The Team Boat Exercise: Enhancing Team Communication Midsemester

• Published in: Business communication quarterly 2009-06, Vol.72 (2), p.230-236
• Main Authors: Cox, Pamela L., Friedman, Barry A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coaching (Performance); Conflict Resolution; Discussion; Higher Education; Intervention; Leadership; Peer Evaluation; Student Participation; Teamwork
• ISSN: 1080-5699; 2329-4906; 1552-4191; 2329-4922
• DOI: 10.1177/1080569909334561

This paper discusses the Team Boat Exercise, which was developed to provide students with a mechanism for addressing team problems and enhancing team communication midsemester. The inspiration for the exercise came from a video by Prentice Hall, Inc. (2001). Part III of the video, entitled "Corporate Coaching," shows senior staff members from the Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles being led through a team-building intervention by Corporate Coaching International. Staff members are asked to draw a picture of a boat as a team. The only rule they must follow is that everyone on the team must be represented in the picture. The authors have adapted the exercise for their classes and enhanced its effectiveness by developing discussion questions and a goal-setting exercise as a follow-up to the boat-drawing intervention. While the Team Boat Exercise is used in an organizational behavior class, it should be useful in any class that uses teams and semester-long projects. The assignment can be used to generate discussion on the following topics: team performance, team roles, team communication, conflict resolution, and leadership.