The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated knowledge work being conducted remotely and many individuals in these roles will continue to prefer working virtually (Malhotra, 2021). Various organizations I am supporting in human resources are moving toward hybrid work environments and they are seeking my guidance to promote collaboration for team engagement. Some of the leaders in these organizations have shared with me that employees are not seeking collaboration opportunities. In fact, the current virtual work reality has decreased team collaboration because of overscheduled meetings, individualization of priorities, isolation, fatigue, and blurred home/work boundaries.

Given that collaboration is a skill that many organizations expect from their employees in the 21st century (Mashek, 2022), my Community of Inquiry (CoI) introduces collaboration-based strategies to improve staff motivation, curiosity, and learning in each element of the CoI. The dilemma I was facing with each strategy and its related activities is the consideration for the existing challenges (e.g., overworked workforce, decreased motivation) facing organizations. Therefore, the thinking behind each proposed collaborative activities considered the extraneous cognitive load to avoid further implications (e.g., fatigue, overworked) while focusing on interactivity to stimulate social presence (Khoo and Bonk, 2014).

To start, the strategies in the facilitation presence promotes a climate of collaboration as an introductory setting to stimulate learning, and then instill curiosity through experience sharing and prompts, that will hopefully motivate teams through continuous feedback and support (Vaughan et al., 2013).

Along with facilitation, the social presence ensures that team members have an opportunity to interact by getting to know each other, build relationships through their collaborative effort, and then keep their social momentum (i.e., backchannel). I created an activity named ‘My Life in 6 Images’, a simple exercise that stimulates socialization and curiosity. As a facilitator, I often encourage the group to ask at least one question of a team member’s ‘Life in 6 Images’ to encourage conversation and knowledge making.

And finally, the strategies I introduced in the cognitive presence involve skill development and retrospective after a collaborative experience. The facilitator role is central to design skill learning for successful collaboration such as problem solving and conflict resolution skills (Mashek, 2022). My objective with cognitive presence is to build meaningful and purposeful activities through sustained communication, practical inquiries, and collaboration to increase curiosity and motivation in the same fashion as Garrison et al. (2001).

I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on my infographic.

References:

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2001). Critical Thinking, Cognitive Presence, and Computer Conferencing in Distance Education. American Journal of Distance Education. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08923640109527071

Khoo, E. G., & Bonk, C. J. (2014). Chapter 1: Introducing TEK-VARIETY (PDF) (pg 7-12). Adding some TEC-VARIETY: 100+ activities for motivating and retaining learners online (PDF). Open World Books. http://tec-variety.com/TEC-Variety_eBook_5-4.pdf

Malhotra, A. (2021). The postpandemic future of work. Journal of management, 47(5), 1091-1102. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01492063211000435

Mashek, D. (2022, June). Collaboration is a key skill. So why aren’t we teaching it? MITSloan Management Review.
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/collaboration-is-a-key-skill-so-why-arent-we-teaching-it/

Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Garrison, D. R. (2013). Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry. Athabasca University Press. Chapter 3: Facilitation (pp. 45-61). https://read.aupress.ca/read/teaching-in-blended-learning-environments/section/43261c4a-6d4c-44cf-8c7f-60bc306eb03a