implement it?
e) on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is ideal, how confident do you feel with your problem solving skills?
(Where 1 means – Very low and 10 brilliant)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
If you need more information on the subject, please check out these links:
https://asq.org/quality-resources/problem-solving https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klAE9ML0XLs
Step 2: Communication Mark an X under the following statements using the scale according to the truth:
Statement | Never | Rarely | Sometimes | Often | Always |
If I don’t understand something, I ask people around me without any problem. |
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While having a conversation with someone, I try to listen what he/she has to say and try to see their perspective. |
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I pay attention to body language when talking to someone |
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I take into account cultural barriers and differences when communicating with someone |
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I don’t have a problem to express my genuine opinion when asked for. |
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b) what communication skills can you list?
c) Which of these skills are you able to say you possess to some degree?
Taking into account your rating of the questions above, how would you rate your communication skills from 1 to 10? (Where 1 means – Very low and 10 brilliant)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQfYiHbAjJo
https://novoresume.com/career-blog/communication-skills
Step 3: Organisation
In this step, we will test our organisation skills. For this, please refer to the video below.
Then, in groups of 2-3, try to list as many organisational skills as possible, which are required for effective collaboration. Together, list your strengths and weaknesses related to organisation, and try to match which of these skills you have developed the most.
- Organizational skills required for effective collaboration
My organisational skills
Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 – Not at all, 10 – Very confident) to what extent do you feel you have organisational skills?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Step 4: negotiation and compromise
Imagine that you have been working for the company for 2 years. You feel that you bring a lot of positive aspects and that your actions benefit the company. You put a lot of heart into your work, and the results show - your colleagues say the same. You decide to ask your boss for a raise. From your colleagues, you know that your boss likes to negotiate and offers you a 5% raise to start - but you think you deserve 10%. How will you negotiate a suitable raise or compromise in this matter?
Get into pairs, where one person will play the boss and the other the employee. Try to use the negotiation strategies shown in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlV6phTGjoU
After a few minutes, swap roles.
- What results have you noticed? Do you feel confident negotiating, trying to find a compromise?
- What have you noticed about the other person? What are her strengths or what could she work on? Discuss it.
Overall, to what extent would you rate your negotiation and compromise skills?
- 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Step 5 group assessment and reflection
In the last step, each participant in turn gives a summary of the above 4 steps and their results. Then, together with the rest of the group, he or she has the task of matching which degree of collaboration the participant has, i.e:
- what are his/her strengths
- which skills can be improved
- what kind of team member would be best.
Here are some of the team roles which can help you in the final assessment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-efhOLVgEvM
https://www.mindtools.com/auf866u/belbins-team-roles
At the end, each participant carries out a self-reflection. Do you agree with the group's opinion? What are your observations?
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Being aware of your collaborative skills is particularly important and helpful when looking for a job, but also in your private life. You get to know yourself, your strengths and the skills you can better develop. Such self-reflection should also be carried out periodically, because through experience we gain new skills and develop those we already have. The tasks of this WebQuest have been prepared for this purpose, so it is worth remembering them or saving them for later! It is also worth remembering that collaboration is not just about us - it is about teamwork! It improves the way you can work together to achieve common goals!
Trust and empathy
In this WebQuest, you will start working individually and gradually work in small groups tofinally share with the whole group.We will start by creating a safe space where we can all speak up and express ourselveswithout fear. Then we will work individually on self-confidence as well as with the group.We will do some introspection work.Later, in small groups, we will share what we have worked on individually, but first we willwork on reflecting with others. We will think of 3 positive things or things that each personin the group is good at in their workplace and 3 things that we think they could improve.Finally, as a large group, we will discuss our needs to be able to trust and cooperate withothers. With these we will generate a decalogue of needs that we should try to fulfil so thatwe can all work together as a team.
Step 1: Safe Space
The first thing to do before we start working on anything is to create a safe space where everyone can express themselves without fear, so we will get into a group and project our Padlet screen with the access QR so that all participants can connect.
Once they are connected, they will have to leave messages with rules or things they need so that during the session they can talk and feel comfortable, for example: respecting turns of speech, not making sexist comments...
These agreements and rules can be changed during the course of the session to adapt them to the needs of the participants. We have to take into account that the rules we have set cannot be refuted, that is to say: If a person needs to be comfortable if "moments of silent reflection are respected", we cannot remove it because it is a need of this person and if we remove it, she will not be comfortable.
Step 2: Work Individually
Individually we will reflect on the development of emotional competences, we cannot start working on trust and cooperation in the group without first analysing our emotional situation within the group.
We will give each participant a guide with sections to be filled in upon reflection.
