Reflections on Conflict in Online Learning Teams

I've had numerous "A ha" moments this week during our on-line Instructor Training Workshop. This week's topic on team conflict is relevant for on-line learning and face-to-face work experiences in any context. However, my experiences in both environments in the past have left me with more questions than answers. Typical problems that arise in group conflicts stem from the lack of clearly defined roles and responsibilities, poor communication about expectations of the group and the lack of clear directions. Inevitably, the group dynamic falters as people attempt to navigate the growing level of uncertainty and pervasive feeling of insecurity. In an on-line learning environment, communication break down can happen readily and result in a great deal of anxiety, especially if a student's mark is dependent on the success of the group as a whole. Under stress, individuals can often become defensive, impatient and even abusive in their attempt to meet their individual needs. What can an Instructor do to prevent these dynamics from evolving to a state of dysfunction? And what is the role of the Instructor once a group spirals into a state of conflict and high tension?

A few thoughts about teamwork break down:

I began this week reflecting on my own experience participating in a team assignment last week for this course. As life happens, my week exploded into a series of unanticipated demands on my time and consequently I grew impatient with the task at hand...signing up to a Wiki with a team assignment. I'm a novice with hyper text and Wiki links so my level of "insecurity" was already triggered. In addition, many of the communication break-down symptoms were at play. As a result, we fumbled our way through the assignment as a team, even though I felt I was swimming in the dark and was very grateful that someone on my team knew what they were doing! My initial reflections were focused on the lack of clear directions and expectations. I felt confused and off-balance. I'm the kind of person who likes to know what's going on. Yet, I had the uneasy feeling that I was reacting to some level of anxiety that was my own creation. What conditions did I need to create for better communication?

Reflections on the role of facilitators:

As the assignment for this week unfolded, my role shifted from that of a student/learner to that of the facilitator. Yet, I still felt the need to de-brief my learner experience from last week. I felt if I could express myself honestly, perhaps I could help to create the conditions for better communication among our entire group, not just my team. I wanted to understand the group experience better. I wanted to learn how it was for others and not just myself. In some way, I also felt that this is the role of the facilitator/Instructor in an on-line learning environment. I think there is an important role to set the conditions for the "container"...model respectful behaviour that demonstrates empathy, honesty and humility...a true willingness to learn from others. In this way, instructors can perhaps change the "modality" as Doug Hamilton puts it.

Surprising lessons:

I'm still processing the wonderful lessons I'm learning from what others experienced last week and what advice they would give to an Instructor in order to mitigate team conflict. However, the real "A ha" realization for me is the humble lesson that everyone was trying their very best last week to contribute to the assignment. Yet for some reason or another it was a difficult week...for most of us! I also realized from all the on-line discussion posts that my colleagues were working away on pieces of the assignment that were invisible to me as a learner...they built the Wiki....whereas my task was only to find it and add to it. What's more, those colleagues who couldn't contribute last week, poured their full experience into this week's assignment. In one case, my colleague summarized over 30 years of experience in conflict resolution into a comprehensive analysis that was so informative I feel I've had a full workshop in conflict resolution training. In another case, my colleague dropped into the discussion with such sage wisdom about the role of trust in teamwork, I paused to reflect on that notion and learned something deep within myself. My own anxiety that emerged last week could easily have been assuaged with a little trust in the group effort as a whole. And another colleague managed to keep it all in perspective with her broader sense of how much we were contributing to the learning experience.

Conclusions on conflict:

I'm feeling especially grateful and appreciative of my colleagues today...this has been a rich learning experience for me and a reminder of the importance in any context that we need to make space for understanding one another and trusting that we're all doing what we can. And the genuine belief that what individuals do contribute to the group is significant for the whole. The dynamics that create group conflict are real yes, and the role of the facilitator/instructor is to take precautions to set clear expectations, create a process for defining roles and responsibilities and provide clear directions. Moreover, when things fall apart, just because life happens...the role of the instructor is to help create the conditions for the team to better understand one another. How this is achieved can certainly take many forms with many different procedures. However, I think the salient points are that we need to model respect, humility and trust that everyone is doing their best. When navigated in this manner, I think conflict can actually provide one of the richest learning environments possible.

Building an on-line learning community

I began teaching University level courses on-line last Fall at Royal Roads University and what I experienced surprised me. My role significantly shifted from when I was teaching face-to-face as a Professor at Wageningen University, in the Netherlands. Prior to this on-line teaching experience, I held command of the learning environment with lectures, power point presentations and assigned readings. While I encouraged discussion in class, the feedback from students was generally directed towards me, the Professor. It rarely occurred when students would engage in dialogue amongst themselves. However, that is exactly what I'm trying to encourage in an on-line learning community. I want to create the conditions for student to student dialogue.

My role has shifted from the knowledge holder to the knowledge broker. One technique I use is the magic of appreciative inquiry to probe into my student's posts. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) re-frames how we think about problem solving. Rather than identify all the reasons why a certain idea won't work, AI uses the art of asking good questions to probe into what is working well in a system. Often used in the organizational development field, AI is a practice that amplifies the positive and re-engages dialogue in the creative possibilities. When people are energized in a dialogue about possibility, the level of creative thinking heightens and collaborative learning often occurs. Similarly, I've found that asking good questions in an on-line learning community can propel thinking into creative knowledge building. Hence, as a Professor, I'm no longer the knowledge holder, but one of many co-creators.