Collaborative+Norms

The Seven Collaborative Norms

1. Pausing (wait time) •After a question is asked •After someone speaks, promotes active listening •After being asked a question- personal reflection time – a person waits before answering •Collective pause allows for more complex thinking

2. Paraphrasing (“first seek to understand, then be understood”) •Group becomes clearer and more cohesive about their work •Reflects content back to the speaker for further consideration •Connects the response to the flow of discourse emerging within the group

3. Probing and Clarifying for Specificity •Intended to help the listener better understand the speaker •Promotes clarity and precision by illuminating understandings and interpretations

4. Putting Ideas on (and Taking Them Off) the Table •Ideas are the heart of group work. To be effective they must be released to the group. •Reconsidering ideas: sometimes ideas need to be pulled off the table in order for a group to move forward.

5. Paying Attention to Self and Others Skilled group members are aware of: •What they are saying •How they are saying it (actual words and body language) •How others are receiving & responding to their ideas. •Individual learning styles and personal beliefs.

6. Presuming Positive Intentions •Assume that people mean well and desire to be effective •Encourages honest conversations about important matters •Reduces the possibility of the listener perceiving threats or challenges in a paraphrase or question.

7. Pursuing a Balance Between Advocacy and Inquiry •Spend equal amounts of time and energy advocating for one’s own ideas and inquiring into the ideas of others. •Advocacy: Make your thinking and reasoning visible. •Inquiry: Ask others to make their thinking visible •Such balance helps groups continue to learn and grow.