Discussion 05: Ethical, Cultural, and Group Management Issues
Please note: In order to successfully complete the program, you must respond to this post. Your comment/response should answer the questions/show that you completed the given activity (if any). Read the post carefully and implement the learning in the chat rooms. If you didn't participate in Discussion 04: Group Leadership
, then check here!
This discussion highlighted some of the major points related to ethical, cultural, and group management
The competent group leaders act ethically in leading the groups. And, achieving this type of competence requires more than good intentions. Many well-intended group leaders have engaged in an activity while lacking solid ethical principles. It could probably be because of unawareness of the code of conduct and guidelines. So, a high level of familiarity with the guidelines is important so they act as professionals and leaders while leading any group.
A few points to remember:
Privacy and Confidentiality. It could be possible a group leader may also be a long term listener for a member. Members might have shared their situation in detail with them in a 1:1 setup. But, when you are a group leader, you need to ensure you are not bringing up the matter discussed in 1:1 with members unless the members themselves bring up the topic and discuss it with the rest of the group as well.
Follow Community Guidelines. Preach what you can follow. As a group leader, you would need to intervene from time to time to ensure the group is running effectively. Reminding users that they follow community and chatroom guidelines while participating. But, at the same time, remember to be the first to follow the guidelines too. So, you are able to model the role behavior in the groups.
Make unbiased decisions. In a group, everyone is equal to you as a leader. Even if you communicate with some of them more frequently than others. If anything goes wrong or you find anyone being unsupportive or unacceptable behavior, take the decisions without any bias. So, the group could trust you and know that you are impartial and there for everyone and against wrong behaviors. For more, here are the community guidelines.
Members in the group come from different backgrounds, demographics, and cultural differences. So, as a leader, it is significant to respect and acknowledge the cultural differences and highlight the common grounds to connect all members of the group. Such behavior allows members to feel inclusive and comfortable in the groups to share.
And the group management issues include conflict management. You may observe that sometimes misunderstanding or disagreement causes conflict between two or more people leading to an unsupportive and unhealthy environment in the room. So as a leader, it is your time to take action and settle down the conflict to ensure room and group stay supportive and comfortable around each other. Spontaneity is the key to restrict such events from happening.
Discussion: What is one ethical, cultural, or group management issue you recognized in the room? What would you do to handle it?
Activity: Respond to at least two of your fellow trainees' comments with thoughts on their share.
After fulfilling the requirements of this post, please check out the next discussion here. Ensure to implement the learning from these discussions in the chat rooms to build and support the group. You must take part in the brainstorming/activities given in all of these discussions to successfully complete the program.
@ASilentObserver
One Ethical, cultural, or group management issue I've recognized in a chat room is distractions, both by members and listeners alike. In the middle of discussions, members would come in with a different topic or subject and kind of derail the whole conversation. Or on the side of listeners, they might try to say hi to the members they talk to and they might get into their own topics.
I have seen a lot of different responses and approaches to that. In my opinion, normally in the cases of members, most of them are really upset about something and they desperately needed someone to talk to. In which case, empathy works wonders. I will try to understand them and link them somehow to the discussions at hand.
As for listeners, the same approach applies. Although in this scenario, just a slight reminder that they are in the middle of a discussion will work :) I find that most if not, all of them are really awesome and cooperative!
@RandomAravyre
Aravyre, that is a well-spotted issue and Your approach is great. Empathy and a kind reminder will definitely help. Additionally, we also can invite (especially if you are the host) such members to your pms and listen to their private chat there or if you are unavailable to support 1-1 offer them assistance in connecting with another listener or guide them to other rooms like (24/7 support room) where they will not need to limit their share to the topic or wait for their turn. It is Ok to welcome newcomers to the session, you can give an example of writing in brackets, like (Hello, User. Welcome, we are talking about X, please join us). In the worst-case scenario, if someone is disrupting the session with unrelated topics and not reacting to reminders, do not hesitate to invite mod or emergency request form, since disrespecting the session is a violation of chatroom rules. Your answer shows absolute understanding and good observations, so I am sure you can manage disruptions well.☺️💖
GLDD mentors: Richuyulin, blissfulForest7074 , 29Amy , HealingFox210 , AriadneLove, CaringHeart123
@AriadneLove Thank you for your kind words, Adriadne. I think what you said is right, there are many solutions to this problem and some of the suggestions you have offered have kind of broadened my perspective in a sense :) In my case, I tend to extend a bit of leniency to the members, considering the room and the state they are in.
For example, I am the room supporter of Anxiety Support, and there are certain moments that some of them might go off-topic during discussions and talk about situations, which is understandable, considering that anxiety can be a powerful emotion and there's a high chance that some of them are undergoing through some panic attacks. When that happens, I try to be a bit more adaptable and just go out of the box a little bit, asking questions and empathizing with them. What I find is that fellow members of the room would more often give their insights, which I feel will help tremendously in generating a more supportive atmosphere and group identity.At the end of the day, I feel that it's more important to understand what is our role as chat support and act accordingly. If going out of script can help someone in need and strengthen the cohesiveness of a group, then as a room supporter, it's a win for me. :)
@AriadneLove I don't know if you're on the site anymore P but I appreciate your response. How have you dealt with diversity? The kind that OBS was referring to. I don't know if this can count as my second one but I can you do a third just to make sure.
