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Team Communication
And Settlement of Disputes
The day you formed your team, everything was perfect. You were bursting
with enthusiasm; you had great ideas on how to get prepared; you were, perhaps, the
best friends in the world especially if you set up your team because of a previous
relationship between all of you.
It is possible (and the CCJP hopes) that this is lasting. But it cannot be
excluded that, little by little, things deteriorate. A thinks that B does not work enough;
B criticizes C for always being late to meetings; C is convinced that A and B are
criticizing him behind his back. How are you going to manage this? This is an
essential question. And it will become more and more important during the
Competition. The stress caused by the Competition, the discovery of new locations
and new people, possibly the exhaustion caused by jet lag or caused by working in
another language, all create a risk of increasing tensions within the team. It can lead to
a negative impact on the trainingand on the results!
So what about taking the time, at this moment, to consider (1) the different
methods of learning, (2) the impact that it can have on communication in your team,
and (3) the consequences of these modes of communication on the settlement of
disputes? Read the following text and prepare yourselves for the discussion of what
could follow.

1) The modes of learning

The preparation for the Competition is a big challenge: you will have to read
and assimilate hundreds of pages to perfect your knowledge on IHLor, for most of
you, learn the first principles of this body of law. Moreover, do not forget that it is not
enough to have an individual knowledge of the law applicable to armed conflict, but
this knowledge has to be learned collectively. You should not only know, but also be
aware of what the other two team members know.
On that subject, it is interesting to note that individuals do not have the same
modes of learning, which can naturally affect the communication between the team
members. It is then important to know the rudimentary elements of the modes of
learning and to use them individually and as a team.
One of the main examples of these modes of learning divides individuals into
three groups, according to their comprehension of reality. If someone pronounces the
word car, would you: a) hear the word and not see the car? b) see a still car? c) see a
moving car? In the first case, you are surely an auditive, in the second a visual, and in
the third a kinaesthetic. The majority of people are visuals. Only a minority of people
belongs to the two other categories.
The use of this table, more generally, describes your profile as follows:

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Visual

Auditive

Kinaesthetic

You are very sensitive to the way

people address you. For you, facial
expressions of the person you
address are essential. You like
concrete,
clear
and
precise
explanations.

You give importance to the content

of a message rather than its form.
You are more sensitive to words
than the tone or the intensity of the
voice.

You are particularly sensitive to

your inner experience. You need to
feel a union with people and things.
Feelings make you quiver, rather
than ideas. You like harmony of
flavours and colours. You feel as
light as a bird when you find your
way.

Every detail has its importance.

You feel the need to move and act.
For you, nothing is going fast
enough. You prefer to lead instead
of being led and you are
particularly sensitive to what your
circle thinks of you. You are
sensitive to the aspects of people
and things.
It can be hard for you to
concentrate. When you feel
confident, you tend to be voluble or
you risk closing up if you dont like
the person youre speaking to.
You get enthusiastic for changes.
You memorize looking at images or
texts.
It can be hard for you to recall
instructions given to you orally,
especially because you tend to think
about something else.
You tend to want to catch your
interlocutors attention because
your body movements or your
gesticulations encourage somebody
to look at you.
You have a tendency to joke and
mock. On the contrary, you are less
comfortable in very sensitive or
serious conversations.

Besides, it is sometimes hard for

you to bear the look of your
interlocutor
without
being
disturbed.
You like to get short but
synthesized explanations. You lose
patience with too many details. That
is why you prefer to learn through
dialogue rather than reading.
It is not always necessary to speak
to you. You need to think before
acting and you prefer to have time
to spare. You are the person of long
term decisions.
You like a certain liberty in your
acts. You accept with good grace to
be led but that does not mean you
follow along.
You are disappointed when you fail
but refuse to give up, and you make
every effort not to repeat your
mistakes again. You are looking
for long term success and you
appreciate that people acknowledge
that.
Even if some people do not like
you, it does not matter.
You can concentrate to the point
that you would not hear anything or
see anything. You do not express
yourself a lot and you prefer
internal dialogue. But be careful for
the explosion when the last straw
breaks the camels back: you can
then express yourself very quickly
and your words can exceed your
thoughts. Concerning change, you
tend to wait to know more before
totally getting involved. But then
you become the mainspring of it.

