Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups

University of Colorado Boulder via Coursera

Go to class Write review

Details

Go to class

Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Paid Certificate Available
Duration & workload

10 hours
Sessions

On-Demand
Subtitles

Arabic, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian, English, Spanish, Thai, Indonesian, Hungarian, Kazakh, Hindi, Swedish, Korean, Greek, Chinese, Ukrainian, Japanese, Polish, Dutch, Turkish

Found in

Part of

Business Communication

Overview

Coursera Flash Sale

40% Off Coursera Plus for 3 Months!

Grab it

Recently revised and updated! Effective teamwork and group communication are essential for your professional and personal success. In this course you will learn to: make better decisions, be more creative and innovative, manage conflict and work with difficult group members, negotiate for preferred outcomes, improve group communication in virtual environments, develop a better overall understanding of human interaction, and work more effectively as a team. Our goal is to help you understand these important dynamics of group communication and learn how to put them into practice to improve your overall teamwork.

Syllabus

Rethinking Communication

Most people go through life running on the “factory-installed” version of communication: the transmission model. It works for simple exchanges, but it’s like trying to run the latest apps on outdated software—it just can’t keep up. In Module 1, you’ll get the upgrade. By exploring communication as social construction, you’ll see how meaning, understanding, and interpretation are the real drivers of group life. You’ll also uncover the hidden forces—like context, systems, and design—that shape every interaction. By the end, you’ll start seeing communication not as a background process, but as the engine of group success.

Group Development & Decision Making

Groups don’t just “happen”—they grow, adapt, and sometimes crash. Module 2 shows you how. You’ll learn how roles, norms, and group cultures take shape, and how decision-making can go very right—or very wrong. We’ll explore common decision traps and how to avoid them, while also giving you tools to spark more creative, innovative outcomes. Think of this module as upgrading from “default group settings” to a more intentional, high-performance way of working together.

Conflict, Difference, & Diversity

Conflict is often seen as a problem, but in Module 3 you’ll discover it’s actually one of your group’s most powerful resources—if you know how to handle it. You’ll practice strategies for turning disagreement into productive dialogue, and explore how difference and diversity make groups smarter and stronger. With a close look at identity and gender, this module helps you shift from avoiding or “managing” difference to leveraging it as a core advantage. It’s like unlocking the advanced features of your communication operating system—the ones that help you work better across differences and build more inclusive teams.

Group Communication & Technology

Technology isn’t just a tool—it’s now the environment where most group work happens. In Module 4, you’ll learn how to navigate this digital landscape with confidence. From Zoom calls and hybrid meetings to AI tools and collaboration platforms, we’ll look at both the opportunities and the complications technology brings. You’ll also explore cutting-edge frameworks, like sociomateriality, to rethink how the social and material are entangled in modern teamwork. Think of this as upgrading to the pro version of your communication system—where you can handle complex, tech-mediated collaboration without losing the human connection that makes groups work.

Taught by

Matthew A. Koschmann, PhD

Reviews

4.5 rating, based on 8 Class Central reviews

4.7 rating at Coursera based on 3655 ratings

Start your review of Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups

Anonymous

The most boring course I've taken since my university days. The course consists of four modules, and for the first two modules we've been beating about the bush juggling definitions of communication, anchoring, etc. No possibility for practical implementation whatsoever.
Karthi M
7

Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.This concept is seen within the greater framework of a team, which is a group of interdependent individuals who work together towards a common goal. Basic requirements for effective teamwork are an adequate team size. The context is important, and team sizes can vary depending upon the objective. A team must include at least 2 or more members, and most teams range in size from 2 to 100. Sports teams generally have fixed sizes based upon set rules, and work teams may change in size depending upon the phase and complexity of the objective. Teams need to be able to leverage resources
Martijn Mertens
4

This was a very nice course! I learned a lot of valuable skills and tricks that I can use later in life.
Olia Fjodorowa @Olia
8

the transmission vs social construct theories of communication was a real eye opener on what I'm doing wrong in my life.
Jason Muckley
1

I loved this course. The content was very relevant to me as a Project Manager. There were lots of new developments in communication science, including strategies that were pertinent to my job function in the class. The content was very professional and interactive. The different projects and case studies were engaging and interesting.
Damla Doğançay
1

It was a really good course which I enjoyed. You gonna definitely learn the issue :) There is no readings but there are quizzes and some essays but not panic they are easy and graded with peer review :)
Anonymous

The course is so helpful for me , finished all of it and all quizes but can't submit the assignments because of my poor English and will appreciate if there is anyone can help me
Sabrina M
1

This course is so very informative and the instructor explains every concept thoroughly. It will be helpful for anyone who want to understand the hidden forces of social interactions and develop people's skills.