Effective design is a powerful preventative tool, but providing some level of conflict management resolution support is an inevitable and important part of facilitating group work.
As an educator, your role is to decide whether the conflict is functional or dysfunctional and at what point you may or may not need to intervene. Here we offer advice on how to mediate conflict and empower students.
The role of the educator
Conflict can be a spur for innovation and developing valuable teamwork and communication skills.
The role of the educator is to help guide students to prevent conflict from rendering groups dysfunctional, or to help students resolve dysfunction if it does occur.
There are three broad approaches you might take if you notice or are made aware of major conflict:
Empower and equip
Conflict resolution is an important skill for students to develop; encourage them to resolve conflict within the group wherever possible. Some ways you might support students to do this include:
- Coaching or providing advice and resources on conflict resolution (e.g. how to provide effective feedback, compromise, negotiation, respectful and honest communication etc.)
- Reminding them that they can refer to the team charter (if one exists) that all members have agreed to, particularly if it seems group members(s) aren’t uploading the agreement.
- Ensuring there is in-class time for structured group reflections and discussions about team work, giving a supported opportunity for them to raise issues with their group member(s).
Mediate
In some cases, you may need to step in to mediate a discussion between group member(s) to support them in reaching a resolution. Some things to consider when mediating a discussion are:
- Setting some ground rules for respectful communication so all parties can share their perspective and are encouraged to listen to others
- What compromises or options can the students come up with to negotiate/create a fair way forward?
- Are the students acting in a way that reflects the agreed commitments in their team charter? Are there core values or expectations not being met?
Allow group changes
Individuals requesting to leave a group
One occasionally helpful option is to allow students to switch groups (either swapping two members or a one-way move). This method, however, should not come at the expense of developing skills in communication and compromise. As such, it:
- Should only be used in cases where the group is completely unable to resolve their issues internally.
- Should only rarely be used for cases of creative differences or personality clashes (working through these is an important part of group work).
Groups requesting a member to leave
It can be helpful to provide a method for groups to remove a member who isn’t meeting the minimum standards, but this option should meet several criteria:
- It should involve a warning system. At-risk students should be given a clear, written list of what they need to improve to avoid being removed from a group.
- It should be used only when attempts to empower and equip individuals to find a resolution, and attempts to mediate this process, have been largely unsuccessful. Your judgement of the situation is that the groups will remain dysfunctional and that group changes are likely to benefit student learning and well-being.
Troubleshooting scenarios
Select a scenario to read some possible solutions to group conflict.
Further reading
- Conflict Management in Student Groups – a Teacher’s Perspective in Higher Education (Borg et al 2011)
- Common Group Work Challenges and Solutions – Iowa State University
- You Are Fired! A Method to Control and Sanction Free Riding in Group Assignments (Abernethy & Lett 2005)
- The problem of free riding in group projects: Looking beyond social loafing as reason for non-contribution