• Self-awareness: on one page they have to draw a picture of themselves; on the next page they have to finish the sentences on the next page they have to finish the sentences "I am...", "I have..." and "I do...", analysing the feelings produced by different situations they have experienced. They have to analyse their feelings about different situations they have experienced in the workplace with the group.
• Self-motivation: these are questions with gaps to answer, such as "Is there anything you have done that you would that you have done that you would love to do again", "what motivates you? something you've always wanted to do but haven't done yet?", "do you have any tricks to motivate yourself? do you have any tricks to motivate yourself?
• Social skills: we show them a list of the most important social skills for group work and they have to reflect next to each one their evaluation of it, how they think they have or apply that skill.
1. Empathy
2. Leadership
3. Resolving ability
4. Active listening
5. Communication skills
6. Organisational skills
7. Responsibility and accountability
8. Motivation
9. Goal oriented
• Empathy: look for the lyrics of a song or poem that talks about putting oneself in the other person's shoes. the other person's side and at the end leave a space for them to generate a new verse about a situation in which they about a situation in which they have wanted to be empathetic and have not (or have not) succeeded. (Empatía - YouTube)
• Self-regulation: pictures of situations that can produce feelings that are difficult to control, with a caption explaining the situation. After each photo there will be three questions such as "What feeling does it give you?", "In this situation, how would you self-regulate?
Step 3: Small groups
We divide into small groups, preferably with a maximum of 4 people. We stand in a circle and each person has to think of 3 positive things and 3 things to improve about working with the person on the right. The three things to improve must be accompanied by a piece of advice, we will not just say something negative but we will give advice on how to improve what we are highlighting.
Once we have done the round of criticising and congratulating, each person will read what they had reflected on in the previous step. The idea is to compare this with what our peers have told us in this dynamic, and also to look for similarities between our answers and those of our peers.
Step 4: Big group
Once we have worked individually and in small groups, to finish, we put ourselves in a large group to work on a series of rules and objectives that we will apply in our day-to-day work to achieve a more comfortable group work environment where everyone can trust and work together.
We will have a first round where we will establish rules for group work and cooperation, we can use the safe space rules as a guide. These should be agreements that we are all happy and comfortable with, as they will be applied in the day-to-day work and if anyone feels that they are not being complied with, they will be free to put the problem on the table and look for a solution.
In the second round, we will set objectives or lines of work to be met in order to achieve a more collaborative and cooperative working space among the workers.
We could say that in the first round we set rules of coexistence that will help us to feel comfortable in the space and therefore to trust our colleagues, and in the second round we set medium/long-term objectives that will help to create a more efficient and real teamwork space.
Topics | Knowledge | Skills | Attitudes |
Collaboration (empathy, trust, cooperation) | - Basic knowledge of self-analysis and introspection. - Basic knowledge of social skills for team work - Practical knowledge of how to communicate assertively about negative things or things to be improved about colleagues - Practical knowledge of how to create a safe space for teamwork | - Analyse our social skills for group work. - Analyse our emotional reality within the group - Reflecting on the social skills necessary for good team functioning - To analyse the emotional situation of the different members of the group. - To learn how to generate safe spaces for teamwork. To learn how to create group objectives that help to improve confidence in the group. | - Willingness to invest time in improving social skills - Willingness to practice assertive communica tion - Willingness to be honest and to express oneself clearly |
To work in a team we need trust and honesty, without these two factors it is impossible to work comfortably in a group.
We must analyse both the relational reality of the group and our place in it.
Advanced Level
Please Choose A Webquest
Effective Collaboration
Effective communication
Effective Collaboration
In today's fast-paced world, it's easy to get caught up in our own problems and forget about the people around us. But by practicing empathy and collaborating with others, we can create a more understanding and supportive community. In this webquest, you will explore what empathy and collaboration are and how you can use these skills in your daily life.
Effective collaboration is not just about teamwork. It is a range of many skills and qualities that allow us to work efficiently in a team. One of the key qualities needed in collaboration is empathy - awareness of other people, the capacity to sense their feelings and comprehend their perspectives. Your task is to research empathy and collaboration, and create a project that showcases your understanding of these concepts.
Step 1 : Research empathy and collaboration:
- Define what empathy and collaboration mean.:
- Find examples of empathy and collaboration in everyday life and professional life.
- Learn about the benefits of empathy and collaboration watching the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyJ4i0fUA5M
- what main conclusions you drew from the video?
Step 2: Group discussion
Based on the knowledge you gathered in the first step, discuss in group about the value of empathy in a team. Also, try to describe how empathy can be practiced and refind as a skill.
