Surviving teamwork: Engaging in the process to develop and sustain a key employability skill

The ‘Employability Skills Framework’ developed by peak industry bodies, The Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has identified that teamwork is a skill that is highly sought after by Australian employers. The ability to work in teams has also been identified as a significant graduate outcome of higher education. However, there are issues associated with engaging students in teamwork at university, for example: student perceptions of working in teams; free-riding and; valid assessment of both process and product aspects. This paper presents a small scale literature review identifying effective practice in the introduction of teamwork. It shares insights into some problems of teaching teamwork skills, as well as some practical solutions, from both the literature and the authors’ personal experiences. A model is developed identifying how teamwork skills might be better facilitated to positively engage students in teamwork so that they are more than just surviving an assignment, but learning skills they can sustain and transfer to the workplace and beyond