tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51330943721271459682024-03-05T04:39:59.930-05:00Communication :: Collaboration :: ConsensusGroups, Meetings, Facilitation, Problem Solving, Decision MakingSandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-4652032376755389992022-11-22T13:18:00.001-05:002022-11-22T13:18:39.313-05:00Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research - Call for Submissions<p> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 24px;"><strong>Call for Submissions</strong></span></div> <table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="main" style="display: table; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 660px; width: 660px;"> <tbody><tr> <td class="block-text"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 20px;"><em>18th Annual Conference</em><br />
20-22 July 2023<br />
Hyatt Regency<br />
Bellevue, Washington<br />
(Just across the lake from Seattle)</span></div> </td> </tr> </tbody></table><table align="center" bgcolor="#" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="100p main placeholder" style="height: 1px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 660px; min-height: 50px; width: 660px;"> <tbody><tr> <td class="100p placeholder" valign="top" width="660px"> <img alt="Bellevue Photo2" height="auto" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/300815/graphics/Bellevue_WA_downtown_park_2_533927564.jpeg" style="height: auto; width: 656px;" width="656" /></td> </tr> </tbody></table><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="main" style="display: table; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 660px; width: 660px;"> <tbody><tr> <td class="block-text"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18px;">The <strong>Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research (INGRoup)</strong>
was created to provide a context for scholars to: (1) promote
communication about groups and teams research across fields and nations,
(2) advance understanding about group dynamics through research, (3)
advance theory and methods for understanding groups and teams, and (4)
promote interdisciplinary research.<br />
<br />
The <strong>18th Annual INGRoup Conference</strong> will be held at the Hyatt Regency, in <strong>Bellevue, Washington</strong>,
so scholars across disciplines can come together, share information,
and learn from one another. The conference program will include paper,
poster, symposia, and panel sessions, and a business meeting open to all
members so the future of INGRoup can be collectively planned and
shaped.</span>
<div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18px;"><br />
</span></div>
</div> </td> </tr> </tbody></table><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="main" style="display: table; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 660px; width: 660px;"> <tbody><tr> <td class="block-text"><hr style="display: block; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;" /> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18px;"><strong>Submissions</strong><br />
<strong></strong></span></div>
<div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18px;"> </span></div>
<div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18px;">Submissions must be received by <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Tuesday, February 1, 2023 (11:59 p.m. EST)</span></strong>
via the online system accessible on www.ingroup.net starting December
1, 2022. Submissions that include participants from a variety of
disciplinary traditions are highly encouraged. Scholars can be the
presenting author on no more than two submissions, excluding poster
submissions. </span></div>
<div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18px;"><br />
Submissions that involve research previously presented at other
conferences should not be identical to past presentations, and, most
importantly, should be tailored to suit an interdisciplinary audience.
Papers that have been accepted to other outlets (e.g., journals) cannot
be submitted to the conference. <strong>By submitting, at least one
co-author from each submission is firmly committed to register for and
attend the conference upon acceptance</strong>. We accept full papers, extended abstracts, posters, symposia, and panels for consideration. Additionally<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18px;">, to facilitate the review process, all submitters are automatically included as reviewers.<br />
<br />
The full call for papers and more information about submissions requirements and the conference can be found at <a href="http://www.ingroup.net/2023Conference" target="_blank">www.ingroup.net/2023Conference</a>.</span></span></div>Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-31827007529340307012019-08-28T09:45:00.000-04:002019-08-28T10:02:55.975-04:00The Impact of Facilitation on the Quality of Deliberation and Attitude Change <h2>
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496419861439">The Impact of Facilitation on the Quality of Deliberation and Attitude Change</a>
</h2>
by Metka Kuhar, Matej Krmelj, Gregor Petrič <br />
<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/sgr"><i>Small Group Research</i></a> Volume: 50, Issue: 5, pages: 623-653<br />
Article first published online: August 26, 2019; Issue published: October 1, 2019<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: blue;">“The results show the
facilitation’s significant influences on attitude change and the
perceived quality of the group deliberation.”</span></h2>
<br />
<h2>
Abstract</h2>
Many researchers claim that facilitation is a determining factor, if not a
necessary condition, for successful deliberative discussion, but little
research has applied randomized experimental designs to empirically test
such claim. This article analyzes the effect of professionally
facilitated versus non-facilitated discussions in a real-life context on
participants’ attitudes and the perceived quality of group
deliberation, controlling for various individual- and group-level
variables. We conducted 26 deliberative discussions with 226 teachers
from 13 primary schools on the topic of school discipline measures. We
assessed the teachers’ post-discussion perceptions of the perceived
quality of the group deliberation and their attitudes toward school
discipline measures pre- and post-discussion. The results show the
facilitation’s significant influences on attitude change and the
perceived quality of the group deliberation. Quality of deliberation is
also influenced by heterogeneity of restorative attitudes in discussion
groups, whereas attitude change is to a large extent determined also by
pre-discussion attitudes.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496419861439">https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496419861439</a><br />
<br />
<h2>
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496419835923" target="_blank">Intergroup Dialogue: A Review of Recent Empirical Research and Its Implications for Research and Practice</a></h2>
by Keri A. Frantell, Joseph R. Miles, Anne M. Ruwe<br />
<br />
<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/sgr"><i>Small Group Research</i></a>, Volume: 50 issue: 5, page(s): 654-695<br />
Article first published online: May 7, 2019; Issue published: October 1, 2019 <br />
<br />
<h2>
Abstract</h2>
Intergroup dialogue (IGD) is a small group intervention that allows for sustained communication between people across social identity groups. It aims to foster intergroup relationships, develop critical consciousness, and increase capacities for promoting social justice. A decade after Dessel and Rogge published their review of the empirical research on IGD from 1997 to 2006, we reviewed the empirical IGD research from 2006 to 2017. We explore research that has examined IGD outcomes, processes, and facilitation, seeking to understand the current state of the research and practice of IGD. We discuss advances and new approaches to IGD, assess growth since Dessel and Rogge’s review, and discuss future directions. We provide five key recommendations for future research on IGD, and five key recommendations for future practice of IGD.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496419835923">https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496419835923</a> Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-58327919851343091892016-02-22T11:17:00.006-05:002016-02-22T16:17:56.848-05:00Maybe Down Is Up<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Maybe Down is Up: <br />Connecting business and life for self-knowledge and growth </h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
A Review of <i>Failing My Way to Success</i>, by Steve Lobel</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself. </i></blockquote>
In Failing My Way to Success: Life Lessons of an Entrepreneur, Steve Lobel takes us on his emotional and financial rollercoaster of entrepreneurial risk, failure, and success. This is not a comprehensive survey of what you need to succeed in business or in life, nor is it a “how to” guide for business or career start-ups. Rather, it is a highly readable and engaging personal story that conveys powerful insights, not only for entrepreneurs but for anyone in the beginning or midst of their careers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://failingmywaytosuccess.com/wp-content/themes/Failing%20My%20Way/images/fmw-cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://failingmywaytosuccess.com/wp-content/themes/Failing%20My%20Way/images/fmw-cover.png" /></a></div>
Throughout the book, the importance of connections is evident—connections to family, friends, customers, clients, employees, advisors, partners. Lobel’s self-conscious understanding of the importance of connection is revealed early in the book in his choice of the name for his fledgling gourmet cheese shop. He calls it “The Cheese Connection.” It was the small, basement-level shop that he grew into the region’s first—and fondly remembered—upscale food market in Stuyvesant Plaza, Cowan and Lobel.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Proving Something </h3>
Of the many connections woven throughout the book, a few are described in depth. For example, in the first few chapters he describes his close connection to his father. He describes how he gave up his high-school social life to work with his father on weekends, photographing weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. The importance of that connection surfaces again and again. Fully two thirds through the book he again reflects on his connection to his father. He explains part of his motivation to be an entrepreneur as “… proving something to myself—and, I suppose, to my father, always my father.” (p. 68.) Similarly, his connections to his wife, Vivian, and later, his business partner Dan Cowan, are case studies in what make personal connections succeed or fail.<br />
