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1.3
Anticipating Conflict and Forming Group Guidelines
Submitted By Shannon Wheatley Hartman
This activity empowers group members to anticipate potential conflict in group discussions and create guidelines that will address these concerns and bring out the best characteristics of the group.
Learning Goals
Anticipate group dynamics with a specific focus on potential group conflict.
Work together as a group to establish guiding principles.
Instructions
Set Up: Prepare for the Activity
Organize the participants into pairs or small groups (5-6 ppl).
If the group completed Activity 1.1 What is Collaborative Learning?, then use the lists of positive and negative attributes as a starting point for this activity.
Begin by introducing the learning goals of this activity.
Step One: Generate Lists of Positive & Negative Attributes (10 min)
Invite participants to think back to a time when they were working with others on a project. In pairs or small groups, ask them to generate a written list of both positive and negative traits that they associate with collaboration. Do not debate or discuss the validity of contributions. Generate broad lists. Prompts:
What made the collaboration work well? Ex: clear communication, shared goals, feelings of inclusion or trust.
What made the collaboration challenging? Ex: dominating personalities, power dynamics, no follow through of tasks.
Step Two: Prioritize Attributes (10 min)
In pairs or small groups, ask participants to discuss which of the negative attributes they are most concerned about. Prompt:
Which negative attributes are most likely to occur in our discussions or with our particular collaboration? Select the top three concerns or negative attributes.
When finished, repeat this process but focus on positive attributes. Again, ask participants to reflect on this particular group and decide which positive traits would be most helpful. Prompt:
Which positive attributes would benefit our discussions the most? Select the top three positive traits or attributes.
Step Three: Discuss as a Full Group (10 min)
Regroup as a whole and invite each small group to share their top three positive and negative attributes. Discuss:
Where do we see overlap or common themes?
As we review our consolidated lists, what might be missing?
What are the top five positive or negative traits for our group as a whole?
Step Four: Craft Guiding Principles (20 min)
Once the group has identified approximately their top five traits (positive or negative), create a space where they can craft sample guidelines that reflect these traits. This could be done on a white board or shared google document. For example:
If the concern is “negativity,” then the guideline might be “Bring your positive attitude and energy. Have fun!”
If the concern is “dominating personalities,” then the guideline might be “Make room for everyone to be heard. Listen to understand.”
If the positive trait is trust, then the guideline might be “Respect our community. Critique ideas, not people.”
Step Five: Debrief as a Full Group (10 min)
Discuss:
How often should we revisit this list?
What should be our process if someone violates our stated principles?
When are guidelines limiting and/or unproductive?
How might we adjust in anticipation to these concerns?
TIME
60
min
MODULE
Introduction to Collaborative Discussion
This activity can be completed by any discussion group.
This activity can be easily modified for asynchronous learning. See Sample Asynchronous Certificate Program Design to illustrate sample sequencing.
This activity can be used to support facilitation skills. See Sample Facilitation Certificate Program Design to illustrate sample sequencing.
This activity is suitable for professional or more formal learning environments.
Tell us what you think. Rate and review this activity:
Have any helpful suggestions or modifications for this activity?
Share them in the comments below!
0 Comments
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 7:01:33 PM
Another all time favorite. I really recommend this activity when you are trying to think about the complexity of a social topic and who/what is impacted by it. It pairs well with the Divergent Thinking/Surround the Topic activity. This activity also includes a really helpful worksheet for capturing types of stakeholders.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:59:07 PM
I really like this activity. It is a fun way to figure out what matters most to us as a group. For example, if you need to figure out the theme for a discussion series or a topic for a group project, try out this activity. It helps participants to reflect on their own civic passion but also negotiate together the civic passions of the group. It could be paired with the value activities in Module One.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:54:13 PM
I the process in this activity ("surround the topic") a lot. It is particularly useful as facilitation preparation. It also helps with generative thinking.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:52:01 PM
This is an all time favorite. Use it as a warm-up activity or whenever you have a group that feels stuck and can't think of new ways of engaging a topic or problem.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:49:22 PM
Similar to the previous activity (1.7 Taking Inventory of CD Skills), this activity includes a google survey that participants can complete at the beginning of a program or class. Instructors or facilitators can use this information to then tailor future activities to best fits the discussion needs of their group.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:46:46 PM
Use this as pre-class or pre-workshop preparation! These self-evaluations will help teachers or facilitators to better understand the starting point of each participant and an aggregate view of the group. The survey results are shared only with the instructor/facilitator. This is a really helpful resource (and you can modify the survey to fit your needs).
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:43:42 PM
This activity and the previous (1.5 Understanding Values) are great for difficult conversations. I would use this as the prep work before diving into potentially tricky conversations. It helps participants to look for the values that inform opinions (and not just dismiss ideas that they don't like).
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:41:01 PM
This is also known as "Identity Pie." It's a great warm up and way for participants to get to know one another. I would use this early in a group setting to help build connection.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:39:24 PM
I think we all know that creating guidelines is important. I introduce activity 1.1 What is Collaborative Learning? first and then use the positive and negative attributes that they generate to help form our group guidelines.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:36:43 PM
I always recommend that folks start off with this activity and pair it with 1.3 Creating Guidelines. It is a great way to set the tone and emphasize the importance of collaborative discussion.