W16 - Discussion Question # 3

One concept in the book that I would’ve liked further discussion on is the chapter on leadership. The chapter discussed different leadership styles, necessary qualities of a good leader, leadership theories and small section on handling conflicts within the group as a leader. However, I strongly feel that a group is as strong as its leader and a leader has the potential to help a small group in meeting its goals and objectives or tear it apart, which is why I think so much more could have been covered. There was only about a paragraph about managing conflict and it did not really offer too much into what a leader can do to help solve conflicts within the small group dynamic. In addition, crossing over to the group feedback chapter with the different surveys, I would’ve liked to see more samples of different leadership surveys and feedback forms as well. Lastly, because leadership is important in my opinion, I think that the chapter could have been a bit longer and more in-depth.

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.

W16 - Discussion Question # 1

I think that the main difference between CMC and f2f communication is that it allows parties to feel less inhibited and therefore it can help to promote honest feedback. In addition, CMC is more flexible because it allows people to communicate at their convenience as they do not have to arrange to meet in person. The downside to CMC is that sometimes, things that are said can be taken out of context as emotions are not conveyed through electronic mediums. Also, while it is more convenient than meeting face to face, some people may procrastinate more than others and it can be harder to illicit immediate responses when needed. However, in response to both concerns, I think that as long as participants are direct and clear in their messages, everyone can benefit from using CMC. Personally, I enjoy CMC more than I do face to face because of my work schedule and since I have Internet and e-mail access through my phone, I am able to communicate with everyone, virtually anywhere without having to worry about adjusting my schedule.

W14 - Discussion Question # 2

Every day we encounter conflict and how we handle the conflict can determine the health of the relationship between our small group members. Personally, I think I deal with the most conflict at work because of the group dynamic that is there with all the different personalities. There are eight staff members and three management team members, including myself. Every month we are given goals to meet both individually and as a branch team. In the first quarter, business was really slow and we were unable to meet any of our assigned goals. This caused concern for our upper management and we were told that we needed to increase our sales and meet at least some of our goals in order to substantiate our staffing size. As a team we worked together and collaboratively tackled the issue of our poor sales numbers head on and tried to find new ways we can increase our business. Because of the combined efforts of everyone, we were able to make a dramatic turnaround within the first two weeks of April. Everyone was happy because we were able to work together and reap the rewards as a whole.


On the other hand, there have been times at work where instead of collaboratively working with my team, I have turned to a more competitive conflict resolution style. Every week, my manager, the supervisor, and myself would get together to discuss what was going on with the staff and the branch. There would be times when we would have to discuss certain issues, operational or human resource items that would come up and my manager would leave it up to us to see how we would like to handle the situation. I feel like because it is just the two of us, it causes more of a competition, where we both want to be able to present our manager with a better idea and in some ways outdo the other person. Sometimes, we may even be blindsided with our own pride and more focused on the competition than on actually solving the problem at hand. I think that under all circumstances, collaborative conflict resolution is much better than competitive conflict resolution because everyone wins and feels better knowing that they helped to contribute to solve a conflict and leaves feeling satisfied with the overall outcome.

W14 - Discussion Question # 3

One concept that I found interesting in this week’s reading was about power within group conflict. It was interesting to see all the seven different types of power defined and the different characteristics of them. This made me think about the concept of power in a general context and not just limited to group communication. Personally, I think from the time of childhood until adolescence, we are bound by the reward and punishment power that our parents hold because they ultimately have the ability to reward us when we follow their rules and punish us when we disobey them. As we get older, I think that people who have interpersonal linkage power are the most influential because they are able to “engage the services of individuals, other groups, and organizations, or to gain access to resources generally not available to others” (pg. 239). Ultimately, I feel like since these individuals are well connected amongst various circles they probably hold a lot of power within a lot of different groups and therefore are well respected or feared in some cases. These individuals live by the saying, “it’s not about what you do, but who you know, and the people who you know can make you or break you”.

W14 - Discussion Question # 1

A forum, panel, colloquium and symposium are all methods in which groups can have discussions and present their results to a larger audience. Each of these are structured differently and have different levels of audience participation. First, in a forum, “the group can speak and listen to a larger audience… [and] the full audience participates, examining a topic or problem after a short presentation by the group” (pg. 219). A panel format does not have the speakers and audience directly interact, instead it has a moderator to introduce the discussion/topic, the speakers and the question and answer portion. Usually there are a set number of experts on the certain topic at hand and these experts will discuss the topic amongst themselves whereby the audience can observe their discussion. A colloquium also uses a smaller set number of experts, a mediator, and involves audience participation; however, it different in that the experts all have different views on the subject and the purpose “is to identify, develop, and work through possible solutions to a problem for the benefit and with the participation of the audience” (pg. 220). Lastly, a symposium is much more formal in that the speakers must plan and prepare “brief speeches made on different aspects of a complex and difficult problem…the purpose of the symposium is to present complex technical information to the audience about the problem” (pg. 221). Symposiums also utilize a moderator and may have a forum discussion to allow the audience to ask questions.



Out of the four methods of presenting, I would most likely prefer the forum method of discussion because it allows the audience direct interaction with the speakers and this format encourages their participation. I think it would benefit both the audience and the speakers in that different viewpoints can be shared by all participants and it helps to keep the audience engaged. While audience interaction isn’t always necessary, I think it definitely helps to keep things interesting and makes people want to pay attention to a presentation, even if the information being presented is not of use to them.

W13 - Discussion Question # 2

Five cultural barriers to creativity listed in our text include: a requirement for conformity, an expectation of practicality and efficiency, particular arenas for competition or cooperation, an expectation of politeness and following rules for social order, and a reliance on statistical proofs (pg. 188). The reason why these barriers along with the others mentioned in the text would keep a group from being creative is because group members may feel bound by their cultural expectations and norms that they have been embedded with from the time that they were just children. Within this list, the one cultural barrier that I am very familiar with is the “expectation of politeness and following rules for social order” (pg. 188). Growing up in my Korean culture, it was expected that as a female, I was always polite and lady-like and that I should always be soft spoken and keep opinions to myself, especially when it came to talking with people who were older than me. Even if I knew that my idea may be beneficial or make things easier I felt trapped by this cultural barrier and therefore did not speak up often, especially when I was amongst other Koreans. However, as I got older it did not take me too long to overcome this because I feel like the schools here in the States promote cultural diversity and allow and encourage students to really engage and participate in sharing their different ideas and foster creativity.