Hi Katie:
I just started with TBL and "saw this behavior" beginning to brew, however my background in MPH Leadership has helped me tremendously .
I've just started teaching after an estimated 18 years supervising and working with peers demonstrating this behavior.
I address it by focusing on "communication styles" vs. behavior/attitude which from my experience creates more inappropriate behavior.
Bringing awareness to the different modes of communication and emphasizing how to improve the vocabulary they use, the tone, the content and its impact on the receiver may help the students.
Some students may not have the skills or positive experiences dealing with control, anger and expressing themselves appropriately---again this shifts from "you don't know how to get along with people" to "here are some new skills you can use to communicate." Role playing how "high performance teams" vs. "low performance teams" communicate and function may also help.
I also agree with other responses to your question, this is a teachable moment and should not be avoided or teams re-assigned.
--Good Luck.
Sonia
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Subject: TEAMLEARNING-L Digest - 10 Sep 2013 to 11 Sep 2013 (#2013-127)
There are 3 messages totalling 268 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. dysfunctional team (3)
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Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 12:05:28 -0400
From: Katie Alexander <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: dysfunctional team
Hi everyone,
I have a dysfunctional team and I'd like some advice. We just finished our first application exercise of the semester. Four out of five team members approached me after class to talk about one of their team members. They are frustrated because this team member immediately dismisses everything they say. He went ahead and reported during the application exercise with the answer he wanted rather than what the rest of the team came to consensus on. After that he stopped contributing completely and remained silent for the rest of class with his head on the desk (the other team members must have ostracized him). Apparently his behavior is already extreme and this is the third week of class. I'd like to intervene immediately and create a positive experience for everyone involved and make sure all students are respecting the contributions of others. Any suggestions?
Best,
Katie
Katherine Alexander, PhD
Assistant Professor, Psychology Department Founders Hall: 431 Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 10-12, Wed 11:30-12:30 & by appointment
College of Mount Saint Vincent
6301 Riverdale Avenue
Riverdale, NY 10471
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Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:58:26 -0500
From: Meghan Gillette <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: dysfunctional team
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Katie
My heart goes out to you - this part of TBL is no fun. I have had only one similar experience and, as with most things, everything ended up being okay in the end.
First and foremost, the students who came to you are probably hoping that you will move the other student to a different team, or that you will 100% side with them, creating an uncomfortable power dynamic between the teammates and between you and the students. They may also be hoping that you will lower the other student's grade. None of these things need to happen.
I think one of the worst things you could do would be to rearrange teams.
So I hope you don't choose to do that. In my case, I had a chat with each of the offending parties, and basically said that they would remain in the same team for the whole semester, so it would behoove them for the sake of their sanity and for their grades to reach a truce or a compromise with each other. I explained that in the workplace, a similar situation may arise, and learning the skills to deal with it effectively will be extremely important, both personally and professionally. I reminded them that their peer evaluations were worth a large portion of their grade (in my classes it ranges from 17-20%) so it would be smart, if they wanted to pass the class, to make adjustments to their own temperaments and ways of doing things (i.e. completing the application exercises) but also to be honest on the peer evaluations. I have never "touched" a peer evaluation - that is, I have never changed someone's peer evaluation score.
I would reassure the worried students that you will be monitoring (I assume you walk around the class during application exercises) the situation but that they are also responsible for making the team work well together - the team's success does not depend on everyone being happy and getting along together all of the time; it depends on teammates to show maturity and respect when disagreements arise. After chatting with both parties, I also reminded them to arrive at the next class with a clean slate. Gossipping and moaning and complaining about it to others (also known as
co-ruminating) would only make the situation worse.
In my case, after I had the conversation and one of the students got dinged pretty badly on her peer evaluation, she changed her behavior and her teammates were also less hostile. It was amazing, actually - they handled it better than I expected.
Anyway, hope this helps some. Good luck!
