Group Work Video Analysis

Working in small groups is either welcomed with excitement by individuals or dreaded with apprehension. However, group work is a fact of life. Whether in a classroom setting or workforce collaborating within small groups are experiences many will interact at some point or regularly participate in. According to the 2010 third edition of the book A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking by Dan O’Hair, Hannah Rubenstein, and Rob Stewart, small groups can be defined as “a collection of between three and twenty people” (321). Small groups, though, are interesting in that while a small collection of people communication role is imperative to the success of the group, but also demonstrates individual’s behaviors when interacting. During small groups, they way in which the member communicates with each other illustrates how individuals perform by taking on specific roles as well as exposing their leadership style. During participation in group work, there is a set of expectations individuals hold for themselves as well as members of the group. Individuals will subconsciously take on a specific role as to how they will help the group achieve their goal, whether that be cohesively or disconnected. Subsequently, the recognition of these acquired roles provides an insight into the individual’s corresponding leadership style. Depending on roles and leaderships style group work can be a consistency of either individual challenging or complimenting one another.

Silence is my issue. I’m quiet in groups, a thinker who cannot nor want to communicate my thoughts and feelings. Paired with a face that rests in the constant position that’s often interpreted as displeased or sad, I’m easily considered apathetic and cold toward the problems of others. For a while it made me

Ketrow, S.M. (1999) Nonverbal aspects of Group Communication. The Handbook of Group Communication Theory and Research, 255.

This stage sees group members begin to confront each other as they begin to vie for roles within the group that will help them to belong and to feel valued. Thus as members begin to assert their individual personalities, the comfort of the forming stage begins to come under siege. Members experience personal, intra and inter group conflicts. Aggression and resentment may manifest in this stage and thus if strong personalities emerge and leadership is unresponsive to group and individual needs, the situation may become destructive to the

During the “Part III: Conflict and Summation” in the video Group Work: Leading in the Here and Now (Association for Specialists in Group Work, n.d.), the group worked through a tremendous amount of conflict. The main driving force for the conflict was based on self-disclosure that group member Jean offered to the group, surrounding her feelings of anger and distrust with the other members. Her comments sparked the group to investigate and explore their own feelings and emotions not only towards Jean, but the group itself. Corey, Corey, and Corey (2010) noted that, “by taking risks in disclosing here-and-now observations and reactions, members are actively creating trust and making it possible to engage in deeper self-exploration,” (p. 253).

As I began the Group Process and Dynamics course, I was excited to become educated and experienced with group counseling. Group counseling is a topic I have enjoyed in the past and have continued to be fascinated by. I have learned the elements of a group process through observation and research. The group process consists of several elements that come together when the group begins and ends when the group is terminated. I have observed group norms, group cohesion, the generation of trust, the manifestation of resistance, the emergence of conflict and resolution, healing forces, the reactions of group members, and the various stages a group develops through (Corey, Corey, & Corey, 2010). Throughout this course, I was able to derive a conceptualization of groups. From this course I will take with me the understanding of how effective group counseling can be for individuals. Groups have been known to be as effective as individual therapy and a great source of treatment. Group counseling is designed as a part of a treatment plan that helps individuals and guide them through change. Group counseling is a versatile practice, which can be used in several settings and with different populations (Corey et al., 2010). This course has given me the opportunity to reflect on my own personal leadership style, the challenges that may arise, and an action plan to continue my group leadership knowledge and skills.

I still remember the time I was chosen to lead the public relations team at one of the student activities back when I was in college, an experience that shaped a lot of the person I am today. I had to establish and maintain good relations with all stakeholders and media, prepare newsfeed updates for all social media platforms, and above all manage a team of 20 members. I spent a lot of time thinking that I am now donning the shoes of my seniors and becoming the person that freshers would look up to. Being an influential leader is not easy, I was sure, and it is more than just telling others what to do. In the following few lines, I employ Tuckman's stages of group development: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing to outline my journey

I facilitated the third session as the group entered into the middle phase of the group process. In the middle phase the group focused on getting the work done (Shulman, 2012). All of the group members, both have things in

All individuals communicate even if they are not speaking. There can be positive and negative silence. Sometimes silence is reflective and engaging, while other times it signifies a lack of connection or fear (Jacobs, et al., 2016). Body language will help determine what might be going on with an individual, and is also a good way to invite them in to the discussion. Addressing the person by responding to what is noticed could help them feel connected and important. If multiple members are silent it may mean there is not much comfort between members, in this case an activity or exercise that serves to break tension and increase cohesion may be beneficial (Jacobs, et al., 2016). It is also a possibility that a silent member is just naturally silent. A good technique to draw them out and make them feel more comfortable could be having the group divide in dyads so that they have an opportunity to talk and be heard and gradually warm up to the group as a whole (Jacob, et al.,

Our fist discussion was regarding the video “Planning a Playground”. The group in this video was discussing planning for a playground, what it would cost to put it up and how they could raise the money. I liked how this group communicated effectively an overall worked together. I picked up on some nervousness but that was mainly because they were meeting for the first time. The only issue that I could see off top was at some points some of the members would cut off the member that was speaking. I don’t feel that it was intentional or malicious but to communicate effectively you need to let others speak until their done so that you completely understand what is being said. In most cases this is how things are misunderstood because you only take from the part you hear or stopped them from saying. I identified constructive conflict occurring in this group. Constructive conflict is when behaviors help to build relationships, when you are able to manage your emotions and accept and resolve responses. It’s when you have task-completion,

The basic argument of the documentary, Other People’s Footage, is to explain the process of using copyrighted footage for a new purpose, whether that be in films, music, etc. The documentary states that fair use comes out of the first amendment, which means it is completely legal to use. It also argues that fair use is easy to implement, as long as you follow three simple questions that deal with content and time-limits. The new work must be “transformative” as well. This means something new needs to be created for the work to be considered transformative. Although fair use can potentially be a scary thing if used incorrectly, a rock solid “Yes” to all three questions mentioned in the documentary will put you in the 100% comfort zone. There

Just like in the video it express that groups with which individual identifies themselves are an in-group. Such as one’s gender, college they went to, when they were born, etc, versus out groups referring to groups with little or no social ties to certain individuals that do not identify themselves.

According to the video, some of the reasons employees would leave their companies is because they have a bad relationship with their bosses. There are many different characteristics that one's bosses can acquire to be considered a bad boss. For instance, the micromanaging boss, is a person who oversees and critiques their employees work more often than necessary. As well as the backstabber boss which is characterized as the person who takes brilliant ideas from their employees and makes them theirs. In the movie "Office Space" we can observe how Lumber (bad boss) has a demanding demeanor when he approaches his employee; he portrays a sense of carelessness and greediness, as well as lacking any people skills.

A cornerstone for facilitators is to understand what happens to people in groups. To do this, we need to look both at what people set out to achieve, the task, as well as how they get along – the processes of group activity. People often behave quite differently in groups and teams from one-to-one settings. Some people become quiet, others turn into bullies or tormentors, some become jokers. For the facilitator who has to rely on others for getting the job done, this can be daunting. Why is it that a meeting feels electric one moment and awkward the next? Why do some people refuse to communicate while others do all the talking? It becomes easier to understand the process level if we take a practical example.

Byrd, J. T., & Luthy, M. R. (2010). Improving group dynamics- Creating a team charter. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 14(1), 13–26