- For early-stream courses
- For mid-stream courses
- For late-stream courses鈥�
- For all stages of the program
Recommended for 鈥痚arly-stream courses
Exploring Team Dynamics
In this session, students explore how their personal values influence their behaviours and create different dynamics on their teams. Through a brief individual reflection activity, students will identify their core values and explore how they manifest in their personal lives and team interactions. They will investigate their own strengths and challenges as team members, begin envisioning the type of leader they aspire to be, and gain insight into how their values shape their actions and decision-making within a team.
Duration: 80 minutes
Resources:
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Understanding Power and Privilege in Teams
Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are increasingly recognized as pivotal concepts in engineering and design education. In order to understand the role of EDI in engineering, architecture, and urban planning, students must see the practical application of these concepts in their own learning. This session focuses on understanding existing power structures and the nuances of privilege in society. Students will reflect on their own experiences and practice applying an EDI lens to future situations.
Duration: 80 minutes
Resources:
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Fundamentals of Collaborative Teamwork
This workshop teaches the fundamentals of working collaboratively. While the ability to work in a team is essential to success, both in group projects and in the workforce, there is often little direct instruction on teamwork. This session examines five key components of collaboration: communication, roles and responsibilities, psychological safety, decision-making, and celebrating success. Students will discuss practical strategies to work together effectively and create a Team Contract to guide their work together.
Duration: 80 minutes
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Effective Meeting Skills
Meetings are a key feature of any teamwork experience. In order to ensure meetings are productive and stimulating, students must develop the skills to design and facilitate effective meetings. In this workshop, students learn about the interpersonal aspects of meetings, such as communication and active listening, as well as helpful tools such as agendas, roles, and meeting notes.
Duration: 80 minutes
Resource:
Recommended for mid-stream courses
Giving and Receiving Feedback
This workshop is designed to teach students how to give positive and constructive feedback to their teammates. Helpful feedback allows a team to evolve and thrive; harmful feedback can cause members to withdraw. Students will be coached in giving feedback that encourages teammates to step up instead of shutting down, as well as how to receive feedback without defensiveness. We will identify the differences between helpful and harmful feedback, learn an effective formula to give鈥痟igh-quality feedback, and use role-play exercises to practice these skills.
Duration: 80 minutes
Resources:
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Managing Conflict in Groups
All groups inevitably confront conflict. Not all conflict is negative, however. Positive conflict can be constructive, leading to healthy debate and exciting ideas. In this workshop, students are introduced to the Thomas-Kilmann model of conflict management and will practice matching the appropriate conflict style to a situation. They will learn to differentiate constructive from destructive conflict and re-evaluate common approaches to difficult conversations.
Duration: 80 minutes
Resources:
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Navigating Bias in Teams
Biases formed within teams can hinder productivity, create harmful conflict, and foster unhealthy dynamics. This workshop focuses on the assumptions that arise from implicit bias and how they impact teamwork. Using concrete examples and case study analysis, we discuss different types of bias, delving into how they influence interactions between teammates and how to engage in inclusive behaviour.
Duration: 80 minutes
Resources:
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Recommended for late-stream courses鈥�
Balancing Task and Process Behaviours in Teamwork
In this workshop, students will explore the difference between their project team鈥檚 task (the 鈥渨hat鈥�) and the process (the 鈥渉ow鈥�) of working together to complete it. Striking鈥痑 balance between the task and process is necessary to achieve optimal team effectiveness. Through an experiential design, students will participate in collaborative, practical tasks which they will analyze through guided discussions. A particularly creative and challenging workshop, it is highly interactive and is best conducted in a space where students can easily move around.
Duration: 80 minutes
Video:听
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Innovating Equity: Understanding Bias in Engineering Design
This workshop is centered on multiple relevant case studies highlighting the impact of engineering and design decisions in a complex world. Students reflect on the power engineers, architects, and urban planners hold in society and develop bias-mitigating strategies such as critical thinking, diverse perspectives, and inclusive design thinking. The workshop focuses on impacts on affected communities and discussions around practical applications.
Duration: 80 minutes
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Recommended for all stages of the program
Team Building Exercise: Goal Alignment
A common cause of group conflict is the assumption that everyone is working toward the same goal. In this team building workshop, students complete a goal alignment exercise, making their objectives and expectations explicit, setting their teams up for success.
Duration: 30-60 minutes
Resources:
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Team Development Reflection
Reflection is a vital part of the learning process; however,鈥痵tudents are rarely provided with the time, space, and resources to鈥痳eflect on their teamwork.鈥疶his workshop鈥痷ses a collaborative activity鈥痑nd鈥痝roup development theory鈥痶o help students鈥痷nderstand the evolution of their team. This workshop is best offered at the end of a teamwork experience and is ideally conducted in a space where students can鈥痚asily work together.
Duration: 80 minutes
Resources:
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