Portfolio Spotlight: Collaborative Norms Action Plan Student Project

This project demonstrates my communication skills and expertise as they relate to developing workplace collaboration solutions. Completion of this project exemplifies my competency of professional codes of conduct, identification of communication barriers, and principles of team dynamics. This project challenged my knowledge related to interpersonal communication, ethical practices, and creative solutions for professional teams. 

While working on this product, I learned how different personality types affect communication preferences, and the way that these preferences are reflected in the workplace. The knowledge I gained from completing this project allows me to demonstrably author plans with measurable goals to be implemented for professional teams seeking communication solutions.

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Some of the priorities listed in the Project Team Notes conflict, while some are harmonious, and others still overlap. (COM 405 Project Team Notes, n.d.). One priority shared by three out of four team members is considering how to engage the audience in a way that is realistic. The standard for how to define “realistic,” however, varies between these members. Some team members are more concerned about budgetary restraints, whereas others are concerned about time efficiency and technique. One team member’s highest priority concerning the new messaging system is aesthetics. This priority might not formally state the needs and wants of the audience, but there is an implied concern for how visual design affects audience engagement.

One of the most common conflicts in working styles among team members is the tendency to get carried away with what is and is not realistic. Again, “realistic” in this context can mean different things. Some team members have difficulty remembering budget restraints, whereas others forget about technical limitations. (COM 405 Project Team Notes, n.d.). Additionally, some team members are knowledgeable about digital marketing techniques and have high technical literacy, and some do not. Thankfully, each of these priorities and working styles are almost all negated by another; In other words, where one team member has room for improvement regarding their expertise, another team member has a strength that can carry them forward.

The most obvious forms of implicit bias that could impact this collaboration stem from structure and perceptual bias. (Indeed Editorial Team, 2023). These biases exist due to the wide range of years of experience between each team member. This range of years of experience between the project’s team members is 1-25 years. Team members who have less years of experience may feel nervous to propose suggestions or critique to those who have more years of experience. Likewise, perception bias means that team members with more years of experience may assume that contributions made by members with less experience are less valuable. It is important to address these implicit biases healthily before successful collaboration can be achieved.

When collaborating professionally, certain codes of conduct should be considered. These are the foundations of what ensures that a team can work effectively without conflict. Some of these universal codes of conduct include maintaining honesty and sensitivity and giving credit to others for their work. (IABC Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators, n.d.). Maintaining friendly and open body language and using polite speech are some basics of good business etiquette. (Business etiquette: Professionalism 101, 2012). Also, it is important for each team member to take accountability for their own actions, including acknowledging feedback productively and non-defensively. (TED, 2015).

Effective communication is a two-way process. (Rampersad, 2015). Since different team members specialize in different areas, being open to feedback is a critical step in the collaboration process. For example, the team member who has less years of working experience and specializes in visual design would benefit from feedback from a more senior member who can help them understand realistic budget restraints. Likewise, the same team member can share information about their area of expertise by explaining the basics of new technologies to the senior member who is unfamiliar. The linchpin of meaningful feedback, information sharing, and successful collaboration is assuming each team member is held accountable for their own level of emotional intelligence. (TED, 2017). The ability to self-monitor and recognize one’s own skills, interests, mannerisms, emotions, and social skills, and to successfully manage these aspects of the self in a meaningful way for themselves and others is vital to successful team dynamics. (TED, 2017).

Collaborative norms should be developed that account for differences in priorities and working styles. (Nawaz, 2018). Three norms will be established; Each member will be briefed on the meeting agenda one business day before the meeting. This will let each member think of potential responses to the meeting's content before it takes place. The second norm will be to seek feedback from each member after one member contributes to the meeting. The order of each member speaking during these feedback rounds will be determined randomly. Each member must respond, even if only to praise the concept presented. Finally, members cannot reference their years of working experience during meetings.

These norms work within guidelines previously established in this report regarding codes of ethical conduct. (IABC Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators, n.d.). They seek to disrupt implicit bias within the group based on the difference in years of experience between members. For this team to collaborate successfully, each member’s unique skills and expertise should be acknowledged. However, these skills should be leveraged by the team to innovate effectively, rather than be a source of intimidation based on seniority and negative connotations associated with corporate hierarchy. 

These norms should be introduced before the next meeting in a written memo. This memo will require the signatures of each team member before the norms are put into practice. Additionally, the memo will be open-ended, encouraging each member to contribute their own ideas, raise concerns, and ask questions they might have before they are implemented. If one or more of these proposed norms cause serious issues with any individual member, that member will be asked to propose a solution that accounts for their own needs and the needs of the team. Finally, these norms will be enforced through a system of mutual accountability. 

One method for upholding accountability within the group is to use visual aids. For example, requiring each member to wear name tags with how they wish to be addressed and their area of expertise written will help members associate the individual with their strengths rather than perceived weaknesses associated with experience. If one member references years of experience, a pause in the meeting should take place to allow this member to recount a story related to the first day they ever worked. The goal of this exercise is to keep the tone of the accountability system lighthearted, and to remind each member present that all of them “started somewhere.” The penalty intrinsically linked to this system is that the meeting will likely run overtime if this occurs. Since team members have cited meeting length as an area of concern, this will motivate them to avoid speaking outside of this established norm. 

Sources

Business etiquette: Professionalism 101. (2012). In Films On Demand. Films Media Group.
https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=105049&xtid=47515

COM 405 Project Team Notes. (n.d.). Southern New Hampshire University. https://
learn.snhu.edu/content/enforced/1521090-COM-405-R4694-OL-TRAD-UG.24EW4/
course_documents/COM%20405%20Project%20Team%20Notes.pdf?
_&d2lSessionVal=0Ng0J8VcRzLlAprpTzr7MZxGJ&ou=1332038&ou=1521090

IABC Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators. (n.d.). International Association of
Business Communicators. https://www.iabc.com/About/Purpose/Code-of-Ethics

Indeed Editorial Team. (2023). How To Overcome Communication Barriers: Benefits And
Tips. Indeed. https://in.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-
overcome-communication-barriers

Nawaz, S. (2018). How to Create Executive Team Norms -- and Make Them Stick. Harvard
Business Review Digital Articles, 1–5.

Rampersad, H. (2015). Authentic Personal Brand Coaching: Entrepreneurial Leadership
Brand Coaching for Sustainable High Performance. Information Age Publishing,
Incorporated.

TED. (2015, May 26). Cultivating Collaboration: Don't Be So Defensive! | Jim Tamm [Video].
YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyghzSoifYE

TED. (2017). The Power of Emotional Intelligence | Travis Bradberry [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auXNnTmhHsk