Working in Teams: From the Classroom to the Workforce

Dr Marco De Sisto is the course coordinator for Undergraduate Human Resource Management and has introduced a high level of teamwork as part of assessments in this course.

The students during the course will assess and address a real company’s HR issues. Marco based the structure of the assignment on a survey, which exposed that only 10% of company executives are satisfied with the skills graduates have when they enter the workforce, with the main lacking skills being teamwork, communication and problem solving.

The way the teams are selected are not based on existing connections and friendships; they are chosen because of the student’s differences. They are grouped so that no one is similar to another. They will have different majors, backgrounds and a balance of genders.

Marco says this is because in the workforce you will not be able to pick the team you work on and it is beneficial to learn how to work with a range of people and personalities. He also says that “it has been demonstrated that diversity is the key for team success. If they want to be ready for work, they need to learn how to work in a diverse environment since we live in Melbourne and a globalised world”.

At the conclusion of the course, four teams are selected to present their findings to the industry partner. Marco says, “Watching them present in a professional way in front of HR managers and sometimes General Managers, it’s really a great experience. For the students and for myself.”