Chapter 2 question #1

1. There are many factors that affect a groups' ability to function properly and effectively. The key to having successful small groups is communication between members and a clear understanding of the goals. However, due to factors such as lack of communication, misunderstandings, and poor effort, having groups hat function well are often rare in any environment whether it be in the workplace, school, or a sports team. Usually, groups that have such issues do not tend to reach their expected goals on time or how they had initially hoped.
   I've had several experiences in which I have faced both poor and great communication within my small group. When I was in community college I took a small group communication class where we were assigned to work in groups of 5 to 7 people. For our first assignment we had to choose a topic that was a big problem in our society and to present to the class with possible solutions for the future. As my group was throwing out ideas for possible topics, one student suggested the issue of teen pregnancy since she had gone through it as a teenager. Once my group agreed on the topic, this student immediately took the leader position and started suggesting what everyone should contribute. She told us about her story and how much it effected her life and then told us how it could be fixed. Although she had first hand knowledge about the subject, it seemed as if she thought she was an expert on the matter because every time someone would try to give any input, she would cut them off and start talking about her experience once again. It got to the point where no one in the group wanted to contribute because we felt our opinions were not even being heard ( which they weren't). This was important because our group did not have a sense of interdependence. Instead we had a group with one leader who insisted she had all the right answers. Our group did not gain the benefit of having the shared ideas and interactions-all of which lead to successful groups.

A positive example of my experience in small group communication is in a intercultural communication class I took. In this class we had to choose a chapter from our textbook and teach it to the class. My group immediately agreed and selected a chapter and we began discussing who would be doing each part. After everyone had their part assigned, we then took a day to gather information and agreed to share it the next day. We then came back into our groups and shared out information with each other and provided feedback and assistance. This worked out really well because everyone had a chance to give input on everyones work and we developed an intereltionship as well as have some interdependence.