Any dispute, conflict, disagreement on team participation, attendance, non respect of deadline for participation or turning in assignments on time or poor quality of individual contribution having negative consequences on the overall work of team should be identified as early as possible by the team.
Moreno (2004), "Conflict is inevitable. If conflict is handled well, it can lead to constructive dialogue, needed change and ultimately resolution “(para. 2).
The team, during the course, has the responsibility to communicate, collaborate in order to avoid disputes or conflicts.
In the cases when disputes can not be solved by team members, a mediator should be selected. The mediator should be a team member chosen and agreed by the all parties or in the case that all team members are involved with the dispute; the mediator should be the course instructor.
The mediator should set up a conference call after having reviewed the available information shared on the team forum and after having interviewed separately the parties involved.
During the process of mediation, “the participants must be willing to talk to each other and share information openly and honestly, listen to each other without interruption, stay open to ideas, options, and alternatives, and generate creative solutions to meet the needs of all participants” (NC STATE UNIVERSITY, n.d.).
“The mediator does not issue decision” (Jennings, 2006, p. 118) or doesn’t propose how to resolve the dispute, but should be a facilitator in order to unblock the parties in the dispute. His presence guaranties the control of the situation while feelings, opinions, claims are exchanged.
During the mediation, all the process should be kept confidential.
The objective is that the parties involved should be able to consider the opinion of the other party. The parties should then propose themselves and should agree on a fair solution aimed at resolving the dispute and collaborating again within the...