May 8-14 Question #3

The concept I enjoyed reading the most about this semester would have to be the guidelines for observer feedback. As a refresher, here are the ten guidelines to follow when providing feedback:

1. avoid generalizations such as phrases like “well done”
2. focus on behaviors that can be changed perhaps instead of other non important factors that there is no control over
3. do no debate or argue with the group
4. do not micromanage the group process
5. remember your role as the observer
6. accentuate the positive
7. end with specific suggestions for improvement rather than broad and general suggestions
8. be clear and concise 
9. complement in public and criticize in private
10. develop positive relationships

I chose this topic because I find these guidelines to be true and very useful not only in the workplace, but other areas such as school and personal relationships. I enjoyed learning about this topic because it was something I felt I can actually put to good use and perhaps enlighten other people with. I would really like to share these ideas with my manager because I believe our team could truly benefit from these guidelines which would make us a successful small group J. I also found this useful when observing my group for the observation project. I wrote these down and kept them by my side as a reminder to be an effective observer. Overall, I had a pleasure learning about all the concepts discussed in class, and I am very pleased I took this class!

May 8-14 question #2

I have learned so much in this class, it's hard to pick just a few. What I liked about this class is that every topic discussed had some if not complete relevance to my own life. I liked that in every weekly discussion, people had the opportunity to use their own personal examples and apply them to the concepts. My favorite thing about the class would have to be the movie analysis because not only was it fun, but it was an interesting way to look at the movies we already saw and liked! For instance, I did my paper on the movie Mean Girls, and although I had seen the movie plenty of times before, I never took the time to sit down and analyze it the way I did for the paper. It was really interesting to break it down and see the concepts from the book applied in media. My least favorite thing about the class would have to be the strict rules on posting our blogs. I found it difficult to try and post 12 hours apart every week, especially being a full time student and working at the same time. Other than that, I really enjoyed the class and would recommend to all students here at SJSU :)

May 8-14 question #1

I found the group observation project to be very useful and insightful. Because I observed another department from work, it was nice to have the opportunity to really observe and see the group in a different light. I learned a lot about my own organization as well as how groups function in the working world. Another reason I found it useful was because I was able to understand why the specific group functions as it does. For instance, after observing the group for hours, I was able to truly understand what they go through on a daily basis. I liked being able to see this because it gave me a different perspective on their situation. Also, it allowed me to justify their actions and be able to have a more diplomatic approach if and when conflicts arise in this group. What I liked about the project was that we were instructed to observe a group outside of our own. This allowed for a better understanding because if we had been allowed to observe our own group, we would probably have predispositions and that would influence our thoughts. One thing that could be improved is to maybe incorporate more of the weekly discussions in our group observation. For instance, have one of the topics for the week be about our observations prior to us finishing the assignment, that way we can get some feedback and ideas going.

Chapter 11& 12 Question #2

An example that I can think of when I used the collaborative approach to conflict resolution is at work. Because a lot of my co-workers are full-time students like me, we have certain work schedules. For instance, I go to class Tuesdays and Thursdays so I work Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. And there's three other girls who have the opposite schedule. However, last semester, my finals ended up being on Monday/ Wednesday which caused a conflict because there was no one to cover for me. As soon as I told my supervisor of the situation, I saw a look of panic on her face. In this instance, I decided to try and talk to my professors to let me take the finals on different days so I could still be able to work. This ended up working in both our favors because it spared my manager stress over coverage as well as gave me an extra day to study (Win-win situation) :).
On a related note, I had a situation where instead of using a collaborative method, I used a competitive conflict resolution. Around January of this year, we had one person quit which freed up some hours. Instead of having my manager split the hours between the other 3 girls, I approached my manager telling him I thought I deserved more hours based on my recent performance and great work ethic. Apparently I was really convincing because I ended up getting promoted to more hours than I initially wanted! Overall, it was my competitiveness and self-interest which landed me the promotion. There were other girls who also wanted more hours but ultimately lost due to their lackluster performance.

Chapter 11& 12 Question #3

The concept I found useful in this week's reading was in chapter 11 regarding creative decision making techniques. One of the techniques listed in the reading is the concept of role playing. This is something I have plenty of experience with in my work place. Although I agree with the idea behind role playing, I feel silly doing it. At my work, we constantly have to role play and participate in scenarios where we try to sell customers certain products. For instance, my manager always pulls every associate away and has us role play a “real life” situation with a disgruntled customer. The purpose of our type of role playing is to try to convert non-customers to get one of our products whether it be a checking account, savings account, credit card, or even a simple financial review with a personal banker. Although our role playing can be helpful, I find some flaws in our method because at the end of every role play scenario, the “customer” always ends up getting the product and leaving happy. In reality, this does not always happen so it is not as helpful as it should be. However, I think that if done correctly, role playing can be an important tool in problem solving and decision making. For instance, recently, when I play the role of the customer, I ask more questions and make it harder for my manager to try and sell me the product. This causes him to come up with a different approach and try harder to please the customer. Overall, role playing is useful because it allows for people to come up with alternative methods of approaching difficult situations.

Chapter 10 Question #2

As mentioned in the text, the five cultural barriers to creativity include: requirement for conformity, expectation of practicality and efficiency,particular arenas for competition or cooperation, an expectation of politeness and following the rules of social order, and reliance on expert knowledge. I believe there are various reasons that these barriers keep groups from being creative however, the one that stands out the most to me is the requirement for conformity. I have experienced many situations that have kept groups I've been apart of from being creative. In all honesty, I have been one of the group members who chose to conform instead of taking the creative route. I believe a big part in me not going the extra mile to be creative is simply because I did not think the rest of the group would appreciate or like my ideas as much as I did. Unfortunately, many people tend to not pay attention to anyone else's ideas besides their own so sometimes that makes the other people in the group just go along with whatever the rest of the group thinks to make things easier Also, in a recent experience, I had to do a group presentation involving a powerpoint. One person in my group had the idea to show a video within the powerpoint and I didn't really agree because I thought it was too much, and would probably be complicated to set up within our 8 minute presentation. Although I voiced my opinion, the group still decided to go along with the video. And as I predicted, when attempting to show the video, we had technical difficulties and did not end up playing it. This can tie into the expectation of practicality and efficiency because instead of being creative (using a video instead of just talking to the class) I wanted to be practical and efficient. 

Chapter 10 Question #3

This week I liked learning about guidelines for creative problem solving on page 164. The text states that these guidelines include keeping an open mind; withholding premature judgements; looking at problems in new ways as opportunities, rather than obstacles; accepting different opinions; avoiding too heavy reliance on logic; allowing for ambiguity; being willing to break the rules; and asking “what if?”. I found these very fascinating and useful to anyone who wants to be a successful problem solver (everyone!). I find that a lot of times, people are stuck in their ways and refuse to change their method of thinking and so they are not as successful as they could be. For instance, my father has had his own construction business for over 20 years. Yet, at times he finds it hard to maintain business and increase his profit. My dad is very “old school” and is not open to change even though my siblings and I try to convince him he will be much more successful if he changes his practices a bit. For instance, my brother, who has a degree in finance, constantly tries to get my dad to revise his bookkeeping/accounting strategies to increase his profits. However, my dad thinks that because he has been in the business for so long, he knows what is best, and my brother who has zero knowledge about construction does not know how to run the business. What I gained from this reading is that although you may think you know what is best and how things work, there is always room for improvement if you just switch up your creativity every once in awhile.