July 7 JoomStew Radio Show Notes – Handling Conflict

Topic

Handling Conflict - Chapter 9 from The Art of Community by Jono Bacon

Guests

Steve Burge - OSM Board Member - Joomla! Community Liaison
Pattie Porter - Texas Conflict Coach - Conflict Connections

News

JoomlaBlogger - Interview with Alice Grevet, our new JoomStew Hostess
Jen Kramer - What You Need to Know About Joomla 1.6. Part 1
Justin Kerr - Joomla Project Costing - JoomlaChicago Usergroup
Rick Blalock - Video - How to convert a Joomla 1.5 Template to 1.6
Kyle Ledbetter - Joomla 1.5 to 1.6 Template Upgrade Tutorial Part 1
Harry B - Joomla 1.6 Core Generated CSS Class and ID Documentation

The Nature of the Beast

We are going to discuss something that happened recently in our community. As we discuss this topic, we are going to have some fun with it  and not take things too seriously. We happen to believe that the notion of "poisonous people" - inside or outside of the project - is extremely rare. ALL of the people involved in this situation are amongst the finest of our community which just goes to support what Jono meant when he said...

You should absolutely expect conflict in your community.

The reason we wanted to discuss this is that there seems to be pattern in our community that is not healthy and *every single one of us* is responsible to fix it. We do not see one side or the other as completely right or completely wrong, we believe every one of us needs to change and we can because we have help! with Steve and Pattie

Phase 1

The Kingdom issues new Law (or so we thought)

When there is a sense of lost control, people will often bottle it up and discuss it only with a few other friends who they feel will sympathize with them. These people are not poisonous, and there is no malice behind their actions: they just don’t know where to turn and feel that they are not being listened to. In such circumstances, the issue can quickly blow out of proportion. If you get a whiff that something is not quite right, investigate it immediately and reassure those concerned.

Steve - responded immediately with “Cool it, it’s being taken care of.”

Question 1 (Steve). In the future, when there is concern, how should people respond?

Phase 2

The Villagers are attacking the Castle (or so it feels)

While there are many causes for conflict, your community will depend on its leaders to unblock conflict and restore order. ... If your community loses faith in its leader’s ability to unblock and resolve these problems, it can feel as if the earth is shaking. It can make the community feel like a lawless state in which agitation and arguments reign supreme. This is obviously not a good position to be in.

Question 2 (Pattie). How should leaders, or those in charge, respond to a group who comes in angry and frustrated, looking for help?

Phase 3

In come the Knights on their white horses!

Don’t wear the flame suit - Every community has flame wars, that is, the arguments and disagreements that happen on mailing lists, websites, blogs, and elsewhere. Don’t get involved. Participating in the flame wars causes you harm in two ways. First, it raises the temperature, because a well respected community member has sought to weigh in, which drags the war out longer. Second, you don’t want a reputation for taking part in online spats. Instead, you want a reputation for resolving them elegantly, and the place for elegance is not in a flame war.

Question 3 (Steve). How can we support people and the community without participating in the “battle?” When is it best not to jump in? What are you supposed to do when you care and you see this type of conflict happening?

Phase 4

Why do we need a damsel in distress when we can be empowered with great listening and adapting skills?

If your community is pushing, as part of it’s core values, openness and encouragement of input and contribution, you need to ensure that people can actually do that. If they can’t, you are going to have some angry villagers on your hands.

Question 4 (Pattie). How can we empower volunteers with the skills they need to handle input from community in a positive way and adapt to the communities needs, without taking offense to what  is sometimes poor delivery?

The Role of the Facilitator

A facilitator can’t just be anyone: she must secure the trust and confidence of the warring parties. The parties involved need to have faith that the facilitator is going to take a fair, reasoned, and thorough approach to the conflict.

• Be Objective
• Be Positive
• Be Open
• Be Clear

Question 5. (Steve) Is your role as Community Liaison, in part a facilitator? And, would it make sense to implement a formal grievance process?

Question 6. (Pattie) Is this a good idea, and how would we begin?

Futures

Question 7. (Steve) Someone raised the issue of the new communication policy in the discussion. Where is that at? And, how is it designed to help in the future?

Proposed Communication Policy. The results of the initial discussion were a 4 step process:

1. The first community blog post asks for feedback.
2. The second post gives the results of that feedback.
3. The third post details the final decision.
4. Finally, we implement the decision.

Wonderful People

Contributor of the Week Each of the 28 members of the Joomla! Community Magazine Team!

Bad Boy of the Week Andrew Eddie. He knows why and we can’t say!

Further Resources on Conflict - http://www.odr.info