<br />
After describing his first-year struggles and triumphs with The Cheese Connection, he sums up, drawing an even bigger circle around the importance of interpersonal connections: “You can know a lot or you can know a little, but as long as you understand relationships, you have a leg up. You need to care about people’s likes, their desires, their fears, their needs. This is a big part of your personal and professional integrity, and to me integrity is everything.” (p. 33.)<br />
<h3>
What’s Real Success?</h3>
A different type of connection, one that gives title to the book, is the connection between success and failure. Failure in one venture provides lessons that lead to success in another. But it is not a simple failure-leads-to-success story. Much of the book shows how each experiment, success, and expansion, provided new failures, business insights, and self-knowledge. As Will Rogers (and others) have said, “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” Lobel’s words are perhaps not as clever, but deeper. “We may fail, but no one who learns from life’s mistakes can be considered a failure. … [T]he lessons of failure have made me kinder, wiser, more generous, more empathetic. This too is a definition of success. Maybe the best one.” (p. xi.)<br />
<br />
Lobel’s personal experience brings to life the importance of self-knowledge. He learns what he is good at, and what he is not good at. “I loved the ‘right brain’ parts of retailing, all the creative, challenging, and stimulating bits, but I’d never disciplined myself to do the ‘left brain’ labor, the dry, crucial, crunching of facts and figures. … I am a visionary, big-picture kind of thinker, and in those days my creativity and imagination sometimes ran far ahead of my judgment.” (pp. 46-48.) While his areas of marketing and customer relations certainly are “creative, challenging, and stimulating,” for some people, the same is true of “the crucial, crunching of facts and figures.”<br />
<h3>
Getting Help </h3>
For the things he is not good at, Lobel came to recognize the need to get help from others, albeit with some prodding. For example, given the insistence of his banker, he hired a bookkeeper. He drew his wife into the business because she “is practical, careful, detail oriented. … She possessed all the skills I lacked. She was stable, organized, level-headed—and tough.” (p. 48.)<br />
<br />
Lobel’s story shows how, relying on his own judgment and discounting the advice of others, his risk-taking sometimes paid off. At other times, it led to failure. How to make that choice—when to forge ahead and when to hold back—is not clear. However, Lobel does make clear the pitfalls of selfish need-fulfillment. As he admits, when risking his family’s financial security on a new business venture, “I was like a drug addict, craving the adrenaline fix of a new business. … I simply could not quit.” (pp. 70-73.)<br />
<br />
That Lobel’s story ends well is a demonstration of his personal drive, ability to identify emerging trends and opportunities, and willingness to educate himself about subjects of which he had no previous knowledge or experience. Supporting his efforts at every stage are the interpersonal connections that sustain and enrich him. In the end, he finds greater meaning in life as a philanthropist and mentor and closes with the following wish. “May your failures point the way to your ultimate success. And may your success be the means by which you help repair the world.” (p. 101.)<br />
<br />
<i>Failing My Way to Success:
Life Lessons of an Entrepreneur </i><br />
<i> </i>By Steve Lobel
103 pp. F&S Publishing. $15.<br />
<a href="http://failingmywaytosuccess.com/">failingmywaytosuccess.com</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This review first appeared in <a href="http://jewishworldnews.org/maybe-down-is-up/" target="_blank"><i>The Jewish World</i></a>, Vol. 51. No. 13, Feb. 18, 2016, pp. 3, 7. </span>Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-68537333731641788622015-05-19T11:50:00.001-04:002015-05-19T11:53:38.331-04:00The Top 20 Ways to Know You're a Group Facilitator - Humorous For the “serious” list, see <a href="http://sschuman.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-top-15-ways-to-know-youre-group.html" target="_blank">The Top 15 Ways to Know You're a Group Facilitator - Serious</a><br />
For the original list, see <a href="http://sschuman.blogspot.com/2014/08/you-know-youre-group-facilitator-if.html" target="_blank">You know you're a group facilitator if.</a> <br />
<br />
You know you’re a group facilitator if … <br />
<ol>
<li>no one understands what you do for a living.</li>
<li>you want to write it on the wall.</li>
<li>group members admire your wide selection of different sized, shaped and colored post-its.</li>
<li>your phone's photo gallery of family snaps and selfies is interspersed with flip charts, white boards, lists, and mind maps.</li>
<li>your 3-year old says “no no no daddy/mommy, stop facilitating me!”</li>
<li>you can argue the merits of blu-tack over white-tack.</li>
<li>you choose the boring supportive flats rather than the heels or boots that really match your outfit.</li>
<li>you know how to remove permanent marker mistakenly used on a client’s whiteboard.</li>
<li>you amaze the room by taking session notes on what look like white garbage bags that stick to the wall by static electricity.</li>
<li>you maintain an inventory of different colored sticky dots so you won’t run out of any colors.</li>
<li>you ask people, like at the grocery store, if they want feedback. </li>
<li>you have a flipchart stand in your living room.</li>
<li><i>The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy </i>is your favorite book. (Don’t Panic!)</li>
<li>you arrive early so you have sufficient time to move around the tables and chairs.</li>
<li>someone comes up to you and asks, “Have you considered using small groups and an ice-breaker,” and politely you say, “Thank you; I’ll consider that.”</li>
<li>you are in a really awful meeting and have to sit on your hands to avoid taking over.</li>
<li>you walk into a room that has been set up for you and the chairs and tables are classroom style – and you don’t groan because you anticipated this.</li>
<li>you know how to set up just about every type of flip chart known to man.</li>
<li>tears fill your eyes and you feel so understood when a new client says, “I know it is just a one-day session, but this is so important we expect we will need you for at least three days of preparation.”</li>
<li>you're thinking that there should be a better process for collaboratively arriving at a “top ten” list.</li>
</ol>
<br />Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-64166421423980701282015-05-19T11:48:00.001-04:002015-05-19T11:53:19.188-04:00The Top 15 Ways to Know You're a Group Facilitator - SeriousMy previous post, <i><a href="http://sschuman.blogspot.com/2014/08/you-know-youre-group-facilitator-if.html" target="_blank">You know you're a group facilitator if …</a>,</i> drew many additional suggestions. I compiled 38 of them and conducted a poll; 165 people responded. Following are the 15 highest scoring statements that “say something delightful and uniquely characteristic of group facilitation.” They are listed in order, high scores on top. I should note that the <i>Top 4</i> were all excerpted from <a href="http://www.iaf-world.org/site/professional/iaf-code-of-ethics" target="_blank"><i>IAF's Statement of Values and Code of Ethics for Group Facilitators</i></a>. (It's a good thing they received the top scores!)<br />
<br />
A number of people commented that the list included both serious and humorous statements and it was not clear how they should respond. As you'll see, most respondents chose the more serious ones. In <a href="http://sschuman.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-top-20-ways-to-know-youre-group.html" target="_blank"><i>The Top 20 Ways to Know You're a Group Facilitator - Humorous</i></a> I have selected some of the more humorous indicators.<br />
<br />
You know you're a group facilitator if … <br />
<ol>
<li>you believe in the inherent value of the individual and the collective wisdom of the group.</li>
<li>you believe that collaborative interaction builds consensus and produces meaningful outcomes.</li>
<li>you strive to help the group make the best use of the contributions of each of its members.</li>
<li>you set aside your personal opinions and support the group’s right to make its own choices.</li>
<li>you summarize what others have said and check that you accurately captured their ideas before sharing your own thoughts.</li>
<li>you know that a good answer to a question is “I don't know.”</li>
<li>when you enter a meeting room, the first thing you look at are the walls.</li>
<li>several books on your shelf have “meeting,” “group,” and/or “facilitation,” “facilitator,” “facilitating,” or “facilitative” in their titles.</li>
<li>you can accept that a situation is desperate, but not hopeless.</li>
<li>you know when to make a tactical intervention and when to make a strategic withdrawal and, of course, when to say nothing.</li>
<li>you’re able just “to be present.”</li>
<li>when invited to a meeting you ask about its purpose, what’s on the agenda, what decisions are to be made, if all the people necessary to make a decision will be present, if sufficient time has been scheduled, and if they’re really inviting you so you’ll facilitate.</li>
<li>when the group thinks they could have gotten to the outcome without you, but it was nice having you.</li>
<li>you can explain Brainstorming, Nominal Group Technique, Technology of Participation, Future Search, Appreciative Inquiry, Open Space Technology, and World Cafe.</li>
<li>when you answer questions with a question – even when you’re not facilitating. </li>
</ol>
Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-72865361053364735702014-08-25T16:54:00.003-04:002014-08-25T17:22:26.726-04:00You know you're a group facilitator if:The popularity of my post, "<a href="http://tothestory.blogspot.com/2014/08/you-know-youre-storyteller-if.html" target="_blank">You know you're a storyteller if ...</a>" inspired me to work on this one.<br />
<br />
Eighteen ways to know if you're a group facilitation expert: <br />
<ol>
<li>You have three different colored markers and masking tape in your briefcase.</li>
<li>You can thoughtfully distinguish between facilitating learning, facilitating group development, and facilitating collaborative problem solving and decision making. Other uses of "facilitating" make you groan.</li>
<li>You wonder, when you're invited to a meeting, if their facilitator will be as good as you. </li>
