Study groups are a great way to learn new things and train the skills with other people. Study groups are also notoriously unproductive, unless they function properly. This article outlines some rules for successful collaboration, which we would like to explore.
- Respect diversity. A typical study group will be very diversified. There will be charismatic leaders, good students, people who resolve controversies, and people who will quietly participate in meetings. Everybody in the group needs to be treated with respect, and everybody may need his position – an attitude and skill set that contributes to the group’s success.
- Consensus is bad. The whole purpose in study group is having people with various views and ideas showing new perspectives to what we do. If everybody agrees with everything, where will the new perspectives come from? There are good and productive ways to disagree and introduce new ideas, do encourage these behaviors. If someone brings new ideas and gets ignored or discourage, he may switch to counterproductive behavior.
- Keep discussions short. Sometimes any decision is better than no decision. It is OK to agree to disagree, even better if there is an objective way to solve controversy. Once something is agreed upon, it is best to move on and implement the decision. Some new inputs may require the decision to be revised, yet it is best not to oscillate back and forth between the decisions. People who are obsessed with particular solution or way of doing things, may become toxic – not effective for the group and for themselves.
- Provide valid argumentation. Valid argumentation, backed by solid facts or precedents is the best way to introduce a good idea and generate a good decision. Half-baked ideas may backfire. Be as transparent as you can: if people suspect manipulation, they will not cooperate.
- Do not give long speeches. Every member of the group may need to voice his opinion. If you get more attention than other group members, this will come at a price. Keeping the communication short, we maximize the effective time of the group discussion and gain respect of other group members.
- Treat toxic people. Toxic people may destroy the group. If someone takes all the discussion time, treats other group members with lack of respect, does not contribute to the discussion – this may have a negative effect on all the group members. There are several ways to treat troublemakers: trying to understand their reasons and provide alternatives, generating protocols that will transform their behavior into a positive one, escalating the issues to some authorize parties and as the last resort removing the toxic people from the group.
- Make it fun. People are social creatures, and social activities are fun for most of us. Good jokes, mutual respect, interesting processes, great stories – these are all part of good group activity. Make your group meetings fun, and people will continue to come. IF the group meetings are boring, eventually the group will stop meeting.
Study groups do not have bosses, so they organize almost spontaneously. Lack of a clear leader does not mean lack of leadership, simply leadership is distributed between all group members. Contribute to your group and the group will contribute to your success.
