How can I help teams resolve conflicts?
This Page: Conflict Happens | When Students Contact You | Removing Team Members? | References
Conflict Happens
First, it is important to keep in mind that conflict is a part of the team process. Without it, teams may not be able to examine all points of view and synthesize information.
You can help teams learn to resolve their conflicts internally by educating them of the team process and giving tips on communication in teams and on conflict resolution.
Monitoring Team Progress
One way to spot potential for very serious conflicts is to monitor team progress either through weekly reports, frequent drafts or monitoring a message board. An attendance check is one way to see if there are any students skipping meetings or not contributing material.
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When Students Contact You
Of course, you may find that even after arming students with communication and negotiation strategies, individual students may still contact you with team issues.
In that case, you may wish to step in as temporary facilitator. The following tips may help you and the team resolve sticky team issues:
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It is important to make sure you listen to each team member's view before taking any action. You can do this in groups or one by one. Make sure each side has a reasonable chance to express his or her view without comment (or even "vent"). Just being heard may lower an individual's emotional stress level allowing him or her to be more open to compromise.
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Ask questions of each party. This can help you learn key information.
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At least one team meeting should be included during the facilitaation process so that all members have a chance to participate in the process. When talking to an entire group make sure team members do not interrupt each other. Allow each member to complete their statement.
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Remind students that teamwork is not easy and that conflicts are natural. Communicate that each member is responsible for contributing to the success of the project, including conflict resolutions.
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Try to determine which points each party agrees on. It could be something very basic, like everyone wants the project to suceed.
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Help students think of alternate methods for dealing with the situation.
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Make sure the entire team understands the issue at hand - sometimes team members may contact you rather than confronting each other.
Removing Team Members?
One issue that comes up in teamwork is whether a member can ask (or be asked) to leave a team. There are several strategies available, but in general this should be used as a last resort only. Some methods for handlling this issue have included:
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Some instructors either allow teams to designate grounds for "firing" a non-performing team member. Fired team members are forced to complete the content of group work solo. Courses with this option often find that team firing rarely occurs.
Note: Any grounds should include a mechanism for warning team members before firing. -
An instructor can designate a firing procedure for the entire class. One instructor formulated it in term of "being kicked off the island" following the Survivor reality show series.
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Some courses with multiple team projects allow the option of reconfiguring teams between projects, although most teams choose to remain intact.
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Depending on course content, instructors may allow students who strenuously object to collaborative learning methods to complete course work alone. In one case though, two students who had chosen this option in a physics course worked together informally.
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Some instructors do prohibit any team switching in order to encourage the negotiation process.
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References
See the Links Page for more online pages on teamwork.
"Dealing with Conflict"
National School Board Association
http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/Conflict.html
How to Help Teams Who Will not Cooperate (Section 12)
University of California - Davis
http://dhc.ucdavis.edu/fh/tw/classroom.html
"Teamworks Module: Team Conflict"
University of Illinois
http://www.vta.spcomm.uiuc.edu/TCT/tct-ov.html
No Longer Available
"How to Resolve Conflicts - Without Offending Anyone" (1997)
Texas Center for Women's Business Enterprise (hosted by Online
Women's Business Center, SBA)
http://www.onlinewbc.gov/Docs/manage/conflicts.html
No Longer Available
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