ESTABLISHING GROUND RULES FOR GROUPS

1. Create ownership of the ground rules. The various ground rules
   agendas suggested below should only be regarded as starting points
   for each group to adopt or adapt and prioritize. It is important
   that groups feel able to include ground rules which are appropriate
   for the particular people making up the group.
   
   
2. Foster a culture of honesty. Successful group work relies on
   truthfulness. Suggest that it is as dishonest for group members to
   'put up with' something they don't agree about, or can't live with,
   as it is to speak untruthfully. However, it is worth reminding
   learners about the need to temper honesty with tact.
   
   
3. Remind group members that they don't have to like people to work
   with them. In group work, as in professional life, people work with
   the team they are in, and matters of personal conflict need to be
   managed so they don't get in the way of the progress of the group as
   a whole.
   
   
4. Affirm collective responsibility. Once issues have been aired, and
   group decisions have been made as fully as possible, they convention
   of collective responsibility needs to be applied for successful group
   processes. This leads towards everyone living with group decisions
   and refraining from articulating their own personal reservations
   outside the group.
   
   
5. Highlight the importance of developing and practising listening
   skills. Every voice deserves to be heard, even if people don't
   initially agree with the point of view being expressed.
   
   
6. Spotlight the need for full participation. Group work relies on
   multiple perspectives. Encourage group members not to hold back from
   putting forward their view. Group members also need to be encouraged
   to value the opinion of others as well as their own.
   
   
7. Everyone needs to take a fair share of the group work. This does
   not mean that everyone has to do the same thing. It is best when the
   members of the group have agreed how the tasks will be allocated
   amongst themselves. Group members also need to be prepared to
   contribute by building on the ideas of others and validating each
   other's experiences.
   
   
8. Working to strengths can benefit groups. The work of a group can
   be achieved efficiently when tasks are allocated according to the
   experience and expertise of each member of the group.
   
   
9. Group should not always work to strengths, however! Activities in
   groups can be developmental in purpose, so task allocation may be an
   ideal opportunity to allow group members to build on areas of
   weakness or inexperience.
   
   
10. Help group members to see the importance of keeping good records.
    There needs to be an output to look back upon. This can take the
    form of planning notes, minutes or other kinds of evidence of the
    progress of the work of the group. Rotate the responsibility for
    summing up the position of the group regarding the tasks in hand and
    recording this.
    
    
11. Group deadlines are sacrosanct. The principle, 'You can let
    yourself down, but it's not OK to let the group down' underpins
    successful group work.
    
    
12. Cultivate philanthropy. Group work sometimes requires people to
    make personal needs and wishes subordinate to the goal of the group.
    This is all the more valuable when other group members recognize that
    this is happening.
    
    
13. Help people to value creativity and off-the-wall ideas. Don't
    allow these to be quelled out of a desire to keep the group on task,
    and strike a fair balance between progress and creativity.
    
    
14. Enable systematic working patterns. Establishing a regular
    programme of meetings, task report backs and task allocation is
    likely to lead to effective and productive group performance.
    
    
15. Cultivate the idea of group rules as a continuing agenda. It can
    be productive to review and renegotiate the ground rules from time to
    time, creating new ones as solutions to unanticipated problems that
    might have arisen. It is important, however, not to forget or
    abandon those ground rules that proved useful in practice, but which
    were not consciously applied.
    
    Source: Phil Race, "500 Tips on Group
    Learning," Chapter 14. Kogan Page Limited, 120 Pentonville Road,
    London, N1 9JN, UK. Distributed by Stylus Publishing Limited, 2283
    Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166, USA. http://www.styluspub.com/
    ©Copyright, Phil Race, 2000. The right of Phil Race to be identified
    as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance
    with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Reprinted with
    permission.