You choose your clothes according

to your concern to be up to date and
to feel comfortable.
There is a child in you who likes to
be shining with joy and pleasure.
You like to feel that the person you
are speaking to understands you and
shares your feelings. You are
particularly emotional and you risk
closing up if you are not
understood. You can isolate
yourself in order to recharge your
batteries.
Kinaesthetic people move and speak
very slowly.
You are sensitive to rewards and to
expressions of tender feelings. You
are closer to people than visual
persons. You learn and memorize
doing things, when acting.
You would be interested in a
programme if it seems good. You
are instinctive and sensitive to the
character of a person or a room.
Finally, You prefer to explore an
idea with you instead of letting
something pass.

Your thinking is precise and can

lead you to play a role as an
organizer in a group; on the other
hand you sometimes misunderstand
oral messages like surroundings and
insinuations.

It can be interesting for each team member to use this table to try to identify
which category you think you belong to (as well as the one you would think your
team members belong to) and to discuss it collectively. In doing this exercise, do not
forget that this division of individuals into three groups is only one example in the
area of modes of learning (for example activists, theorists, reflectors and pragmatists),

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and especially that it is only a theory which - as with all theories - has its limits. Thus,
being an auditive does not mean you cannot learn while reading; it is only more
complicated for you, but possible (besides, if it were the case you would not learn
anything reading this text).
This exercise is meant to help you understand that modes of learning, as well
as modes of communication, are not necessarily the same for every team member.
You have maybe foreseen to get together frequently to learn together, to discuss, to
analyze the training documents. Have you thought about the way your respective
modes of communication will impact your learning process? You should then be
attentive to each others modes of learning and communication and to the
consequences that can follow for the other team members and for the team itself. The
consequence is that you may have to adapt your mode of learning and communication
to your team members.and your team members may have to adapt theirs to you as
well.

2) Communication within the team

Modes of learning can affect the communication in the team. But other factors
are also likely to affect this communication, particularly:

Linguistic factors, if you do not share the same mother tongue;

Cultural factors; even if you are coming from the same country and context,
you do not necessarily communicate the same way according to your
education, to your social background and possibly to your religionand to
many other cultural factors as well;

Different Character: you can be more or less outgoing, you can like more or
less direct communication, etc;

In the area of communication within the team, it is essential to distinguish

three phases:

Preparation before the Competition, i.e. until the moment you arrive in France.
During that period you will have to create trusting relationships in the team.
You will have to identify your respective strengths and weaknesses and learn
to work together.

Time spent during the Competition before the jury and/or the other teams.
During that period, you have to be sure to not fall apart; and especially not in
front of the jury and the other teams! It is the moment where you will have to
favour the collective game and avoid the individual one. Team members trying
to speak at the same time usually upsets the jurywhich is not the most
efficient or effective strategy.

Finally, time spent outside the Competition. When you are at the Competition,
but outside the simulations, you will have to try, despite the pressure, to find
the time to analyze situations, including your mistakes, to be able to
improve.But you will also have to keep your team together.

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Considering the fundamental importance of these questions for the cohesion of the
team as well as the potential for learning and competitiveness we propose you
take some time to answer the following questions:

Have you analyzed seriously the way you communicate in your team? If
yes, what have you learned from it? If not, what precludes you from doing
so?

How will you communicate with each other during the Competition? Do
you have a strategy?

When you are in front of the jury, how will you decide who has the floor?
Who will decide who has the floor in the team?

3) Settlement of disputes
A logical consequence of disputes in modes of communication is the way
disputes are settled vary according to culture, background, age, etc. Look around you
and think about these aspects: how do you settle a dispute in a family, in a company?
Who has the last word?
In a team, several methods of organization are possible: the team can decide
via consensus; or according to the majority i.e. two team members against the third
one; or you can choose someone who will arbitrate; it is also possible that one team
member is more influential and will be in a position of strength. The way the team
will move forward can be evaluated according to distinct angles, of which two are
particularly important. First, the objective effectiveness of the functioning of the team
i.e. how the team is able to do what is expected by the jury according to the criteria
set up in the Competition Regulations. The second factor is the way each team
member lives and acts during the Competition.
Whatever system you finally choose, disputes can appear between two team
members, even three.You will have to solve them. It does not matter. What matters
is not being able to settle them, or taking too much time to solve them at the wrong
moment. To avoid these situations, it is useful to consider the prevention of disputes,
closely linked to the question of the mode of communication in the team. In that
respect, ask yourself these two following questions and discuss your answers:

How do you intend to anticipate disputes in your team?

How do you intend to settle disputes in your team?