Please note down your findings and conclusions below:
Step 3: Self evaluation
Evaluate your empathy level answering the following questions:
Do you find it hard to know what to do in a social situation?
Can you easily tell if someone wants to enter a conversation?
Does seeing other people cry upset you?
Do you agree with this statement? “Other people's feelings are their own and should not be taken personally.”
Do you agree with this statement? “When I'm upset, I usually like to be left alone”
Do you often try to understand my friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective?
Sources:
https://psychology-tools.com/test/empathy-quotient
Step 4:Choose a project format:
The next step, will be to develop one of the projects selected below in groups of 2, based on the knowledge from the first step and further in-depth online research:
- Create a poster or presentation that showcases your research.
- Write a short story that demonstrates empathy and collaboration.
Please use the following resources if you need help in:
Creating a poster:
https://www.canva.com/create/posters/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCv1oMXk-XM
Writing a story:
https://mythcreants.com/blog/how-to-turn-your-concept-into-a-story/
Step 5: Create your project:
Use the information you've gathered to create your project. Try to communicate with your partner as much as possible – how would you see the project, and what is his vision. If you have different ideas, try to negotiate and compromise. Also, make sure to include a clear and concise explanation of empathy and collaboration.
Step 6: Present your project:
Use the information you've gathered to create your project with your partner. Make sure to include a clear and concise explanation of empathy and collaboration.
If you need some advice in how to create a project, please visit these links:
https://virtualspeech.com/blog/guide-for-giving-group-presentation
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Great job! Thanks to completing this webquest, you should have a deeper understanding of empathy and collaboration and how these skills can help us create a more connected and supportive community.
Effective communication
One of the key points to achieve a good collaboration in the team and therefore to work better and more fluently and efficiently is to have a good communication and that this is always effective.
It is essential to ensure that the whole team communicates clearly, directly, and respectfully. This includes having regular meetings, sharing relevant information, and asking questions to clarify doubts.
We will start the session by working on the concept of communication to lay the foundations on which we will continue to work in the following dynamics.
Next, we will carry out 3 dynamics with the methodology of non-formal education to work on key aspects of good communication: Non-verbal communication, active listening and positive feedback.
We will end the session by analysing the group's current form of communication and setting objectives and guidelines for improvement.
To begin with, we must define what communication is, for this we will use the "Padlet" platform, create a whiteboard and give access to all participants.
Padlet: Padlet: Beauty will save the work
The idea is that everyone individually defines what communication is for them and what the basic elements are. We will then read the definitions they have suggested and generate one of our own by combining theirs and the definition of communication:
Communication is the conscious action of exchanging information between two or more participants to transmit or receive different information or opinions.
Then we will start with the dynamics that will make us reflect on the importance of communication in all its aspects.
Dynamic 1:
Communication puzzles: We will divide the group into small teams and give each team a different puzzle to solve. However, they cannot talk or make hand gestures. They must find a way to communicate effectively to solve the puzzle. This exercise helps participants understand the importance of non-verbal communication and clarity of messages. The puzzle can be either a self-made puzzle (a cardboard with a picture glued on it and cut into pieces) or buy a board game puzzle.
We will do the dynamic twice, once where no one will be able to speak during the process of assembling the puzzle and then again where only one person in the group will be able to speak, but they will only be able to say 10 words during the whole process.
Dynamic 2:
Active listening exercise: Divide the group into pairs and ask one person to talk about a specific topic for a few minutes (the topic can be something personal, such as the last trip they took or their favourite book/movie). The other person should listen carefully and then summarise what has been said. During the exercise the facilitators will make disturbing noises around the room to create a distraction. After the exercise is over, ask each pair to share their experiences with the large group, whether the communication worked well, whether the things described were clear... and to discuss how active listening can improve communication.
Dynamic 3:
Constructive feedback: We will do this exercise using the previous communication exercise. Divide the group into pairs above and ask each pair to provide constructive feedback on the other person's communication. They should highlight strengths and areas for improvement, as well as provide suggestions on how to improve communication in the future. This exercise helps participants learn how to give and receive constructive feedback.
Here is a video on empathic communication that will give us tips and guidelines for better communication:
To end the session, we will carry out an analysis of how we currently communicate as a group. The idea is that you reflect in a large group on what we have been working on and analyse whether you really have effective communication and if not, how you could improve it, and set guidelines and objectives for improvement.
Working on effective communication in a team is crucial to the success of any project. It is important because it will help avoid misunderstandings, improve decision-making, foster collaboration, improve conflict resolution and increase productivity.
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The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project Number : 2019-1-PL01-KA204-065089
