Small Group Reflection Essays

Small Group Reflection Essays Small Group Reflection Essay Small Group Reflection Essay Small group and team communication is basically the most imperative skill that any individual will ever have to learn. Communication consists of making contact with other individuals in verbal or nonverbal connection. Whether it is a group or team each individual has different background and customs, therefore he or she should be confident enough to deal with social diversity because there is no particular way in dealing with such diverse groups. The importance of team communication is vital for achievement because people learn from one another and share similar objectives. While classroom lectures provide students with volumes of information, many experiences can be understood only by living them. It is with the? workings of a small, task-focused group. What observations can I make after? working with my group? And what have I learned as a result? When meeting together and brainstorming ideas for our can drive there were many leadership roles and? the strengths of our individual group that became increasingly apparent. Although? early in our project Jeff was the key initiator and Casey largely an information? seeker, all of us group members eventually took on these functions in addition to? erving as recorders, gathering information, and working on coming up with ideas on how we would start and initiate this can drive. Every member coordinated the group’s work at some point, several made sure that? everyone could speak and be heard, and Casey was especially good at? catching important details the rest of us were oblivious to. Tyler and I frequen tly clarified or elaborated on information, whereas Andrea, Casey, and Jeffrey were good at contributing ideas during brainstorming sessions. Casey, Jeffrey and I brought tension-relieving humor to the group.? Just as each member brought individual strengths to the group, gender? differences also made us effective. For example, Andrea and Casey looked at the big picture and made intuitive leaps in? ways that the Jeffrey, Tyler, and I generally did not. Brilhart and Galanes have suggested that men working in groups? dominated by women may display â€Å"subtle forms of resistance to a dominant? presence of women† (p. 98). Our differing qualities complemented each other and enabled? us to work together effectively. The formation of our group developed in four stages. The first was the Forming stage in which we were uncertain about our roles and who to trust. This beginning stage is relatively where we as group members introduced ourselves. At this stage we were unsure how we would be able to use each other’s experience and abilities to come together as a cohesive group. The following stage was Storming, which is a time we learned about expectations discussed then confirmed by each one of us. The third stage of our development was Norming, a stage of working together to reach our goals. Lastly, the Performing stage is focused on solving any problems that arise. This stage is critical for getting the project done on time and completing the goal. Our group had a sense of unity that went through developmental stages. Each Learning Team member played a different role and it was important for us to perform his or her duties in order to get maximum cooperation between each member. Through these maintenance roles better relationships developed and improved morale of the group cooperation. In order for our group to develop into a well performing group organization we needed to have and maintain certain characteristics. We are a group of students with a vision working towards a common goal. The building of our team was complicated. We negotiated roles and tasks according to our strengths and interests. We worked well together, but far from perfect. Ideas were exchanged and meaningful productivity resulted. Good communication resulted from trust and respect. All of us members shared an equal participation, which made it easier for each individual to contribute to the success. Brilhart, J. K. , Galanes, G. J. (1998). Effective group discussion (9th ed. ). Boston:? McGraw-Hill.