TEACHING TEAMWORK AND PROBLEM SOLVING CONCURRENTLY Sonia M. Goltz Michigan Technological University Amy B. Hietapelto Roger W. Reinsch Northeastern Illinois University Sharon K. Tyrell Alfred State College Teamwork and problem-solving skills have frequently been identified by business leaders as being key competencies; thus, teaching methods such as problem-based learning and team-based learning have been developed. However, the focus of these methods has been on teaching one skill or the other. A key argument for teaching the skills concurrently is that the ability to solve an unstructured real-world problem within teams is what is needed out- side the classroom and that this requires the use of both sets of skills simulta- neously. Thus, the authors describe the design and implementation of a group problem-solving skills course for undergraduates, in which they engage in real creative problem-solving work together over a semester while learning and developing skills appropriate to their current stages in the team development and problem-solving processes. This method offers the potential to address criticisms by business leaders that new graduates often are technically profi- cient yet ill prepared to solve everyday organizational problems. Keywords: decision making; experiential learning; group process; inter- personal skills; problem solving; teams; team development 1 Authors’ Note: The authors are grateful to Janet Gillespie, Courtney Hunt, and Jane Schmidt- Wilk, and to two anonymous reviewers, for their insightful comments and encouragement on this article. A workshop version of this article was presented at OBTC 2005 in Scranton, Pennsylvania; feedback from session participants is also acknowledged. Correspondence should be directed to Sonia M. Goltz, Michigan Technological University, School of Business and Economics, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931; e-mail: smgoltz@mtu.edu. JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT EDUCATION,Vol. XX No. X, Month XXXX xx-xx DOI: 10.1177/1052562907310739 © 2007 Organizational Behavior Teaching Society Copyright 2007 by The Organizational Behavior Teaching Society.