VALUE of Developing Collaboration Skills

The 21^st century workplace uses collaboration on a daily basis. So much so, its in the top 5 skills looked for my hiring managers.

You might be asking… then how do we get from ineffective group work to effective collaboration skills?

Good question and one that won’t be answered by the classroom. 

GOOD collaboration requires a vulnerability FROM each participant and a deep respect FOR each participant for that vulnerability.  If either ingredient is missing, the cake doesn’t taste good (Metaphor alert! ).

This recipe is so CRUCIAL, organizations frequently use a skilled facilitator to create safety, elicit vulnerability, mediate discussion, remind respect, and monitor progress toward an end goal.  In time, this group grows in self-awareness and learns to check themselves and each other rendering a 3rd party facilitator unnecessary. This does not happen over night… but is the ultimate goal of collaboration.

This kind of facilitation and monitoring is just NOT possible with one teacher and multiple groups. It’s one thing to teach the “skills” from up front or hand out “role” cards to each group member, it’s another to ensure there is vulnerability and respect so that the collaborative work can be effective. Instead we see the development of RESISTANCE to vulnerability and a DROP in respect which spirals downward into one person hijacking the group so they don’t get an “F.” This is why “group work” at school is so frustrating for most students.

This leaves the DEVELOPMENT of needed Collaboration skills to parents.

HOW DO WE DO THIS?

Here are 3 ideas.

1. In the video (mini-course video - Collaboration) I suggest you offer a lower-stakes collaborative opportunity at home. Regardless of in-person, virtual, hybrid, or homeschooling… you can invite a couple of your child’s friends over for a fun “project.”
   • NO grade. 
   • NO time-crunch (within reason).
   • NO one-way to do the project.
   • ONE catch… you don’t just leave them to work… you “facilitate,” or “monitor/coach” as they work. Help them communicate  as they do the project.
2. If you are doing the virtual program from your local school, you can invite over a couple of classmates and have a collaborative discussion/exploration that digs into a concept they are learning virtually. You facilitate the experience like the workplace 3rd party facilitator described above.
3. Since virtual collaboration is becoming more common, try a low-stakes (no grade, few participants) exploration/project through Zoom. You have your own entry window and allow them to show their faces. Developing virtual collaborative skills can be challenging.  Try an in-person one first.

As you plan this collaboration, focus on one aspect of collaboration and explain up front that you will be stepping in to help them be more effective in this area. AND at the end, debrief what you saw (good and could be improved) and have each determine one way they could improve.

FOR A SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE…

1. There must be a clear, low-stakes task (collaborative goal).
   • If the results of this collaboration could tank one’s grade or get them fired… the stakes are too high for one to lower their anxiety enough to try on vulnerability, trust the process, and respect each member’s contributions. Since most student’s assume group work will have a big impact on their grade this undermines the development of collaborative skills.
2. The collaboration needs to be facilitated or monitored with coaching to ensure emotional and intellectual safety.
   • As each student tries on vulnerability someone is there to validate and ensure respect, which might require subtle confrontation.
   • As each attempts to respectfully respond, someone is there to validate and protect the process, which might require subtle confrontation.
   • This gets tricky because if you have a fun project set up with your child and friends, you probably want to give them the space to have fun with it. During select times, be a facilitator presence (NO CONTRIBUTIONS… just facilitation) and then other times let them work, but be eavesdropping for debrief ideas.
3. Collaborative groups have a set of norms (guidelines) they use to govern their interactions. These are established up front, used by the facilitator to support the group, and can be revised as the group determines necessary. Here are a couple of example to get you started…
   • What process are we following?
   • How long for each step?
   • How do we interact with ideas during each step?
   • How do we agree/disagree or grapple with ideas?
   • What do we do if we need a break before a scheduled break?
4. Focus on one aspect of collaboration at a time. This helps reduce the expectation that they are to have collaboration down in its entirety the first time. This also gives you a very specific area on which to focus your debrief. For example… let’s focus on asking clarifying questions if we are unsure of what someone means by their idea or statement. During the debrief you could write out the questions asked and add to the list for next time. 
5. Debrief the experience in light of collaboration. What did they notice? What was hard? etc.

You can do this!!!

Try it and come share in the group…. What was your low-stakes collaboration opportunity? How did you set it up? How many participants and were you the facilitator? What went really well? What you would do differently next time? What did you learn about effective collaboration? What did you learn about developing collaborative skills? What did the kids say they learned about collaboration?

Let’s learn more about this together.

Jill