Creating a Team Culture of Continuous Learning

Grow your skills with Coursera Plus for $239/year (usually $399). Save now.

Creating a Team Culture of Continuous Learning

Name: Creating a Team Culture of Continuous Learning
Rating: 4.61025641025641 (195 reviews)

This course is part of Culture-Driven Team Building Specialization

Instructors: Alan Barstow, Ph.D.

9,551 already enrolled

Included with

Learn more

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

195 reviews

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

195 reviews

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

4 assignments

Taught in English

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

Learn more about Coursera for Business

logos of Petrobras, TATA, Danone, Capgemini, P&G and L'Oreal

Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Culture-Driven Team Building Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 4 modules in this course

There is mounting concern that organizational groups and teams often fail to learn from their past experiences. It’s pertinent to address this issue as groups and teams are often the main ways that work gets done in organizations.

In this course, we examine the main reasons that groups and teams are often ineffective, which include: • The lack of organizational structures and support for teams and groups • The lack of understanding and emphasis on learning • Misaligned reward structures So, what can be done to create an enabling learning culture in teams? This course emphasizes practical and impactful ways to begin to address this state of affairs. Through the use of stories, scenarios with actors simulating different team issues, examples and dialogue, you learn how to: • Understand teams in their larger organizational context • Diagnose the learning strengths and barriers to learning on teams • Identify ways to develop a team and group that continually learns and impacts the larger organization positively • Create an organizational environment that encourages learning and innovation

Thank you for joining us. In this module you will learn to step back and re-frame your point of view, and apply systems thinking in everyday situations in order to help your team to be creative and innovative. Our goal is to enable you to learn through real-life stories, practical scenarios illustrated by actors, on-going conversations, suggested readings and links rather than lectures and instructions. So, come join us at the table, bring your own experiences with you, and be part of the conversation! Check out this NY Times story before you begin: (https://www.nytimes.com/video/business/100000004807604/the-power-of-outsiders.html?smid=fb-share) This story illustrates many of the important points of this course: the importance of thinking about the whole system, the value of including different, outside perspectives (not just experts), and - even when you and your team come up with a breakthrough idea - accepting that it is a difficult challenge to spread the idea and make change happen.

What's included

9 videos6 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts

9 videos Total 65 minutes

Meet the team and learn more about this course 6 minutes
Framing, Reframing & Systems Thinking - The Story of George Washington Bridge 13 minutes
Frames - Defined and Illustrated 4 minutes
Scenario - Computer Manufacturing Company 5 minutes
Debrief - Scenario 8 minutes
Strength Based Approaches to Organizations 5 minutes
Debrief - Experiential Activity 11 minutes
Systems Thinking Frame 12 minutes
Next Module - Focus on Diagnostic Learning 1 minute

6 readings Total 55 minutes

Syllabus for Module 1 5 minutes
Strength Based Approaches (Asplund & Blacksmith, 2011) 10 minutes
Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987) 10 minutes
The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice (Tversky & Kahneman, 1981) 10 minutes
Systems Thinking with Dr. Russell Ackoff 10 minutes
Other References|Additional Readings 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Module 1 - Introduction to Framing & Systems Thinking 30 minutes

2 discussion prompts Total 20 minutes

Assignment 1 - Experiential Exercise 10 minutes
Assignment 2 - Observe a team meeting 10 minutes

Thank you for joining us in this module! You will learn to recognize the strengths and barriers - visible and invisible - that exist in teams. Quite like the George Washington Bridge story in Week 1, where you learned about Framing and Systems Thinking, here you will learn to define, frame and diagnose the problems and conflicts that can arise in teams; and you will learn to think about data gathering and creating solutions that work! Join us at the table.

What's included

11 videos5 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts

11 videos Total 84 minutes

Diagnosing Problems in Groups and Teams 11 minutes
Scenario: Healthcare, Part 1 4 minutes
Debrief: Scenario, Part 1 5 minutes
Scenario: Healthcare, Part 2 4 minutes
Debrief: Scenario, Part 2 11 minutes
Our After Action Review 10 minutes
BART 6 minutes
Assignment 1: Let's Practice Using BART 2 minutes
Focus on Culture and Conflict in Teams: Part 1 – Culture 16 minutes
Focus on Culture and Conflict in Teams: Part 2 – Conflict 10 minutes
Assignments and Summary 4 minutes