Meghan Gillette
Doctoral Candidate
Human Development and Family Studies
Iowa State University
On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 11:05 AM, Katie Alexander < [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I have a dysfunctional team and I'd like some advice. We just finished
> our first application exercise of the semester. Four out of five team
> members approached me after class to talk about one of their team
> members. They are frustrated because this team member immediately
> dismisses everything they say. He went ahead and reported during the
> application exercise with the answer he wanted rather than what the
> rest of the team came to consensus on. After that he stopped
> contributing completely and remained silent for the rest of class with
> his head on the desk (the other team members must have ostracized
> him). Apparently his behavior is already extreme and this is the third
> week of class. I'd like to intervene immediately and create a positive
> experience for everyone involved and make sure all students are
> respecting the contributions of others. Any suggestions?
>
> Best,
> Katie
>
> Katherine Alexander, PhD
> Assistant Professor, Psychology Department Founders Hall: 431 Office
> Hours: Tues/Thurs 10-12, Wed 11:30-12:30 & by appointment
>
> College of Mount Saint Vincent
> 6301 Riverdale Avenue
> Riverdale, NY 10471
>
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<div dir=3D"ltr">Katie<div style>=A0 My heart goes out to you - this part o= f TBL is no fun. I have had only one similar experience and, as with most t= hings, everything ended up being okay in the end. =A0</div><div style>=A0 F= irst and foremost, the students who came to you are probably hoping that yo= u will move the other student to a different team, or that you will 100% si= de with them, creating an uncomfortable power dynamic between the teammates= and between you and the students. They may also be hoping that you will lo= wer the other student's grade. =A0None of these things need to happen.<= /div> <div style><br></div><div style>I think one of the worst things you could d= o would be to rearrange teams. So I hope you don't choose to do that.= =A0In my case, I had a chat with each of the offending parties, and basical= ly said that they would remain in the same team for the whole semester, so = it would behoove them for the sake of their sanity and for their grades to = reach a truce or a compromise with each other. I explained that in the work= place, a similar situation may arise, and learning the skills to deal with = it effectively will be extremely important, both personally and professiona= lly. =A0I reminded them that their peer evaluations were worth a large port= ion of their grade (in my classes it ranges from 17-20%) so it would be sma= rt, if they wanted to pass the class, to make adjustments to their own temp= eraments and ways of doing things (i.e. completing the application exercise=
s) but also to be honest on the peer evaluations. I have never "touche= d" a peer evaluation - that is, I have never changed someone's pee= r evaluation score.=A0</div> <div style><br></div><div style>I would reassure the worried students that = you will be monitoring (I assume you walk around the class during applicati= on exercises) the situation but that they are also responsible for making t= he team work well together - the team's success does not depend on ever= yone being happy and getting along together all of the time; it depends on = teammates to show maturity and respect when disagreements arise. =A0After c= hatting with both parties, I also reminded them to arrive at the next class= with a clean slate. Gossipping and moaning and complaining about it to oth= ers (also known as co-ruminating) would only make the situation worse.=A0</=
div>
<div style><br></div><div style>In my case, after I had the conversation an= d one of the students got dinged pretty badly on her peer evaluation, she c= hanged her behavior and her teammates were also less hostile. It was amazin= g, actually - they handled it better than I expected.</div> <div style><br></div><div style>Anyway, hope this helps some. Good luck!</d=
iv><div style>Meghan Gillette</div><div style>Doctoral
iv>Candidate</div><div =
style>Human Development and Family Studies</div><div style>Iowa State
style>Unive=
rsity</div>
</div><div class=3D"gmail_extra"><br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Wed,= Sep 11, 2013 at 11:05 AM, Katie Alexander <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D= "mailto:[log in to unmask]" target=3D"_blank">kleesha@psycholog=
y.rutgers.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p= x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Hi everyone,<br> <br> I have a dysfunctional team and I'd like some advice. We just finished = our<br> first application exercise of the semester. Four out of five team members<b=
r>
approached me after class to talk about one of their team members. They<br> are frustrated because this team member immediately dismisses everything<br=