<li>You wonder, when you're invited to a meeting, if they really just want you to facilitate.</li>
<li>You wonder, when you're invited to a meeting, if they will let you facilitate.</li>
<li>When invited to a meeting you ask about its purpose, what's on the agenda, what decisions are to be made, if all the people necessary to make a decision will be present, if sufficient time has been scheduled, and if they're really inviting you so you'll facilitate. </li>
<li>Your hands have multi-colored splotches.</li>
<li>You can explain the history of the term "brainstorming" and lament how it is misused. </li>
<li>People ask how you manage to remember everyone's name. </li>
<li>You have a particular technique for ripping off a sheet of flip chart paper so it doesn't leave behind a residual shred of paper at the perforation.</li>
<li>You can explain Brainstorming, Nominal Group Technique, Technology of Participation, Future Search, Appreciative Inquiry, Open Space Technology, and World Cafe. </li>
<li>Several books on your shelf have "meeting," "group," and/or "facilitation," "facilitator," "facilitating," or "facilitative" in their titles.</li>
<li>You believe in the inherent value of the individual and the collective wisdom of the group.</li>
<li>You strive to help the group make the best use of the contributions of each of its members. </li>
<li>You set aside your personal opinions and support the group's right to make its own choices.</li>
<li>You believe that collaborative and cooperative interaction builds consensus and produces meaningful outcomes.</li>
<li>No one understands what you do for a living. </li>
<li>You are right now thinking of another way "you know you're a group facilitator if ..." What is it?</li>
</ol>
Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-6985392506276252152014-07-16T17:34:00.001-04:002014-07-16T17:40:36.374-04:00What we need is ...! What you need is ...!Felt, observed, and real needs<br />
<br />
I think it is useful to understand the distinction between felt needs, observed needs, and real needs (a distinction Ward Goodenough made in his 1963 book, <i>Cooperation in Change</i>) and aspire to find and increase their overlap.<br />
<br />
<u>Felt needs</u> are the needs identified by the members of a community (or any collaborative group). Felt needs are identified based on the information available to the members, however incomplete and inaccurate that information might be, and how the members interpret that information in the context of their own experiences and predispositions.<br />
<br />
<u>Observed needs</u> are the needs identified by the change agent (outsider, leader, facilitator, donor, etc.). They might be the same as the members’ felt needs – or not. Change agents identify observed needs based on the information available to them, however incomplete and inaccurate that information might be, and how they interpret that information in the context of their own experiences and predispositions.
<br />
<br />
<u>Real needs</u> are the needs that could be determined by an omniscient being. Real needs would be identified based on perfect information – information that is complete and accurate – interpreted in the context of all reality without bias.<br />
<br />
Neither the members’ felt needs nor the change agent’s observed needs should be presumed to be the real needs. Together, members and change agents should aspire to better identify the real needs, but all the while exercising doubt, learning from others and keeping their minds open to new understandings and insights.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5-h_MMH5LhPX9a6MLlXJlTOPaAgESEMc4hwiNP8LJwe_28m5wB5o9FFfRItbATo-3SGSFuLCOzY6voZ2jlMalGCghKNJ69Cq5PPCeZfEYJDo3NsoFdDOqI0AdN8cHNsY0cU4xe631b4/s1600/felt-observed-real-needs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5-h_MMH5LhPX9a6MLlXJlTOPaAgESEMc4hwiNP8LJwe_28m5wB5o9FFfRItbATo-3SGSFuLCOzY6voZ2jlMalGCghKNJ69Cq5PPCeZfEYJDo3NsoFdDOqI0AdN8cHNsY0cU4xe631b4/s200/felt-observed-real-needs.png" /></a></div>
<hr />
Goodenough, Ward (1963). <i>Cooperation in change</i>. Chapter 3: Wants and Needs, pp. 49-60. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-72787527402028643392014-03-15T19:19:00.001-04:002014-04-01T11:21:46.614-04:00Words We Use: Groups, Meetings, Facilitation, CollaborationWow! I wish the <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/info">Google Books Ngram Viewer</a> was around when I wrote my essay, <a href="http://sschuman.blogspot.com/2010/02/group-facilitations-golden-age.html"><i>Group Facilitation’s “Golden Age”</i></a>, in which I tracked a few measures of growth and development in the world of group facilitation. Here are a few simple examples of readily available Ngram analyses.<br />
<br />
<b>Note: </b>Apparently the Ngram Viewer graphs are not visible in Internet Explorer. Try Firefox or Chrome.
<br />
<br />
The following graph shows that, in Google's corpus of English books published between 1800 and 2008, the term "group effectiveness" first appeared in 1898; its frequency peaked in 1974. "Meeting management" and "group facilitation" first appeared in 1920 and 1921 respectively and seem to have recently plateaued. "Group facilitator" first appeared in 1947, "workshop facilitator" in 1969, and "meeting facilitator" in 1976, all still increasing in use. "Group process," which first appeared in 1894, is in such greater usage that I decided to show it on a separate graph.
<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" hspace="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="ngram_chart" scrolling="no" src="https://books.google.com/ngrams/interactive_chart?content=meeting+management%2Cgroup+effectiveness%2Cgroup+facilitation%2Cgroup+facilitator%2Cmeeting+facilitator%2Cworkshop+facilitator&case_insensitive=on&year_start=1890&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t4%3B%2Cmeeting%20management%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bmeeting%20management%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BMeeting%20Management%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BMeeting%20management%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BMEETING%20MANAGEMENT%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bmeeting%20Management%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cgroup%20effectiveness%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bgroup%20effectiveness%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20Effectiveness%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20effectiveness%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGROUP%20EFFECTIVENESS%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cgroup%20facilitation%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bgroup%20facilitation%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20Facilitation%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20facilitation%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGROUP%20FACILITATION%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cgroup%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bgroup%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20Facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGROUP%20FACILITATOR%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cmeeting%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bmeeting%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BMeeting%20Facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BMeeting%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cworkshop%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bworkshop%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BWorkshop%20Facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BWorkshop%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0" vspace="0" width="700"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" hspace="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="ngram_chart" scrolling="no" src="https://books.google.com/ngrams/interactive_chart?content=meeting+management%2Cgroup+effectiveness%2Cgroup+facilitation%2Cgroup+facilitator%2Cmeeting+facilitator%2Cworkshop+facilitator%2Cgroup+process&case_insensitive=on&year_start=1890&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=5&share=&direct_url=t4%3B%2Cmeeting%20management%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bmeeting%20management%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BMeeting%20Management%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BMeeting%20management%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BMEETING%20MANAGEMENT%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cgroup%20effectiveness%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bgroup%20effectiveness%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20Effectiveness%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20effectiveness%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGROUP%20EFFECTIVENESS%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cgroup%20facilitation%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bgroup%20facilitation%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20facilitation%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20Facilitation%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGROUP%20FACILITATION%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cgroup%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bgroup%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20Facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGROUP%20FACILITATOR%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cmeeting%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cworkshop%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bworkshop%20facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BWorkshop%20Facilitator%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cgroup%20process%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bgroup%20process%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20Process%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGroup%20process%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BGROUP%20PROCESS%3B%2Cc0" vspace="0" width="700"></iframe><br />
<br />
The terms that appear in the title of this blog occur much more frequently. All were already in use in 1800. I find it interesting that use of "communication" dropped between 1860 and 1930 while use of the terms "consensus" and "collaboration" grew. Also interesting is that of the latter two terms, "consensus" was more widely used except between 1914 and 1972, when "collaboration" was more widely used. Most noticeable is the bump in use of "collaboration" from 1938 to 1948 when, I suppose, it was used in the context of "collaboration with the enemy."