5 readings Total 45 minutes

Syllabus for Module 2 5 minutes
Guide to the After Action Review 10 minutes
Skilled Incompetence (Argyris, 1986) 10 minutes
The BART System of Group and Organizational Analysis (Green & Molenkamp, 2005) 10 minutes
Other References|Additional Readings 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Module 2 - Diagnosing Strengths and Barriers to Learning on Teams 30 minutes

2 discussion prompts Total 20 minutes

Assignment 1 - Let's Practice Using BART 10 minutes
Assignment 2 - Dealing with conflict 10 minutes

Thank you for joining us In Modules 1 & 2. In the previous modules you have learned about Framing, Reframing, Systems Thinking, and Taking a Diagnostic Focus on Groups and Teams. In this module you will learn about disabling and enabling group and team structures. You will also learn about diffusing innovations, and how to have productive conversations using the Ladder of Inference as a guide.

What's included

6 videos4 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts

6 videos Total 54 minutes

Learning Objectives|What disables organizational learning? 12 minutes
What disables organizational learning? 7 minutes
Scenario: Executive Team at the Bank 5 minutes
Debrief Scenario, Part 1 10 minutes
Debrief Scenario, Part 2 8 minutes
Diffusion of Ideas 12 minutes

4 readings Total 35 minutes

Syllabus for Module 3 5 minutes
Suggested Readings Part 1 10 minutes
Suggested Readings - Part 2 10 minutes
Suggested Readings Debrief Scenario Part 2 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Module 3 - Developing Groups & Teams for Positive Organizational Impact 30 minutes

2 discussion prompts Total 20 minutes

What Enables & Disables Learning 10 minutes
Observe Using the Ladder of Inference 10 minutes

Thank you for staying with and being a part of our emergent conversations. If you have accompanied us through weeks 1,2 and 3, we are now at the closing end of our on-going discussion around learning in teams - in this section, we'll focus on Complex Adaptive Systems and structures that foster and accelerate engagement, learning and team conversations. Come join us.

What's included

9 videos4 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

9 videos Total 61 minutes

Part 1- Introduction & Learning in Ambiguous and Uncertain Environments 8 minutes
Part 2 - Conditions for Learning 7 minutes
Part 3 - Organizing Under Uncertainty 4 minutes
Scenario: Team at GURD, Part 1 3 minutes
Scenario: Team at GURD, Part 2 2 minutes
Debrief: Scenario 11 minutes
Liberating Structures: Examples of Team Exercises 14 minutes
Focus of Module 4 Review 3 minutes
Summing Up Continuous Learning in Teams 8 minutes

4 readings Total 40 minutes

Syllabus for Module 4 10 minutes
Suggested Reading 10 minutes
Suggested Reading 10 minutes
Suggesting Readings 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Module 4 - Fostering Innovation in Groups & Teams 30 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 10 minutes

Try A Liberating Structure - Journal About It 10 minutes

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructors

Instructor ratings

(35 ratings)

Alan Barstow, Ph.D.

University of Pennsylvania

1 Course 9,551 learners

Offered by

University of Pennsylvania

Explore more from Leadership and Management

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Leading Teams: Building Effective Team Cultures
Course
University of Michigan
Leading Teams
Course
University of Pennsylvania
The Power of Team Culture
Course
Coursera
Connected Leadership: Building Collaborative Teams
Course

Why people choose Coursera for their career

Felipe M.

Learner since 2018

"To be able to take courses at my own pace and rhythm has been an amazing experience. I can learn whenever it fits my schedule and mood."

Jennifer J.

Learner since 2020

"I directly applied the concepts and skills I learned from my courses to an exciting new project at work."

Larry W.

Learner since 2021

"When I need courses on topics that my university doesn't offer, Coursera is one of the best places to go."

Chaitanya A.

"Learning isn't just about being better at your job: it's so much more than that. Coursera allows me to learn without limits."

Learner reviews

5 stars
75%
4 stars
15.30%
3 stars
7.14%
2 stars
1.02%
1 star
1.53%

Showing 3 of 195

Reviewed on Jun 9, 2020

Very interesting material well presented by the four instructors.

Reviewed on Dec 22, 2021

Excellent course, thank you for the deep knowledge

Reviewed on Nov 17, 2017

This course was really a great insight & learning for me

View more reviews

Open new doors with Coursera Plus

Unlimited access to 10,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs - all included in your subscription

Learn more

Advance your career with an online degree

Earn a degree from world-class universities - 100% online

Explore degrees

Join over 3,400 global companies that choose Coursera for Business

Upskill your employees to excel in the digital economy

Learn more

Frequently asked questions

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.