Reflection on 20 Sept Wimba session

My turn to lead our Wimba session so I elected to focus the discussion around leading equals.  This is an area that I work with quite a lot in both my Principal Lecturer role (in that no one reports to me) and everyday team teaching situations.  I was also interested in focussing the discussion around a particular topic with the aim of achieving depth in the conversation.


Info I sent in advance:
Leading Equals article - mindtools.com

Questions that arose from the article:

How important is power and/or authority in achieving goals and encouraging 'followers'?

What ways do we deal with non-existent authority?

How do I empower teams I work in?

Notes from the discussion:

"Horizontal collaborations" 

benefits are that often there is a mutual respect, no boss to have to follow or be aware of disagreeing with (although that never seems to bother me).  In an effective group there is no power struggle and flexibility in peer professional relationships. Often a fair bit of understanding/empathy too as equals.

tensions - in a recent team I worked with there were beginning tensions developed over what I saw as a lack of clear framework related to timing of meetings, number of participants required to be available and focus of the group. These were teething problems that were sorted out (through me raising this as an issue and initiating discussion around timing/representation and setting goals).  I handled this in a direct face to face manner with three other team members who had branched away. Handling in a collegial up front manner enabled us to achieve some more specific work and I think there were no bad feelings left over.  While I acknowledge that I gravitate to a fairly formal structure re setting goals and deadlines, this break up of the original group of six was also partly due to the person who was assigned the coordination role being unavailable, perhaps a little distracted and not an assertive leader.  I assumed a leadership role that encouraged coordination back as a group of six and encouraged inclusion in support of the assigned coordinator to enable her to do the job as leader and suggested we work around her timetable. We have done this and although this means I will be excluded from the next meeting, I am happier about the result.  I feel that I managed to lead equals by raising an issue, asking for and making suggestions to sort it out, setting goals for the next couple of meetings and motivating the group to achieve a certain depth to the work before an important deadline.  It would appear that it is possible to lead by NOT being at the meeting which is a satisfying feeling!  Feedback from a peer was that he was grateful that I pushed for a bit more structure and pushed the achievement stakes.  In saying that I was also frustrated and disappointed I guess seeing the coordinator so easily give away coordinating the group.  This may raise a bigger question around gender for me (just totally thinking aloud here) and my desire to see development of strong female leaders in my colleagues.  I will make a bit more effort to empower her, but may also just have to accept that some people prefer to follow (even though they say yes to coordination roles.

successes - solving problems and finding answers that cannot be predicted/pre-empted is one of the major successes of leading equals.  To go back to the group above, the work we have done has taken quite a different shape from what I thought it may end up as and it's exciting!

failures - often occur where no clear goals are set, I feel.  The need to be flexible is raised in this article and the results we have achieved above have come about from a flexible, yet focussed, approach.  Balance between these areas is vital to move work forward.

Other areas that were discussed

• what's the difference between a group charter and building a culture? Is there a difference?
• where does establishing shared values fit within this?
• Issues of 'letting go' in a group of equals and accepting work at a level that may not be your standard
• the importance of active listening in group work
• How to deal with a discordant individual in a group of equals
• addressing problems head on (but perhaps with a positive angle first)
• the unspoken 'group charters' that we set up all the time eg even in the Wimba group, how people naturally take on roles, assert different approaches 
• decision by committee sometimes sucks - pro's and con's of democratic approach to decision making

Was the session successful?

Yes - we discussed some of these areas with a little more depth and I particularly liked Rose's input re building a culture.  That's an area I am interested in for our Faculty.  We have three schools that (theoretically) are collaborative and focussed on community but sometimes I struggle with some of the leadership from the top seeming to be in opposition to this approach.  Something to foster from the middle up!