PURPOSE: The goal of my Action Research is to learn more about my own communication style and recognize whether my actions and interactions nurture or hinder the collaborative environment. Through a series of Action, Evlaluation, and Reflection cycles, I will make adjustments to my practice that nurture and encourage a collaborative environment.

PROBLEM/SITUATION: The team of designer/developers and technologists that I am currently a member of must collaborate on all projects. Multiple people are responsible for managing multiple projects. Although the majority of the team works in the same building, we often feel that we don’t know enough about what everyone else is working on and we perceive that this makes collaboration on projects a challenge. Through my research, I hope to learn more about my own communication style and learn how I can adjust my practice to collaborate better with my team.

COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE: There are two communities of practice currently (Client Education and Employee Education). These two communities are in the process of joining together under a common Director. I am currently a member of the Client Education team. I am not the newest member, but neither am I a senior member. There are two “middle” managers, one responsible for each team. There is one Director who the “middle” managers report to. Decisions made by the team (rather than by the management) are made by consensus (whenever possible) – not by any one individual.

CYCLE QUESTIONS AND OVERVIEWS

CYCLE ONE

For my first cycle, my goal was to improve the quality of my collaboration with my work team.

My question for Cycle One was: If I investigate and adjust my communication style, will I improve my collaboration with the team?

I observed, reflected on, and adjusted the way I participated within my team. My observations and reflections, along with my review of the literature on teams and collaboration led me to make changes in the way that I listened to my colleagues. In both one-to-one and group situations, I made a conscious effort to listen more actively. I worked to listen without contemplating what I would say in response or what my next contribution would be. This change in the way I listened to my colleagues helped me become aware of an opportunity to assist one of my colleagues in achieving one of his professional goals, to teach an online professional development workshop. His presentation was very well received and our work together on this project improved our professional relationship in a variety of ways. Our work on this project helped us to develop a deep mutual professional and personal respect for each other and a much better understanding of how to work together successfully.

My work in this first cycle was focused predominantly on myself and my work with one other colleague. In reflecting on the experience of working so closely with this colleague, I asked myself how I could take the lessons learned and widen the radius. What could I change about my practice that might lead to improved collaboration with other members of the team in general?

I began to think about the different types of interactions I commonly had with my colleagues in this work environment. One of the predominant interactions was the critique process. Our development model includes two content critique phases and two editorial critique phases. As I began to evaluate my own approach to the critique process, both as the reviewer and the reviewed, I realized that this was an area where I could improve my personal practice and potentially improve my collaborative skills and my relationship within the work team.

View Cycle 1 Summary

CYCLE TWO

In cycle two, my goal was to change my approach to the critique process.

My question for Cycle Two was: If I change my attitude about and approach to our critique process, will I improve my collaboration with the team?

I challenged myself to move away from viewing the critique and review comments of my colleagues as something to either be accepted or rejected and start viewing them as an opportunity to reassess my work, identify any underlying presumptions, initiate a dialogue about the design/development process, and improve my own work. After several weeks of practicing this new approach, I noticed a significant change in my own attitude toward the critique process. Looking at critique comments as a way of inspiring dialogue about the content design and a way of re-evaluating and improving that design inspired me to make some changes to the way I phrased my own critiques of my colleagues’ work. Rather than make corrections or modification suggestions, I began to ask questions that I hoped would inspire further reflection about the content and the purpose of the content. My work in cycle two not only redefined my approach to the critique process but also redefined by my attitude toward it. I now looked forward to the critique process. I not only understood the importance of this process, I also valued it on a personal level and viewed it as a privilege and a benefit rather than as a necessary burden.

At the conclusion of cycle two, I asked my colleagues to complete a peer review for me. While I requested reviews from sixteen colleagues, only seven returned completed reviews. I consider this an anecdotal sign that there is still room for work when it comes to building trust and collaboration within the team. The seven reviews that I did receive were very positive in their overall comments, especially concerning my collaborative work. This tells me that I am making some positive changes in my practice. My own change in both work approach and, more significantly, attitude was another indication that my changes were productive ones.

View Cycle 2 Summary

CYCLE THREE

For my final formal action research cycle, my goal was to find a way to have an impact beyond my own team and department.

My question for Cycle Three was: If I publicly recognize and celebrate an example of cross departmental collaboration, will colleagues outside of my department also recognize and support collaboration?

Currently our corporation is at the beginning of a process focused on changing from a culture of individual competition to a culture of teamwork and collaboration. Although there are lots of presentations and conversations about collaboration and teamwork, the perception is that the overall culture still recognizes, rewards, and reinforces individual accomplishment and competition. Prior to starting my third cycle of research, I had noticed and commented on the fact that there seemed to be a disconnection between what was being “said” and what was being “done.” I reflected on it in writing and through dialogue with friends, family, fellow students, and colleagues and I spoke to my manager and director about it. For cycle three, I wanted to find some way that I could do more than just talk about it.

After some reflection on and evaluation of my current and recent projects, I proposed that our department, Education, host a fun and social event that would celebrate the completion of a recent, high-profile, project that required cross-departmental collaboration between Education and six other departments. My hope was that by celebrating the collaborative work rather than the work of select individuals or a single department, I would demonstrate that such collaboration is valued and would encourage more collaboration.

View Cycle 3 Summary