Anticipating Conflict and Forming Group Guidelines

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Establish concrete group working agreements based on anticipated conflict dynamics and helpful collaborative behaviors.

Use it when: At the start of a multi-session cohort, committee, or project team before high-stakes tasks begin.

Skip it when: In one-off informational briefings or short meetings where ongoing collaboration norms are unnecessary.

Group arrangement: Small groups of 3 to 6 participants, followed by full-group consolidation.

Timing: 60 minutes matching the source breakdown (10 + 10 + 10 + 20 + 10 minutes). The old catalog label of 5 to 15 minutes was an error.

Materials and tools

• Flip chart paper or shared digital whiteboard
• Markers or pens
• Sticky notes (one pad per small group)
• Timer

Before participants arrive

1. Prepare a physical wall space or digital board with two columns: Positive Attributes and Challenging Attributes.
2. Divide seating into small tables accommodating 3 to 6 people.

Say this to open

Working together brings out great strengths and predictable friction. Instead of pretending conflict will not happen, we will anticipate it now. In your small groups, you will list what has made past collaborations work well and what made them difficult, then turn those insights into working guidelines for our group.

How to run it

1. Brainstorm past collaborative traits 10 minutes

   In groups of 3 to 6, participants write traits they associate with past collaborative projects. Capture both positive traits (like clear communication or shared ownership) and challenging traits (like dominating talkers or missed deadlines) on sticky notes. Do not debate items yet; aim for broad generation.

2. Prioritize top concerns and strengths 10 minutes

   Within each small group, discuss which negative traits are most likely to surface in this specific team and select their top 3 concerns. Then review the positive traits and select the top 3 strengths most needed to support this group.

3. Consolidate themes as a full group 10 minutes

   Reconvene the full room. Have each small group share their top items while the facilitator clusters duplicates on the main board. Ask the room to identify common themes and select 4 or 5 priority focus areas.

4. Draft concrete guiding principles 20 minutes

   For each selected priority trait, write a clear behavioral guideline on the board. For example, if the concern is 'dominating personalities', write 'Make room for everyone to speak; listen to understand.' Give small groups 5 minutes to draft phrasing for one assigned trait, then combine and refine the final wording together.

5. Debrief and establish maintenance rules 10 minutes

   Conduct a whole-room debrief using the stated prompts to decide how the group will revisit and uphold the guidelines.

Debrief questions

• How often should we revisit this list during our project?
• What is our agreed process if someone forgets or violates one of our principles?
• When might these guidelines become too constricting, and how will we adjust them?

Finished output: A documented list of 4 to 5 agreed group guidelines posted visibly for future sessions.

Remote

Run in breakout rooms of 3 to 5 people using a shared digital board (e.g., Miro or Google Docs) with pre-labeled frames for positive and negative traits. Bring everyone to the main room to cluster sticky notes and type out final guidelines.

Hybrid

Keep in-person participants at physical tables and remote participants in virtual breakout rooms. Have all groups post directly into a single shared digital document so both rooms view the same running list simultaneously.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may contribute verbally, write on sticky notes, or type into the shared document.
• Individuals may reflect quietly and pass on sharing personal past stories without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

Participants list vague principles like 'Respect everyone' that have multiple interpretations.

Ask the room for observable behaviors: 'What does respect look like when two people disagree on a design choice?'

Small groups get stuck debating a past bad experience.

Remind them not to evaluate individual stories. Ask them to capture the underlying trait in two words and keep moving.

Terms used here

• Guiding Principles: Shared behavioral agreements that describe how a group chooses to interact and resolve friction.