Since 1971, Department of Educational Administration at Texas A&M University has achieved considerable recognition for the strength and diversity of its various program offerings. The department's success may derive from its willingness to respond productively to forces of change, maintain a vision of success, and remain dedicated to the…

Teams share commitment, translate purpose into performance goals, and have members be accountable with and to their teammates. Types of teams are those that recommend, make or do things, and run things. The distinction between teams and other working groups is performance: an effective team is worth more than the sum of its parts. (SK)

Describes "Take Five," a group brainstorming activity that can be adapted to different time constraints, numbers of participants, and types of participants. Gives examples of uses to which the technique can be put. (SK)

In the Air Force's Advanced Communications-Computer Systems Officers Training (ACOT) Course, participants must complete the ACOT Learning Contract to learn more about a specific problem or topic. The group must reach consensus on a topic and grade for the contract, fostering intense teamwork. (JOW)

A new elementary principal had four tough challenges: following an effective, highly respected predecessor; handling daily complaints, catastrophes, and distractions; combining vision with competence and consistency; and developing resiliency at handling negative criticism. A collaborative, improvement-oriented leadership style helped him and his…

Assessment of 20 students who learned word processing through cooperative learning and 20 who used an individual learning method found that cooperative learning students learned faster, needed less teacher assistance, and earned higher scores. Most felt positive about the experience. (SK)

The most successful companies must be flexible and rapidly adaptable. This requires creative management and creative teamwork. Like a kaleidoscope, creative thinking is the ability to rearrange pieces to form a new reality, to see connections, and to think on a global scale. (SK)

Interdisciplinary teams are loosely coupled (systems in which elements are weakly, infrequently, or informally linked). Applying loosely coupled systems theory to team training increases its effectiveness, because learning activities may be disjointed and learning goals may diverge. (SK)

Work teams can be highly motivating and can reduce overhead costs. Teams with clear, limited objectives and the right skills, feedback, and incentives will perform well. Personality difficulties, resistance to change, and lack of training can short circuit their effectiveness. (SK)

Describes the stages of a team performance model: orientation, trust building, goal/role clarification, commitment, implementation, high performance, and renewal. (SK)

Data from 207 middle-level government employees and ratings by 896 of their peers and 202 supervisors showed that significant predictors of their managerial effectiveness included managerial self-awareness and their ability to establish strong, supportive lateral relationships (manifested in their ability to influence others). (SK)

Offers a day-by-day description of an experiment in which several anonymous teammates try to work together to outlearn, outthink, and ultimately outperform an opposing team--all via the Internet. Includes a quiz sampler with answers. (JOW)

This template for use in managing student team assignments includes activities for an introduction to teamwork, development of team member expectations, and preparation of an assessment instrument with team member input. (SK)

In adaptive schools, working groups grow, develop, and learn from experience, becoming more effective as they go. Three premises about group development include the following: each group is unique, some groups mature, and attrition need not block development. Four guidelines for successful group meetings include decide who decides, define the…

Four themes were identified in a conference of managers undertaking workplace learning programs: modeling learning processes in organizations, organizational readiness, teamwork and learning, and networked learning. An agenda for systemized organizational learning was developed. (SK)