All Articles, Toolkit 4 - Developing Young Women's Leadership Through Youth Work

BUILDING YOUNG WOMEN’S SOCIAL COMPETENCES

How we meet people is very cultural, and we know that how we interact affects our whole lives. The friends we make, the connections we gain, and the knowledge we access all affect our opportunities. Many young women we work with have low confidence, and may also come from sectors of society where they are expected to keep quiet and do as they are told by those considered to be their superiors. Teaching young women their value, and how to negotiate these tricky paths, is essential. 

Communication and teamwork

Teamwork is the ability of a group of people to work well together to complete a task. It’s an important skill for life and one that African employers are increasingly looking for. 

Here are some activities that you can do with your mentee!

The benefits of teamwork

A teamwork example: During a Football match the team members have different roles: captain, goalkeeper, striker, defence, mid-fielders etc. Imagine what would happen if all members of the team, including the goalkeeper, tried to score a goal. Imagine the team without a coach or captain. For the team to win the match they need to score goals and prevent the opposing team from scoring.

Task: Discuss why it is important to be able to work in a team.

Discuss: What is good teamwork? Which of the criteria below best describe good teamwork?

Task: Tick the answers below that best describe good teamwork. You can tick as many as you want.

  • Communicate with each other
  • Compete with other people
  • All carry out the same role
  • Have a clear shared goal
  • Only put in the effort if they feel like it
  • Everybody contributes fairly
  • Support each other
  • Take on different roles within the team
  • There is a clear leader
  • Criticise each other
  • Everyone takes responsibility for their role
  • Don’t talk to other members of the team
  • Trust each other

Reflect with your mentee on teamwork

  • Why is it important to carry out different jobs from each other within the team?
  • Why is it important for every team to have a leader? How do they support the other roles within a team?
  • Why is it important for everyone to have a leader?
  • How does a leader support the other members of a team to perform their roles or jobs?
  • Why are character strengths like resilience, confidence, and communication important for good teamwork?

We all belong to teams 

Reflect: Think of either a football team or the people working in a hospital. Do all members of the teams do the same jobs as each other? or not?

Discuss: What teams or groups are you a member of in your life? These could be at school, in any clubs you’re in outside of school, or even online.

Task: Explain which of those teams work best and what makes them good team

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