1. The Eight Norms of Collaboration
1. Pausing (wait time)
after a question is asked
after someone speaks, promotes active listening
after being asked a question- personal reflection time – a person waits before answering
collective pause allows for more complex thinking

2. 2. Paraphrasing (“first seek to understand, then be understood”)
The Eight Norms of Collaboration
2. Paraphrasing (“first seek to understand, then be understood”)
Group becomes clearer and more cohesive about their work.
Reflects content back to the speaker for further consideration.
Connects the response to the flow of discourse emerging within the group.
Paraphrasing requires that you listen carefully to content spoken and observe the emotions of the speaker
Examples of stems that signal a paraphrase is coming:
You’re suggesting…
So, what your wondering is…
So, your thinking that…
So, your hunch is that…
“Connects the response…” -a way to keep the discourse on track

3. The Eight Norms of Collaboration
3. Probing and Clarifying for Specificity
Intended to help the listener better understand the speaker.
Promotes clarity and precision by illuminating understandings and interpretations.
Specific = precise language
Five categories of vagueness in human speech:
Vague nouns and pronouns. “Someone named ‘they’ makes most of the decisions in organizations. Without the details the group does not know which problem to solve.
Vague action words. Examples: improve, enhance, design, modify, understand. Probe for specificity in order for the team to agree upon concept, plan for action, and act in concert.
Comparators. Probe for criteria. Words like best, larger, slower, more and least leave out the point of comparison and the standard for comparison.
Rule words. Probe for the rules behind statements People operate with conscious and unconscious rules about how the world works and how they are supposed to operate in it. The language of “We have to,” “We must,”
Universal Quantifiers. Examples everyone, all no one, never, always. By qualifying and clarifying a universal quantifier, group members ground their conversations in data an measurable details.

4. The Eight Norms of Collaboration
4. Putting Ideas on (and Pulling Them Off) the Table
Ideas are the heart of group work. To be effective they must be released to the group.
Reconsidering ideas: sometimes ideas need to be pulled off the table in order for a group to move forward.

5. The Eight Norms of Collaboration
5. Paying Attention to Self and Others
Skilled group members are aware of:
What they are saying
How they are saying it (actual words and body language)
How others are receiving & responding to their ideas.
Individual learning styles and personal beliefs.
Skilled group members also try to match the language forms of others. The respondent matches the representation system of the speaker by using visual, kinesthetic, or auditory words in response to hearing the speaker

6. The Eight Norms of Collaboration
6. Presuming Positive Intentions
Assume that people mean well and desire to be effective.
Encourages honest conversations about important matters.
Reduces the possibility of the listener perceiving threats or challenges in a paraphrase or question.

7. The Eight Norms of Collaboration
7. Pursuing a Balance Between Advocacy and Inquiry.
Spend equal amounts of time and energy advocating for one’s own ideas and inquiring into the ideas of others.
Advocacy: Make your thinking and reasoning visible.
Inquiry: Ask others to make their thinking visible
Such balance helps groups continue to learn and grow.
Groups are encouraged to master one or two of the norms at a time rather than attempt to take them all on at once.

8. The Eight Norms of Collaboration
8. Providing Data.
Information (data) serves as an energy source for group learning and group action. Use multiple sources of information from within and beyond the group.
Advocacy: Make your thinking and reasoning visible.
Inquiry: Ask others to make their thinking visible