>
they say. He went ahead and reported during the application exercise with<b=
r>
the answer he wanted rather than what the rest of the team came to<br> consensus on. After that he stopped contributing completely and remained<br=
>
silent for the rest of class with his head on the desk (the other team<br> members must have ostracized him). Apparently his behavior is already<br> extreme and this is the third week of class. I'd like to intervene<br> immediately and create a positive experience for everyone involved and<br> make sure all students are respecting the contributions of others. Any<br> suggestions?<br> <br> Best,<br> Katie<br> <br> Katherine Alexander, PhD<br> Assistant Professor, Psychology Department<br> Founders Hall: 431<br> Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 10-12, Wed 11:30-12:30 & by appointment<br> <br> College of Mount Saint Vincent<br>
6301 Riverdale Avenue<br>
Riverdale, NY 10471<br>
</blockquote></div><br></div>
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Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 17:03:04 +0000
From: "Harrison, Yvonne" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: dysfunctional team
Kate, I have a great exercise that I borrowed from David Green, Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Seattle University. The "Four Corners" exercise comes from Sylvia Hurtado at UCLA and can be found in Therese's (2009) book, Teaching What You Don't Know. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Here's a brief overview of the exercise:
1. Put the following four signs up in different corners of the room: Talk a lot; Wait until I have something to say; Mostly listen; Take a contrary position.
2. Read out the four corners and ask students to sit at the table nearest to the sign that best represents the way they engage/behave in teams/groups.
3. Ask the students in each corner to discuss WHY they tend to engage/behave this way and WHAT bothers them about being in groups/teams.
4. When questions have been answered (about 10 minutes), have students in each corner report out to the other students in the class. I tend to write the reasons and pet peeves on the board for all to see.
Talking with the students about communication styles has been enlightening. For me, it helps me understand students and why they tend to clam up or contribute in class. In fact, I've learned that the mostly listen group, tends to learn more. The challenge for this student is to learn how to share that knowledge. This exercise raises awareness of the need for students to self-manage in teams. I also use this information to create diverse teams (balance students who tend to talk a lot, mostly listen, contrarians, and wait until I have something to say). I have also noticed that students tend to have more empathy and support for each other in the team and class after I do this exercise. This is particularly helpful for ESL/International students who "mostly listen" because they cannot keep up with the fast pace of the English language. With respect to changes in student behavior, those who tend not to talk or talk too much contribute far more or less than they would without this
exercis
All in all, I find it a very useful exercise for avoiding dysfunctional team problems.
Yvonne
Yvonne D. Harrison, PhD
Assistant Professor, Public Administration and Policy Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy University at Albany, SUNY
518-442-4001
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Katie Alexander
Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 12:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: dysfunctional team
Hi everyone,
I have a dysfunctional team and I'd like some advice. We just finished our first application exercise of the semester. Four out of five team members approached me after class to talk about one of their team members. They are frustrated because this team member immediately dismisses everything they say. He went ahead and reported during the application exercise with the answer he wanted rather than what the rest of the team came to consensus on. After that he stopped contributing completely and remained silent for the rest of class with his head on the desk (the other team members must have ostracized him). Apparently his behavior is already extreme and this is the third week of class. I'd like to intervene immediately and create a positive experience for everyone involved and make sure all students are respecting the contributions of others. Any suggestions?
Best,
Katie
Katherine Alexander, PhD
Assistant Professor, Psychology Department Founders Hall: 431 Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 10-12, Wed 11:30-12:30 & by appointment
College of Mount Saint Vincent
6301 Riverdale Avenue
Riverdale, NY 10471
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End of TEAMLEARNING-L Digest - 10 Sep 2013 to 11 Sep 2013 (#2013-127)
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