Giving Compass' Take:

• Tom Vander Ark, writing for Getting Smart, discusses how students can collaborate effectively in project-based learning classrooms. 

• Why is it important for kids to learn how to collaborate at a young age?

• Read about how mentors can enhance project-based learning. 

Collaboration is key to successful teams and projects. It is sometimes thought of as a “soft skill” but in high-performance organizations, collaboration is the result of the intentional design of culture, structure, and tools, and the cultivation of individual mindsets and skill sets.

  • Culture: diversity is welcomed and every voice is valued; collaboration is a shared value and built into performance feedback systems.
  • Structure: people work in networked teams with clear roles and relationships. Physical spaces and organizational routines encourage formal and informal collaboration.
  • Mindset: social awareness, self-management, relationship skills (the core elements of social and emotional learning).
  • Skill set: project management, group facilitation, and design thinking.
  • Tools: communication and project management tools; analysis, production and feedback systems.

A Google study of effective teams showed that team norms especially psychological safety were key to performance. The lead researcher found that giving people this data caused them to pay attention to team norms but added, ‘‘Don’t underestimate the power of giving people a common platform and operating language.’’

Young people are headed for project-based world where much of their work will be conducted in projects and often in teams. The best preparation for the future of work is high-quality project-based learning (PBL) where students collaborate on an extended challenge and produce a valuable product.

Read the full article about collaboration as the key to success by Tom Vander Ark at Getting Smart.