W16 - Discussion Question # 2

Honestly, I had mixed feelings about the Observation of an Outside Group Project. I enjoyed being able to apply what I have learned in this class in a real-life setting as an observer and being able to see firsthand how groups work. The part I didn’t like about it was how we had to find a group outside of our normal realm to observe because I personally don’t know a lot of people who are part of outside groups as most of my friends and colleagues are also working students like myself. The reason why I chose the group that I did was because of the convenience in that it happened to be one of my friends who lead a Bible study small group and also the fact that the meetings took place Monday evenings. To be honest, I am not a religious person and so the fact that I was observing a Bible study was a little bit awkward because the participants in the small group were really enthusiastic. In addition, I felt a little bit guilty because although my friend and I knew that I was there for a project, the other group members were unaware of my intentions and thought that I started attending for my own personal spiritual growth. I would’ve liked it if we were allowed to observe a group that we might have already been a part of. If that were the case, I would have written about my colleagues at work because even though I work with them, since they are my direct reports, their group dynamic is a lot different than when I spend time with them outside of work. All in all, I do think that the Group Observation Project was a good learning experience except for the stringent requirements of actually being able to choose a group.