<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" hspace="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="ngram_chart" scrolling="no" src="https://books.google.com/ngrams/interactive_chart?content=communication%2Ccollaboration%2Cconsensus&case_insensitive=on&year_start=1900&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t4%3B%2Ccommunication%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bcommunication%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BCommunication%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BCOMMUNICATION%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Ccollaboration%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bcollaboration%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BCollaboration%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cconsensus%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bconsensus%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BConsensus%3B%2Cc0" vspace="0" width="700"></iframe><br />
<br />
For more information about the underlying data and how to perform this analysis visit the <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/info">Google Books Ngram Viewer</a>. Please let me know if you find some interesting results.
Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-79521358374067967142014-02-09T10:50:00.003-05:002014-02-09T10:58:26.240-05:00Consensus and Authority in a Hierarchy: A Proposal<br />
<blockquote>
<i>How can consensus work in a hierarchical organization? Wouldn't consensus undermine the authority of the superior?</i></blockquote>
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<br />
I have encountered this question in organizations with a strong hierarchical structure. The person in the superior position has the formal decision-making authority and is held accountable for the decisions made. And yet, I do not think consensus decision making and hierarchy are incompatible. I have attempted to lay out how consensus can actually work in a hierarchical organization. Although these rules are somewhat tedious, please bear with me and share your thoughts.<br />
<ol>
<li>If the Head is not a member of the group, then the group strives to reach
agreement on a recommendation that is presented to the Head. It is useful if
the Head has agreed in advance to fully consider the recommendation of the
group and understand its reasoning.</li>
<br />
<li>If the Head is a member of the group, and if the group reaches full agreement,
then the Head's decision is the same as everyone else's. The Head's authority
is upheld in the consensus. For this to work, the Head must be a full
participant in the consensus building process.</li>
<br />
<li>If consensus is reached, and some of the members are not in full agreement but
nonetheless willing to support the decision, then:</li>
<ol>
<br />
<li>If the Head is in full agreement with the consensus decision, the Head's authority
is upheld in the consensus. </li>
<br />
<li>If the Head is one of those not in full agreement with the consensus decision, the
Head has the discretion to ask the group to reconsider the issues, clearly
taking the Head's concerns into account (an option available to any member of a
consensus-based decision-making group) or adopt a decision other than the
consensus decision.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<li>If consensus has not been reached, and there is either agreement by the group that
a decision must be made at this time, or there is an external constraint that
requires a decision at this time, then the Head has the discretion to make the
decision.</li>
</ol>
<br />
So what do you think? Does this sufficiently address both consensus-building and maintain hierarchical authority? Are there any loose ends?
Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-81730287324343101732014-01-09T16:03:00.001-05:002014-01-09T16:04:26.576-05:00Collective Intelligence, June 10-12, 2014 MIT<br />Call for Papers: <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.collectiveintelligence2014.org/" target="_blank">Collective Intelligence 2014</a><br />
MIT, Cambridge, MA<br />
June 10-12, 2014<br />
<a href="http://www.collectiveintelligence2014.org/">www.collectiveintelligence2014.org</a><br />
<br />
This interdisciplinary conference seeks to bring together researchers from a variety of fields relevant to understanding and designing collective intelligence of many types.<br />
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>human computation
</li>
<li>social computing
</li>
<li>crowdsourcing
</li>
<li>wisdom of crowds (e.g., prediction markets)
</li>
<li>group memory and extended cognition
</li>
<li>collective decision making and problem-solving
</li>
<li>participatory and deliberative democracy
</li>
<li>animal collective behavior
</li>
<li>organizational design
</li>
<li>public policy design (e.g., regulatory reform)
</li>
<li>ethics of collective intelligence (e.g., "digital sweatshops")
</li>
<li>computational models of group search and optimization
</li>
<li>emergence and evolution of intelligence
</li>
<li>new technologies for making groups smarter</li>
</ul>
<a href="http://www.collectiveintelligence2014.org/" target="_blank">More …</a>Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-4085356771289682712013-10-20T10:53:00.000-04:002013-11-11T11:22:36.275-05:00The New Vulcan Mind Meld<br />
<a href="http://hansheesterbeek.tumblr.com/Listen">Listening Instead of Telling</a>, Hans Heesterbeek’s excellent blog post, inspired me to write a long-planned essay on the importance and practice of <i>listening</i>. But then I came across the following letter from Mr. Spock, precipitated by a recent controversy in New York State. What you would add or change to Mr. Spock’s advice? Please comment below.<br />
<br />
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<b>An open letter from Spock to State Education Department Commissioner John King</b><br />
<br />
Stardate 2456583<br />
<br />
Dear Commissioner King<br />
<br />
Your recent <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Testing-forums-a-no-go-4895658.php" target="_blank">experience at the public forum </a>on New York State’s Common Core Standards, where you faced a barrage of shouted, angry criticism, is an example of righteous efforts – on both sides – escalating beyond what is good. <br />
<br />
What was at the core of this unfortunate situation? I believe your eminent linguist, S. I. Hayakawa, was insightful when he said, “Underlying virtually all our attempts to bring agreement is the assumption that agreement is brought about by changing other people’s minds.” Instead, the basis for building effective solutions comes from understanding each other.<br />
<br />
As a Vulcan, my long-instilled training and lifetime practice in logic divorced from emotion has enabled me to find the meaning in what people say without reacting to how they said it. It enables me to explore all aspects of a situation without the distorting bias of my own assumptions. While this method has served me well, there is none more fully effective for understanding others than the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(Star_Trek)#Mind_melds" target="_blank">Vulcan Mind Meld</a>. It enables me to enter the mind of another, to join our minds.<br />
<br />
As you may know, even among Vulcans, this method requires great skill that comes from years of intentional training and practice. Nonetheless, I would like to recommend to you and your fellow humans a method of similar potential, accessible to all. Outlined below, I call it <i>The New Vulcan Mind Meld</i>.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Start by telling yourself you want to understand and learn from the other person.</b> Make a conscious effort to understand, not just what they are saying, but where they are coming from, their understanding of the world, and how their ideas all come together to make sense for them. Not so you can find a flaw in their faith or reasoning, not so you can find a leverage point to change their thinking, but so you can understand and learn from them. You might try the Vulcan prescription, “My mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thoughts,” or perhaps the Spanish proverb, “Every head is a world.” </li>
<br />
<li><b>Even when you believe you understand someone or something, exercise some doubt.</b> Consider that your understanding may still be incorrect or incomplete. This will enable you to keep an open mind and to continue to learn. If you really want to understand something, you can’t believe it. Invoke the Talmudic teaching, “Teach your tongue to say ‘I don’t know.’”</li>
<br />
<li><b>Enrich your understanding by learning from people with different backgrounds and perspectives.</b> Singular points of view and simple explanations are easy to understand and the solutions they yield are easy to implement. But that doesn’t make them right or good. Learn and appreciate the complexity of your world. As it says in your Sayings of the Fathers, “Who is wise? One who learns from every person.”</li>
<br />
<li><b>Answering someone’s question assumes you understood it.</b> It is not necessary or even useful that you answer every question. It is more important that you clarify and understand the question and why it makes a difference to the person who asked it.
