Working Collaboratively [lecture]

This page contains information about the following:

• Overview
• Defining Collaboration
• Characterizing Collaborators
• Resolving Conflict
• Functioning Successfully as a Group [After reading the preceding sections, use this section to guide your collaborative group process.]

To access any of the information on this page quickly rather than by scrolling down the page, click on the name of the information sought. You can then return to this point by clicking on any of the "return to top" links placed at the end of each section. 

Created by Kelly Hall and Sherry Southard, May 1999. 

Workplace and classroom collaboration benefits all of those involved. This short compilation of information will assist you in becoming a better collaborator by helping you understand the meaning of collaboration (Defining Collaboration), characterize your role as a collaborator (Characterizing Collaborators), and identify and resolve collaborative conflicts (Resolving Conflict). 

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Defining Collaboration

What is collaboration?

Collaboration can help you by decreasing the labor associated with a project, exposing you to the knowledge and experience of your collaborators, and helping you learn how to accommodate different personality types. Collaboration is common in the classroom and in the working world as teachers and businesses are realizing the value of collaboration in project development. Understanding the benefits of collaboration and your role in the process is largely determined by how you define "collaboration."

Collaboration is two or more people working together toward a common goal. Effective collaboration often involves persons truly committed to achieving a goal and to successfully completing a project. Furthermore, all share equally the consequences of both success and failure (shared risk). Collaboration can also be called teamwork; however, teams may be more formal, isolated to a particular location, and may be comprised of members who specialize in different aspects of a project.

What will you do as a collaborator?

Both collaboration and teamwork require members to be individually responsible for their portion of a project. Thus, you may not be constantly at work with a collaborator, but you will carry your own load and do your share of the work. Depending on how you and your partners choose to divide the work for a project, you may not see your group members every day. Your group may choose to meet each week, make all decisions together, and share all aspects of the project. However, collaboration still occurs when one person does the research, one person drafts the copy, and one person designs the document. For your initial projects, you may want to begin by sharing duties equally and making informed decisions as a group.

When working in industry, your collaborative experiences may take place with people on the other side of the globe and with different areas of expertise. Your collaborative experiences may last for only brief periods of time. Your college experience may be limited in providing you with experience in some of these environments. Still, knowing how to work well with others is an important lesson in all areas of study and in all workplace environments.

What are all the areas that collaboration encompasses?

Collaboration involves many related areas. The primary collaborative dimensions correspond to the related dimensions of debate/conflict, assessment, and leadership. See the table below that summarizes the areas of collaboration. Review the information throughout the web site for further explanation.
 

Dimensions	Debate/Conflict	Assessment	Leadership
Content & ideas	Substantive	Product	Informational (generating ideas  & content)
Methods & process	Procedural	Deadlines & tasks	Group management (supervising organizational tasks)
Personality & interpersonal aspects	Affective	Social dynamics	Interpersonal (monitoring social aspect of process & resolving conflicts)

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Characterizing Collaborators

What role do you play in your group?

Each member of a group contributes to the success or failure of a collaborative project by the role he or she assumes. Often group members are unaware of their roles, which can sometimes lead to negative results.

It is important to examine carefully the role you play to be sure you are assuming the role that best serves the group. For example, what you may consider an assertive role might come across to group members as bossiness. To identify your collaborative role, you must first be aware of the three main types of group roles and their corresponding actions. 

Task Roles are product-oriented and lead to success:

Seeking information and opinions--asking questions, identifying gaps in the group's knowledge. 

Giving information and opinions--answering questions, providing relevant information. 

Summarizing--restating major points, pulling ideas together, summarizing decisions. 

Evaluating--comparing group process and products to standards and goals. 

Coordinating--planning work, giving directions, and incorporating contributions of group members.

Maintenance Roles keep harmony and goodwill by alleviating tension and disagreements:

Encouraging participation--demonstrating openness and acceptance, recognizing the contributions of members, calling on quieter group members. 

Relieving tensions--joking and suggesting breaks and fun activities. 

Checking feelings--asking members how they feel about group activities and sharing one's own feelings with others. 

Solving interpersonal problems--opening discussion of interpersonal problems in the group and suggesting ways to solve them. 

Listening actively--showing group members that they have been heard and that their ideas are being taken seriously.

Self-centered Roles negatively affect project tasks as well as the overall group process:

Blocking--disagreeing with everything that is proposed. 

Dominating--trying to run the group by ordering, shutting out others, and insisting on one's own way. 

Clowning--making unproductive jokes and diverting the group from the task. 

Withdrawing--being silent in meetings, not contributing, not helping with the work, not attending meetings.

"Some actions can be positive or negative depending on how they are used. Criticizing or better stated as evaluating ideas is necessary if the group is to produce the best solution, but criticizing every idea raised without ever suggesting possible solutions blocks a group. Jokes in moderation can defuse tension and make the group more fun. Too many jokes or inappropriate jokes can make the group's work more difficult" (Fogel 333-34). 

"Leader" is not one of the three main types of group roles because there can be several leaders within one group, each in charge of a particular area. In fact, group leaders normally assume a task role or a maintenance role, so if you're lucky, your group will have one leader in charge of project management and another in charge of providing emotional leadership by encouraging group participation. In some groups, one person may be designated as leader. Or your group may have shared leadership with several persons completing tasks required of leaders. 

Take note that a collaborative role is usually not assigned to you; your personality determines the role for which you are best suited. At times, though, you may need to assume a collaborative role that may not be one you are best suited for. 

How can you become a better collaborator?