@ASilentObserver
Discussion: What is one ethical, cultural, or group management issue you recognized in the room? What would you do to handle it?
Finding things everyone has in common can be such a difficult but doable task! I have seen icebreakers always open up those avenues.
@kindFish9215 another way you can rectify that issue is to knowledge that we all have different backgrounds. Religion is a sticky subject especially when you don't want to offend anyone so I would leave religion out of it if at all possible. You can stay in the room that you are aware that we come from different backgrounds altogether including religion. However you could State that you recognize person Faith.
What is one ethical, cultural, or group management issue you recognized in the room? What would you do to handle it?
@FrenchToastClub
Cliques can really make new comers feel unwelcome. Glad you want to keep the space open for people outside the cliques.
@ASilentObserver
I'm not sure if this falls under a cultural issue but there has been times where a language other than english has been used. Its exclusionary to those who cannot understand that particular language and cups has made it clear in that english is what should be used in chatrooms to try overcome thie barrier.
I've asked for the conversation to continue in english (as per the guidelines) so that we can all understand and follow along.
What is one ethical, cultural, or group management issue you recognized in the room? What would you do to handle it?
I think majorly it is the language barriers, because I've spoken to many people who need to use translating apps or have not the best grammar due to different languages being spoken. Then there are usually explanations, because if you didn't know what someone meant, how do you respond to it?
Really, reminding people to be respectful of language barriers would be helpful, as some people need to translate and their grammar or spelling may not be perfect.
@Kpopcat2020
Thanks for adding on a bit more about how language can be a barrier!
@Kpopcat2020
That's really insightful. I wonder if some kind of english language guide or something could be made? I feel like there might be an opportunity for us all to learn from each other here that we're missing!
@Kpopcat2020 I didn't think before that people could be using language translator apps. Imagine how terrible some comments can come off as, especially irony and hyperboles! Thank you for sharing this.
@Kpopcat2020
True.
@ASilentObserver
What is one ethical, cultural, or group management issue you recognized in the room? What would you do to handle it?
Group management: I recognized a mod and a member kind of snapping at each other. And the mod seemed to be rude instead of being professional, this mod expressed their frustrations and the emotion part got in the way. I would have handled it a little different, i would have expressed please do not “do abc” and than if the member decided to continue to keep going about it, i would have been professional and expressed “i know you may be feeling some tense emotions right now towards me, but what can we do to solve this?” Also if you have any concerns about the group rules I would have given them “abc” resources.
@ASilentObserver Issues that I recognised in certain rooms of the 7cups community are:
* Newcomers feeling unwelcome in an ongoing discussion and as a result, not trying to participate at all.
* Sometimes some members just start talking in their native language that some of them may understand, but the others do not.
* It might turn into a 1 on 1 chat as many fellow Academy members have already brought up.
* Sarcasm or jokes can be taken seriously and may cause unnecessary escalation.
I feel that it is a challenge to talk online through texts as compared to a normal day to day conversation that we might have with people, because we do not get to see expressions or make any eye to eye contact. Hence it can be a little difficult at times trying to understand what the other person is saying.
@StargirlTina I do agree with you on the first point. People dont tend to participate because they feel they wouldnt fit in
One group management issue that I have faced is the forming of cliques. I think it is hard when cliques form and a new member comes in. It can be challenging for a member to join in the conversation because cliques are exclusive to others, leaving them ignored, and not able to get support. This creates an unwelcoming and unsupportive environment, which cups should not be. I think that in these scenarios, it is important to bridge the gap between the older members and the new ones. You can use options like posting icebreakers or having a new game that nobody has played before. I can also make sure to welcome anybody that enters the room and ask how they are doing. It's a small step, but it can make a difference in making someone feel not alone. It can be lovely to make strong bonds with friends, but also important that we can maintain everyone feeling welcome and included.
@Estrellitaa
I totally agree with you Estreeee. Bridging that gap between old and new members is difficult but I love your suggestions to do so!
@Estrellitaa
I totally agree Estre, that's super important :D !
Tabby
@ASilentObserver
What is one ethical, cultural, or group management issue you recognized in the room? What would you do to handle it?
1) I think there is a tendency to view things from a white western lense on many platforms including cups and I would be really interested in finding more ways that we can shift that.
I adore that as a community we try and shine the spotlight on different holidays/celebrations/cultures in the forums but I feel like this is missing slightly from group support.
Perhaps we could create some feedback groups particularly for people who are not in the UK/USA/Aus to share there experiences of the platform?
2) In the group rooms I've seen a few instances of people using different languages. I agree that we need to have a central language to use on cups and I understand the reasoning for choosing English as that language but what if we could include other languages too? Maybe a language exchange/lesson or saying hello in a variety of languages could be acceptable?
When in the group rooms I've just kindly reminded the member of using english and why it's important and then asked them something else about there language, in English e.g. does it have a similar alphabet to english or how many languages can you speak etc. This shows that I care about language and culture but still promoting the rules.
@ASilentObserver What is one ethical, cultural, or group management issue you recognized in the room? What would you do to handle it?
I feel one main problem existing in groups if feeling left out of the conversations. usually the topics concern a specific people and the others feel out of the conversation not knowing how to take part in the conversation.
I would try to handle it by welcoming everyone and discussing on a certain topic rather than a random topic to ensure everyone is a part of it