Find the commonalities, not just the differences. In my experience with humans, I have found too often that the few differences among you far overshadow the many things you have in common. (An example of this, which I’m told humans find humorous, is given by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/sep/29/comedy.religion">Emo Phillips</a>.) </li>
<br />
<li><b>Find a teacher, a guide, a person who is expert in this method of communication.</b> Because it is so different from your prevailing norms, it will help to have someone who can steward this method, especially when you are working in groups. This individual will not take a position, favor one party over another, or be concerned about the outcome. Rather, their role will be only to facilitate the process. </li>
</ul>
I suspect that adversarial, polarized, divisive, exclusionary, competitive ways of working have a tenacious hold on your species. Nonetheless, and all the more, you must try to work together. With the sad recognition that yours is not the only situation on earth that warrants this advice, please share this letter widely and develop its ideas more fully.<br />
<br />
With sincere appreciation for the delights and difficulties of human communication,<br />
Live long and prosper.<br />
<br />
Spock
Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-49515893053462987222013-10-13T12:31:00.002-04:002013-10-13T13:41:31.353-04:00The Meaning of WildernessThe debate in New York's Adirondack Mountains region had become increasingly polarized; interpersonal and interorganizational relationships had deteriorated. The Public Conversations Project convened a group of about 20 environmentalists, developers, forest industry people, sportsmen, and others with diverse views. The aim of the dialogue was to have individuals, however polarized their viewpoints, come together for two days as people, rather than as parties or positions, and understand each other. People were to attend voluntarily as individuals, not as representatives of organizations or constituencies. <br />
<br />
Given the potential volatility of the meeting they were asked to explicitly agree to a set of ground rules detailed in the invitational letter. One of the ground rules stated “… avoid making negative attributions not only about those in the room, but also those not present.” This was especially important in this case because some attendees at previous dialogues in this region had verbally attacked others.<br />
<br />
Well into the meeting, the conversation turned to the topic of wilderness and its implications for the future of the region. Some participants expressed the view that wilderness areas did not contribute to the regional economy and were not valued by residents. Others felt that wilderness areas were essential to maintaining the environmental and economic character of the region. One individual, Jeff, asserted, “the people who support wilderness areas are outsiders, they don't live here; local residents who have to make their living here don't see any value in wilderness.” In response, Betty claimed, “I know hundreds of residents who support wilderness!” To which Jeff snapped, “I don't think you even have a hundred friends!"<br />
<br />
As facilitator I interrupted abruptly and alerted the group to this violation of ground rules. I physically turned to John, who was sitting away from the fray and asked him, “what comes to mind when you think of wilderness?” He replied, “Pristine, untouched lands where one can observe nature on its own terms.” I asked if anyone had a different interpretation. From across the room another participant said, “I had in mind what it says in the Adirondack Park Agency law, that a wilderness area is a designated area in which motor vehicles are not permitted; there can be trails and lean-tos, just no motor vehicles.” <br />
<br />
I turned back to Betty and asked her which definition she had in mind when she said she knew hundreds of residents who supported wilderness. “The definition in the law,” she replied. Then I asked Jeff, and he replied, “the pristine wilderness.” I followed up with him and asked, “do you think that residents support the designation of areas in which no motor vehicles are allowed?” “Yes,” he replied. I paused and then remarked, “So hurtful words were spoken because there were different meanings in use for the same term.” I paused for a long time, resisting the temptation to ask Jeff if he wanted to apologize, and hoping that he would, but none was forthcoming.<br />
<br />
I felt good that I intervened immediately before there was any escalation in this potentially volatile situation. Also, I felt I had done an outstanding job in diagnosing a potential source of miscommunication, the meaning attached to the word wilderness, and I turned out to be correct. Nonetheless I felt that I failed to adequately address the basic violation of the ground rule, nor did I help the group deal with it emotionally. In a way, by dealing with the conflict substantively I undermined the ability of the group to deal with it interpersonally.<br />
<br />
Professor Russell Martin drilled into me as an undergraduate, “meanings are in people not in words.” When there is conflict ascertain if it is genuine, or based on miscommunication. If the conflict involves the use of a particular word or phrase, define it; to avoid the misconceptions that are created when multiple meanings are inferred from the same word, stop using the word and instead use its longer definitions.
<br />
<br />
© 2000 Sandor Schuman. Permission is granted to use or adapt this story so long as the title above is used and attribution is given to the author. For suggestions on how to use stories like this in training workshops, see my post on <a href="http://tothestory.blogspot.com/2013/10/stop-action-storytelling.html">Stop Action Storytelling</a>.Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-34110921019632726202013-10-13T12:27:00.001-04:002013-10-13T12:31:51.314-04:00The Unaccustomed ParticipantI never knew who this guy was, but even before the meeting started he sought me out. Undoubtedly he had just arrived from the airport for this big meeting we were running for the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the Great Flood of '93, when the Mississippi overflowed its banks for months. He walked right up to me, a mass of curly black hair, green-canvas backpack slung over one shoulder. He extended his hand, not to shake mine, but to push a computer disk in my face. “This is my recommendation,” he said, “I need to print this out.”<br />
<br />
I was taken aback. Perhaps he didn't understand how these meetings worked. I explained, “We're not ready for recommendations yet. We have 150 experts coming here from all over the country. This afternoon we'll start our bus tour, visiting various disaster sites to learn the specifics of this situation. Tomorrow we'll return here and split up into eight different work groups, each focusing on a different problem area. The day after we'll develop consensus recommendations. Recommendations before we even get started would be premature.” Frustrated, he turned away.<br />
<br />
The participants toured agricultural lands that had been flooded, levies that had been breached, buildings whose ground floors were filled with mud left by receding waters, whole villages that had been submerged. They returned to the Hazard Mitigation Conference with a first-hand understanding of the disaster far deeper than one gained by reading the newspaper or watching television news reports. They set to work in their groups, following the detailed procedure we had laid out for analyzing the problems and developing recommendations. Each group had it own facilitator, and they came to me if they ran into any problems.<br />
<br />
It wasn't long before one of the facilitators came to me during a coffee break. “There's one guy in my group who is a real pain,” she said. “He doesn't seem to understand the process; he's very impatient. Could you talk to him? He's that guy over there with the curly black hair and the backpack.”<br />
<br />
I talked to him again. I assured him that he would be able to present his recommendation, but that he had to work with the rest of his group. The others were perhaps not as far along in their thinking as he was and he had to work with them. He appeared to calm down.<br />
<br />
I heard from that facilitator many times during the conference, sharing with me her frustrations with this participant. Finally, she reported with some relief that the whole group was fed up with this guy's quirky and disruptive behavior, that he was a real – let me say – “unaccustomed participant,” and that they were just ignoring him.<br />
<br />
Ultimately each group developed a series of recommendations, posted on the walls of its work area on flip chart paper. In the next stage, each group visited each of the other seven groups. They could comment on the other groups' recommendations and even add new ones if they thought a particular idea had been omitted. It was only at this stage that our “unaccustomed participant” – rejected by his own group, but persistent nonetheless – conformed to our procedure and wrote his recommendation on a sheet of flip chart paper and posted it on the wall with the others. <br />
<br />
The final step involved the assessment of priorities. There were a couple of hundred recommendations, and we asked the participants to choose twenty that were most important. Each participant received twenty sticky dots – half-inch self-adhesive paper circles – and they could wander around the conference floor, visiting each group's recommendations, putting a sticky dot on each of the twenty recommendations that they felt were most important. <br />
<br />
We counted up the sticky dots and arranged the recommendations in priority order. The participants came together in one large group and reviewed the results &ndash; the top recommendations plastered all over the front wall. There was general affirmation that these were the most important recommendations. Various individuals offered summary comments and closing insights. Then everyone went back to the airport, to their home base.<br />
<br />
Afterwards, the troubled facilitator with the “unaccustomed participant” approached me. “Did you notice the recommendation at the top of the list, the one with the most votes?” “Yes,” I replied, “it's a great recommendation. It gets to the very heart of the problem; among all the recommendations it's the only one that presents a long-term strategy for the prevention of great floods like this one. That recommendation came from your group, didn't it?” “Yes, and no,” she replied. “That recommendation came from the man with the curly black hair and the backpack.” <br />
<br />
© 2000 Sandor Schuman. Permission is granted to use this story so long as the title above is used and attribution is given to the author. For suggestions on how to use stories like this in training workshops, see my post on <a href="http://tothestory.blogspot.com/2013/10/stop-action-storytelling.html">Stop Action Storytelling</a>.Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-63729155397108801812013-10-08T16:46:00.001-04:002013-10-08T16:46:07.962-04:00The Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research (INGRoup) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoFr8y8I53ZePHrT6_Ow8UdtubmMOxmGyTzNsfaEi6ehnRTNnUvwfGDxKRizZhXN81nbjpaScf_71rO6H-sTYEYuFbZR1N_wdNEdArw4Sa1FZ_-SpbTLx3z-L6T4COA4C7KlLWqef7FGI/s1600/INGRoup-logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoFr8y8I53ZePHrT6_Ow8UdtubmMOxmGyTzNsfaEi6ehnRTNnUvwfGDxKRizZhXN81nbjpaScf_71rO6H-sTYEYuFbZR1N_wdNEdArw4Sa1FZ_-SpbTLx3z-L6T4COA4C7KlLWqef7FGI/s640/INGRoup-logo.png" /></a></div>
The <a href="http://www.ingroup.net/">Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research</a> (INGRoup) Conference will take place July 17-19, 2014 at the Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel, Raleigh, NC, USA. Here is an excerpt from the call for papers:
<br />
<blockquote>
Societies are dependent on the formation and utilization of groups and teams, making them relevant to countless aspects of life. Accordingly, scholars who study groups can be found across a wide array of disciplines (e.g., anthropology, communication, education, engineering, history, information systems, medicine, nursing, organizational behavior, philosophy, psychology, political science, public health, sociology). The Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research (INGRoup) was created to provide a context for scholars to:
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Promote communication about groups and te ams research across fields and nations</li>
<li>Advance understanding about group dynamics through research</li>
<li>Advance theory and methods for understanding groups and teams </li>
<li>Promote interdisciplinary research</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
The 9<sup>th</sup> Annual INGRoup Conference will be held so scholars across disciplines can come together, share information, and learn from one another. The conference program will include paper, poster, symposia, and panel sessions, a keynote address, and a business meeting open to all members so the future of INGRoup can be collectively planned and shaped.</blockquote>
The 2014 INGRoup <i>Call for Papers</i> can be found <a href="http://www.ingroup.net/conference.html">here</a>.
Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-2770064728969388282013-10-03T15:48:00.000-04:002013-10-03T15:48:46.742-04:00 International Facilitation Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.iaf-world.org/Libraries/2013_Facilitation_Week_documents/iaf_key_logo.sflb.ashx" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.iaf-world.org/Libraries/2013_Facilitation_Week_documents/iaf_key_logo.sflb.ashx" width="300" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.iaf-world.org/index/Events/InternationalFacilitationWeek.aspx">International Facilitation Week</a> is October 21-27, 2013. Sponsored by the <a href="http://www.iaf-world.org/index.aspx">International Association of Facilitators</a> (IAF), it “celebrates the power of facilitation and facilitators to help people in businesses, government and local communities work together more effectively.” More information and resources for International Facilitation Week can be found <a href="http://www.iaf-world.org/index/Events/InternationalFacilitationWeek.aspx">here</a>.<br><br>
As part of the event, IAF has a <a href="http://www.iaf-world.org/AboutIAF/JoinRenew.aspx">special membership offer</a> for those who join the Association before October 27, 2013. I am a recipient of <a href="http://www.iaf-world.org/AboutIAF/SustainingMembers/SSchuman.aspx">IAF’s Lifetime Membership Award</a>, and heartily recommend IAF membership and participation in its professional development conferences and resources.Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-48362353153749489192013-06-26T11:36:00.000-04:002013-06-26T11:36:34.192-04:00Teaching People About Groups<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sgr.sagepub.com/content/44/4.cover.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://sgr.sagepub.com/content/44/4.cover.gif" /></a></div>
<blockquote>“This special issue of <i>Small Group Research,</i> entitled <i>Teaching People about Groups,</i> features six articles on the ways in which instructors of group courses (in several disciplines) can creatively teach group concepts and theories. Each article not only describes an actual course, some of which have been taught many times, but also identifies some of the issues that can arise in teaching a groups course. Taken together, the articles represent a valuable resource for anyone who teaches (or plans to teach) a course on small groups.”</blockquote>
<p>Richard Moreland, from the introduction to the <a href="http://sgr.sagepub.com/content/44/4"><i>Small Group Research: Special Issue on Teaching People about Groups</i></a></p>
<p>Given the importance of working in groups, this is an extremely valuable issue. Here is the table of contents.</p>
<p><i>Teaching People About Groups,</i> by Richard Moreland</p>
<p><i>Experiential Learning in an Undergraduate Course in Group Communication and Decision Making,</i>
by Poppy Lauretta McLeod</p>
<p><i>Practicing What We Preach: Teaching Teams Using Validated Team Science,</i>
by Jessica L. Wildman and Wendy L. Bedwell</p>
<p><i>Social Constructivist Teaching Strategies in the Small Group Classroom,</i>
by Lisa M. Schreiber and Brielle Elise Valle</p>
<p><i>Virtual Team Effectiveness: An Experiential Activity,</i>
by Lucy L. Gilson, M. Travis Maynard, and Erich B. Bergiel</p>
<p><i>Developing Students As Global Learners: "Groups in Our World" Blog,</i>
by Annika L. Meinecke, Kim K. Smith, and Nale Lehmann-Willenbrock</p>
<p><i>Beyond 12 Angry Men: Thin-Slicing Film to Illustrate Group Dynamics</i>
by Mary J. Waller, Golchehreh Sohrab, and Bernard W. Ma</p>
<p>Read the abstracts of these articles for free at <a href="http://sgr.sagepub.com/content/44/4">http://sgr.sagepub.com/content/44/4</a></p>Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-6208527113616281202013-05-31T12:46:00.000-04:002013-05-31T12:46:07.689-04:00Improving the Accuracy of Group Judgment<p>We would like things to be simple. This applies to group processes as much as anything else, as reflected in my earlier post, <a href="http://sschuman.blogspot.com/2010/06/x-ways-to-y-your-meetings.html">X Ways to Y Your Meetings</a>. However, to obtain superior results, it is sometimes necessary to use group processes that are complex. In my post on the <a href="http://sschuman.blogspot.com/2012/08/false-wisdom-of-crowds.html">False Wisdom of Crowds(?)</a> I referred to a process intervention in which “small, interacting groups were able to perform significantly better than their most proficient members … when aided by an enhanced, iterative, ‘estimate-feedback-talk’ process [that involved] integration of group facilitation, decision modeling, and information technology.” In response to a recent inquiry, the specifics of this <i>enhanced, iterative, estimate-feedback-talk</i> process are shown below, although some of the steps, divorced from the rest of the article, will be somewhat cryptic. <p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6WP2-45P0H48-5/2/6c28ed7b5475a495e45682d367b0025e">Improving the Accuracy of Group Judgment: A Process Intervention Combining Group Facilitation, Social Judgment Analysis, and Information Technology</a> <br />
by Patricia Reagan-Cirincione<br />
<em>Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,</em> Vol. 58, No. 2, May 1994, pp. 246-270.<br /></p>
<p align="center"> Table 1: Overview of the Process Intervention</p>
<table border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0">
<tr>
<td colspan="2" align="center">INDIVIDUAL </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p>1. Estimate</p>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<p>Specification of weights and functional relations of predictors<br />
Holistic judgments on 25 cases</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p>2. Feedback</p>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<p>Display of statistically estimated weights and functional relations</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p>3. Estimate</p>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<p>Reconciliation of statistically estimated and intuitively specified weights and functional relations</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" valign="top" align="center">GROUP</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p>4. Feedback</p>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<p>Display of reconciled weights and functional relations</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p>5. Talk</p>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<p>Facilitated group discussion</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p>6. Estimate</p>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<p>Facilitated specification of weights and functional relations<br />
Facilitated holistic judgments on 25 cases (each judgment followed by predicted judgment)</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p>7. Feedback</p>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<p>Display of statistically estimated and intuitively specified weights and functional relations</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p>8. Talk</p>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<p>Facilitated group discussion</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p>9. Estimate</p>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<p>Facilitated respecification of weights and functional relations<br />
Facilitated holistic judgments on 25 cases (each judgment preceded by predicted judgment)</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p>10. Feedback</p>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<p>Display of statistically estimated and intuitively specified weights and functional relations</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<p>11. Talk</p>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<p>Facilitated group discussion to final consensus judgment policy</p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-3306204241853715262012-11-23T10:13:00.000-05:002012-11-23T10:13:02.432-05:00Storyteller?<p>I changed my job title to read <i>Group Facilitator, Collaborative Process Advocate, and Storyteller</i> more than ten years ago. While <i>group facilitator</i> and <i>collaborative process advocate</i> are not what I would call widely accepted professional titles (just try finding them in the Yellow Pages), I felt comfortable with them. The one I was uneasy about was <i>storyteller</i>. Still, I sometimes wonder how people react to that string of descriptors. </p>
In an attempt to connect those dots, I crafted the following bio. Rather than a traditional biographical sketch, I put it in the form of a first-person story.