Now that you have determined the role you play in your group, are you comfortable with that role? If the role you assume creates problems for the group, or if you are generally unsatisfied with your group role, you can learn how to change your perspectives, attitudes, and actions.

The chart below points out the characteristics of good and poor collaborators. If you find that you are more like a poor collaborator than a good collaborator, think of ways you can change your behavior and perspectives to become a better collaborator. 
 

Why do group members sometimes drive you crazy?

Sometimes members of collaborative groups can get tense and irritable. Often the underlying personality differences among group members are the culprit, rather than conflicts about issues or ideas. The way we interact is directly tied to our personalities, and when personalities within a group are starkly different, tense situations emerge, impeding progress toward project goals.

One way to avoid personality-based conflicts is to be educated about the four basic personality characteristics. Psychologists Myers and Briggs created a personality type indicator test which shows the degree to which a person tends to be introverted or extroverted (where you gain energy), a sensor or an intuitor (how you gather information), a thinker or a feeler (how you make decisions), and a judger or a perceiver (how you view the world). These categories are not meant to stereotype people, and no set of traits is better or worse. But the test can help explain why some group members do not see eye-to-eye. 

Being aware of these basic personality differences may help you recognize ways you can communicate better with group members. Try to think of ways you can temporarily adapt your personality to aid communication with the members of your group. 

For more information about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and other personality tests, see the online site http://www.keirsey.com. This site offers the Keirsey Character Sorter, an online test that you and members of your group can complete. Similar to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Keirsey Character Sorter gives you instant feedback concerning your personality type and offers information about famous people from history who have the same personality traits as you. 

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Resolving Conflict

What is conflict?

Collaborative teams often work efficiently and effectively to complete assigned tasks; however, conflict may arise. Conflict is anything that hinders the completion of a task and/or disrupts team chemistry. Resolving conflict can sometimes be tricky, and not all conflict can be resolved. But with the right strategy, conflict can be managed. Surprisingly, many collaborative teams believe that conflict is bad and should always be avoided, but when conflict is handled carefully, it can be productive by leading the team to new ideas. Debate, as opposed to conflict, can improve the quality of the final product.

What are the three categories of collaborative conflicts?

Some researchers have grouped collaborative conflict into three categories:

1) Affective conflict deals with emotional and personal disagreements that lead to misunderstandings and distrust. This type of conflict can often be attributed to personality differences and sometimes maybe even gender differences, especially when men and women do not understand their dissimilar communication styles. It can disrupt decision making. 

2) Procedural conflict involves disagreements over project management and how the group should be run, including matters such as delegating tasks, deciding on deadlines, and scheduling meetings. It can disrupt group functioning. 

3) Substantive conflict concerns disagreement over rhetorical elements. In its best form, it involves debate about ideas and content--about rhetorical matters such as content, organization, written expression, illustrations, and format. It can enhance decision making and improve the quality of the final document.

What are the basic conflict resolution styles?

Your conflict resolution style describes the way you attempt to resolve conflict. The five basic conflict resolution styles, summarized in the chart below, will assist you in determining your style and whether your style is an effective one.
 

 What can you do to resolve conflict?

Each person operates from a unique perspective, as the conflict resolution chart indicates. However, when conflict arises, all collaborative team members must know how to be an effective problem-solver. The three types of collaborative conflicts--affective, procedural, and substantive--along with any other disagreements you may encounter, can be approached and possibly resolved using a few simple steps.

Step 1. Schedule a meeting with the other person or your group to discuss the situation/disagreement.

Step 2. When you meet, initiate a discussion that acknowledges the conflict.

Step 3. To avoid accusations, use "I" statements, not "you" statements. Encourage the other party to use "I" statements, too.

Step 4. Ask direct questions that require the other person to talk about the situation.

Step 5. Repeat what you are hearing: "Based on what you've told me, this is how you see the situation." This strategy confirms that you understand what you are hearing.

Step 6. Tell the other party what you want as an outcome and ask what he or she wants. Search for alternative solutions together.

Step 7. Agree to work toward a resolution and schedule a meeting, if required, to follow-up on the situation.
 

Remember that a degree of teamwork is needed when you attempt to resolve any conflict. The collaborative team must sit down as a group to make decisions, generate new ideas, divide responsibilities, and solve conflict. In order to have a successful collaborative experience, you must always put team-interest before self-interest.

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Functioning Successfully as a Group

• At the first meeting, group members should exchange contact information, determine group leader(s) and type of tasks assigned to leader(s), and, if appropriate, select one or two persons to help group members with technology problems. Teacher or supervisor may designate leader(s). Remember that the types of tasks performed by leaders cover interpersonal, procedural, and substantive areas.

• Kitty Locker (Business and Administrative Communication, 5th ed., 342) discusses characteristics of successful student groups: 

 
• In successful collaborative groups, "the leader [sets] clear deadlines, [schedules] frequent meetings, and [deals] directly with conflict that [emerges] in the group." Consider what "frequent meetings" might mean—physically face-to-face, as well as electronic methods such as IM'ing and email. 

 
• In successful collaborative groups, members listen "to criticism and [make] important decisions together. Perhaps as a result, everyone in the group [can] articulate the group's goals." The word "criticism" for many carries a negative connotation. Consider other words that might convey what is meant by "listen to criticism": for example, listen to others suggestions about rhetorical matters such as content and document design (disagreement that is more of an objective debate, rather than a subjective criticism). 

 
• In successful collaborative groups, members work actively on the project and "groups even [find] ways to use members who [don't] like working in groups. For example, one student who [doesn't] want to be a 'team player' [might function] as a 'freelancer' for her group, completing assignments by herself and giving them to the leader." 

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