<blockquote>My Father was a storyteller. It was his everyday way of communicating important values and ideas. I followed his example, but didn't realize it until several years ago. After leading a three-day training program on group facilitation at the Pentagon, I read the attendee’s evaluation forms. In response to the question, “What did you like best about the program?” several people responded, “Sandy's stories.” I didn't understand what they were talking about so I asked my co-trainer. He looked at me, puzzled, and said, “Don't you remember you told that story about the meeting in the Adirondacks where they insisted they couldn’t reach consensus, and one about the volunteer board of directors where one of them came in late and he had a hangover, and the time the chairman threw the facilitators out of the meeting … ” I realized then that I had told a lot of stories. Since that experience I've told stories more intentionally and formally, and in front of audiences large and small – personal adventures, historical sagas, tall tales, Jewish stories. I am pleased to share my stories with you. Find out more at <a href="http://www.exedes.com/stories/">www.exedes.com/stories/</a></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiueM7MCMDyuIPsDinON2jUS57RgFAvfnbRJazXaXwgxrUyHmZBR9HituoYlC8CvHl8TUT8J4mwuU-ja8gX5o7lTxDJ-2vi9k4eEWuIjQ86opmbcqt7r-cWCMZGAOIxLCAQcFZhtH7mCcM/s1600/saw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="100" width="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiueM7MCMDyuIPsDinON2jUS57RgFAvfnbRJazXaXwgxrUyHmZBR9HituoYlC8CvHl8TUT8J4mwuU-ja8gX5o7lTxDJ-2vi9k4eEWuIjQ86opmbcqt7r-cWCMZGAOIxLCAQcFZhtH7mCcM/s200/saw.jpg" /></a></div>
Over those ten years—while I facilitated groups, advised collaborative leaders, and produced <a href="http://www.exedes.com/handbooks/">three books on group facilitation and collaboration</a>— storytelling grew larger in my professional life. I trademarked the logo to the left and, at professional conferences, led my workshop, “Stories at Work: How to Create, Tell, and Use Stories with Groups and Organizations.” I told stories—true stories—to illustrate a point or respond to questions.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjauc19I9FR8vS0d_20YvQlEU4CPjQpHPKeZbmQ5Yw492iX_tN-WvjckeVbJUYRCYbmdCqyvkhvROvZdXmFGGG2GKENbMkwp-HkHbt5ScovVgwk-tE5FhTLeTqX6Ck5yGXSkbf4Lr9zGic/s1600/Welcome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="149" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjauc19I9FR8vS0d_20YvQlEU4CPjQpHPKeZbmQ5Yw492iX_tN-WvjckeVbJUYRCYbmdCqyvkhvROvZdXmFGGG2GKENbMkwp-HkHbt5ScovVgwk-tE5FhTLeTqX6Ck5yGXSkbf4Lr9zGic/s200/Welcome.jpg" /></a></div>
Now, I've taken a different turn. Here is a collection of fictional stories, <a href="http://www.exedes.com/chelm%27s-pond/"><i>Adirondack Mendel’s Aufruf: Welcome to Chelm’s Pond</i></a>. I describe it as a mashup of the Chelm fool and Adirondack tall tale, a fusion of Adirondack-Ashkenzick cuisine, and a wonder about the nature of God and the meaning of prayer. Please take a look at the 2½-minute <a href="http://www.exedes.com/chelm%27s-pond/">book trailer</a>, view the illustrations on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/chelmspond">Facebook</a>, and let me know what you think!
Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-79804954508336705302012-08-15T12:43:00.000-04:002012-08-15T12:45:18.191-04:00False Wisdom of Crowds(?)<p><em>“<a href="http://www.futuristspeaker.com/2012/08/false-wisdom-of-crowds/">False Wisdom of Crowds</a>,”</em> Thomas Frey's recent blog post, comes to a useful conclusion – that analytical skills are becoming increasingly important to take advantage of big data – but some of his comments regarding the “wisdom of crowds” are incomplete.
<p>For example, he says, “When working with large groups of people online, the wisdom of crowds is neither elevated to the smartest among them, nor is it diminished to the lowest levels. It hoovers somewhere in the middle.”</p>
<p>In fact, this is true for groups of all sizes, as evidenced by a demonstration I often use. Here is a specific, recent result.<p>
<p>During a presentation I was giving, I asked the audience to estimate the population of Albany, New York (capital of the Empire State and my home town). Here's the process they followed.</p>
<ol>
<li>I asked them to form into groups of three persons each. To each group I gave four index cards. One of the cards was marked “group estimate.” I asked them to hold that card aside.</li>
<li>They made independent, individual estimates, and wrote each estimate one of the three remaining cards.</li>
<li>They talked and arrived at a group estimate (using whatever method they wanted) and wrote it on the "group estimate" card.</li>
<li>I showed them the 2010 Census estimate of Albany's population. They calculated the difference between the Census figure and each estimate and wrote it on the corresponding card.</li>
<li>They ordered the four cards, the one closest to the Census figure at the top.</li>
<li>I asked them "What is the rank of your Group Estimate? Is it the best estimate, second best, third best?" Here are the results.</li>
</ol>
<p>Number of groups whose group estimate was …</p>
<table>
<tr><td>Best:</td><td>1</td></tr>
<tr><td>2nd Best:</td><td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>3rd Best:</td><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>4th Best:</td><td>0</td></tr>
</table>
<p>What this means is that six of the groups had one group member whose independent, individual estimate was better than the one they came to as a group; in four of the groups, there were two such group members. In only one group was the group's estimate better than that of any of the individuals.</p>
<p>This result is typical. (If there is anything unusual about it, it is that one of the groups had a group estimate that was the best.)</p>
<p>So one could conclude that groups are not effective. That would be the wrong conclusion.</p>
<p>Instead, researchers have focused on the processes used by groups to make estimates, judgments, and decisions. Using carefully thought out and tested techniques, it is possible to have groups consistently produce results that are better than that produced by the best individual working alone.* Indeed, by sharing information and correcting each others errors, groups can produce results that are better than the best individual.</p>
<p>* For example, see Reagan-Cirincione, P. (1994). “<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6WP2-45P0H48-5/2/6c28ed7b5475a495e45682d367b0025e">Improving the Accuracy of Group Judgment: A Process Intervention Combining Group Facilitation, Social Judgment Analysis, and Information Technology</a>.” <em>Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,</em> Vol. 58, No. 2 (May), pp. 246-270.</p>
Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-39481663449510786692012-07-03T19:38:00.000-04:002012-07-03T19:58:03.396-04:00How to Create an Organization's Story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="73" width="100" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyob1xeEuFP41vVdyVdtQ_kbtZ-RTxNnKZ1vLOunWwXNLA1GE_4oSvpc90M2LmiRlOGXUh_y36DeWrGrAIxbtedopNdfPgPpVl2_FEifNuVbeYxHm3Hd3kNy2khKx1vvEslmkfxzAbHw/s200/Lego-Brick.png" /></div>
<p>One of my storytelling colleagues was asked by a board of directors to help them tell their organization's story. It is an amazing story but they were unclear how to convey this story to themselves, their members and others. My storytelling colleague – who does not work in <i>organizational</i> storytelling – asked for advice. Here is the preliminary advice I provided. I would like to hear yours.</p>
<p>Think in terms of multiple, easily tellable stories (rather than one big
or complex one). A good elevator story (I mean this literally – that is,
a story that can be completed on the way to the lunch room) that is
memorable and repeatable will do a better job than one that requires a
well-rehearsed professional storyteller.</p>
<p>For example, here's a story from <i>The Ultimate LEGO Book</i> that
brings home the company motto, “Only the best is good enough.”</p>
<p>When Godtfred, son of LEGO’s founder Ole Kirk, tried to save company money
by finishing a shipment of toy ducks with two coats of paint instead of
the usual three, his father told him: “Go and get the ducks immediately,
give them their last coat of paint, repack them, and take them back to the
station. And do it all yourself “ even if it takes you all night!”</p>
<p>Some ideas for eliciting stories from people in the organization:</p>
<UL>
<LI>How was the organization started. Who founded it, what obstacles were in
the way, how were they overcome.</LI>
<LI>Tell me about a challenging situation. What did you learn about the
organization and the people involved. What came of it.</LI>
<LI>Tell me about a situation that caused you to feel proud about the
organization and the people involved in it.</LI>
</UL>
<p>Some sources:</p>
<UL>
<LI><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_storytelling">Wikipedia - Organizational Storytelling</a></LI>
<LI><a href="http://www.storytellinginorganizations.com/">Storytelling in Organizations - Special Interest Group of the National Storytelling Network</a></LI>
<LI><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1814919">Organizational Storytelling - LinkedIn Group</a></LI>
</UL>
<p>Sandor (Sandy) Schuman<br \>
<a href="http://www.exedes.com/stories/workshops.html">Stories at Work<sup>®</sup></a></p>Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-14061496221989297942012-06-11T23:29:00.000-04:002012-06-12T09:06:57.971-04:00Facilitators Should Not Be Neutral<p>My “Fast Talk,” <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly_-wpIlxZI&list=PL8A5EEDCCFAA18D0A&index=1&feature=plpp_video"><i>Facilitators Should Not Be Neutral</i></a>, from the International Association of Facilitators Conference 2012 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly_-wpIlxZI&list=PL8A5EEDCCFAA18D0A&index=1&feature=plpp_video" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm5nTzl7YnKNkjFvz16wvt8k4cbRLl9LEThkFo0J5ECekBEcwDpmdAygNXhq_t0mcdHeAuDl_J3EguL5XNolLbgrwQ8c386eUm-FUL0-59J2FnpxJVr1LhgUzdVDuzX-V0lilMsg_Q0ro/s320/IAF-Fast-Talk.png" width="320" /></a></p></div>
<br />Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0Halifax, NS, Canada44.648881 -63.57531244.6375845 -63.595053 44.6601775 -63.555570999999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-66369763640197124372012-05-25T13:00:00.001-04:002012-05-25T13:00:12.159-04:00Working with Difficult Groups: A Conceptual Framework<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XGPLpAYLB-2V1z9RzggMwUyg7o0lGcPSOi3muWijHxBPFEygMgZdRECVeynjmmMGfotyr9jHDAfmXSKQjA1pmhWU-DUmqkvPVoYdoMkJn__BUYAdDZUznRFfUjixHayzoK7qos2c6sk/s1600/schuman-iafna-2012-wdg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XGPLpAYLB-2V1z9RzggMwUyg7o0lGcPSOi3muWijHxBPFEygMgZdRECVeynjmmMGfotyr9jHDAfmXSKQjA1pmhWU-DUmqkvPVoYdoMkJn__BUYAdDZUznRFfUjixHayzoK7qos2c6sk/s200/schuman-iafna-2012-wdg.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<p>Do I look worried in this picture? I was not. I was leading a workshop in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the 2012 International Association of Facilitator's – North America Conference. It was a great event, and I am looking forward to their <a href="http://www.iaf-world.org/">upcoming conferences</a>.</p>
<p>The purpose of my workshop was to explain the “conceptual framework for working with difficult groups” that John Rohrbaugh and I developed for the book, <em>Working with Difficult Groups</em>. If you're interested in the framework, you can download a free copy of the chapter that explains it. Go to the <a href="http://www.exedes.com/difficultgroups/"><em>Working with Difficult Groups</em></a> website, and on the left-side menu, click “A Conceptual Framework for Working with Difficult Groups.”</p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklabkC7acw2azXS50HOSneywKLZM981dRa0Wl-4PZ4y4JKLTnkamK-uEs1YCLS6r9SjTV5y40nFi2_-ZxExwJU0r0-usm2k8S7hgS4coT1PNEryqYMq9c3db-wxdeDXFUx6AQfTGT0fw/s1600/schuman-iafna-2012-saw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="143" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklabkC7acw2azXS50HOSneywKLZM981dRa0Wl-4PZ4y4JKLTnkamK-uEs1YCLS6r9SjTV5y40nFi2_-ZxExwJU0r0-usm2k8S7hgS4coT1PNEryqYMq9c3db-wxdeDXFUx6AQfTGT0fw/s200/schuman-iafna-2012-saw.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Another workshop I led was entitled “Stories at Work: How to Create, Tell, and Use Stories with Groups and Organizations.” You can learn more about that workshop <a href="http://www.exedes.com/stories/workshops.html">here</a> and download copies of two of the group facilitation stories I used, “The Meaning of Wilderness” and “The Uncomfortable Participant.”</p>
<p>Stay tuned for a video of my conference “Fast Talk,” <em>Facilitators Should <u>Not</u> Be Neutral</em>.Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-64630355625668575312012-03-27T14:51:00.000-04:002012-03-27T14:51:13.529-04:00The Science of Team Science Conference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsnbAQa-WtCKndNGEB8_AR2psHFuEVtrE5t-sUvt62OH4ME6CwzOTDpbGIOxHF5eFLG-zQEBfe7UsSZabWWxUBt47vz-pJ3AOiHJyooefNAz0ZcmACf3Sm2ieV8PLJflypbmAIldGkNTE/s1600/science-of-team-science.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Science of Team Science Conference" border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsnbAQa-WtCKndNGEB8_AR2psHFuEVtrE5t-sUvt62OH4ME6CwzOTDpbGIOxHF5eFLG-zQEBfe7UsSZabWWxUBt47vz-pJ3AOiHJyooefNAz0ZcmACf3Sm2ieV8PLJflypbmAIldGkNTE/s640/science-of-team-science.jpg" title="Science of Team Science Conference" width="640" /></a></div>
"The Annual International <a href="http://scienceofteamscience.org/" target="_blank">Science of Team Science (SciTS) </a>Conference is a forum to enhance our understanding of how best to engage in Team Science to meet society’s needs. The SciTS Conference serves: as a point of convergence for investigators studying Science teams and Team Science leaders/practitioners; to engage funding agencies to provide guidance on developing and managing Team Science initiatives; and to afford data providers and analytics developers insight into collaboration tracking and analysis needs. In this way, the SciTS Conference acts as a bridge between the science and the praxis of Team Science, serving as an important conduit for translating empirical findings about Team Science into evidence-based effective practices for scientific teams and funders of Team Science."<br /><br />Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-53590840590472041202012-03-19T12:37:00.000-04:002012-03-27T14:52:21.914-04:00Relationships are what we have.I am fond of the following, which I wrote in <i> Creating a Culture of Collaboration</i> (and later modified):
<br />
<blockquote>
Meaning is what we want.<br />
Understanding is what we need.<br />
Choices are what we make.<br />
Relationships are what we have.</blockquote>
But this video says it better.<br />
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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/armP8TfS9Is&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></embed></object>Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5133094372127145968.post-7271158981731126102012-03-05T10:54:00.000-05:002012-03-27T14:53:30.642-04:00Small Group Research - Special Issue on Organizational Meetings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0703M17TRzUgB_PzljAi6ycyzJFo3Mcc_akWi8OGSe8RX7WqHP5pGRXwZ9bBGm0GFFiWB2paZ42rzGgILUswuIOOYV2YpcCXad3_ZqLVA0q6OQ8eRBlUx9Vqf63-BmNbHGn7giMraAg/s1600/SGR-cover.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0703M17TRzUgB_PzljAi6ycyzJFo3Mcc_akWi8OGSe8RX7WqHP5pGRXwZ9bBGm0GFFiWB2paZ42rzGgILUswuIOOYV2YpcCXad3_ZqLVA0q6OQ8eRBlUx9Vqf63-BmNbHGn7giMraAg/s1600/SGR-cover.gif" /></a></div>
<i>Small Group Research</i> has published a <a href="http://sgr.sagepub.com/content/43/2" target="_blank"><i>Special Issue on Organizational Meetings</i> </a>(Volume 43, Number 2, April 2012). Below is the table of contents with links to these articles.<br />
<h3>
<a href="http://sgr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/43/2/127?etoc" target="_blank">Meetings at Work: Advancing the Theory and Practice of Meetings</a></h3>
<h4>
Cliff W. Scott, Linda Rhoades Shanock, and Steven G. Rogelberg</h4>
<h3>
<a href="http://sgr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/43/2/130?etoc" target="_blank">Meetings Matter: Effects of Team Meetings on Team and Organizational Success</a></h3>
<h4>
Simone Kauffeld and Nale Lehmann-Willenbrock</h4>
<h3>
<a href="http://sgr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/43/2/159?etoc" target="_blank">The Meeting Genre Across Cultures: Insights From Three German-American Collaborations</a></h3>
<h4>
Tine Kohler, Catherine Durnell Cramton, and Pamela J. Hinds</h4>
<h3>
<a href="http://sgr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/43/2/186?etoc" target="_blank">Team Meeting Attitudes: Conceptualization and Investigation of a New Construct</a></h3>
<h4>
Thomas A. O'Neill and Natalie J. Allen</h4>
<h3>
<a href="http://sgr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/43/2/211?etoc%20" target="_blank">Public Meeting Facilitation: A Naive Theory Analysis of Crisis Meeting Interaction</a></h3>
<h4>
Stephenson J. Beck, Robert S. Littlefield, and Andrea J. Weber</h4>
<h3>
<a href="http://sgr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/43/2/236?etoc" target="_blank">Wasted Time and Money in Meetings: Increasing Return on Investment</a></h3>
<h4>
Steven G. Rogelberg, Linda Rhoades Shanock, and Cliff W. Scott</h4>
<br />Sandy Schumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373637046730424126noreply@blogger.com0