Group Dependence: An In-Group Analysis

First of all, to be put in a group of individuals that I had never met or interacted with before was always going to be difficult. The process of getting to know them better and finding the strengths and weaknesses of each team member was hard at first but the more we worked on the presentation, the better we became at communicating and getting the

We made sure to stay onto of our work and were able to go back and help other group member who worked after us with their parts as well. Because we worked through Google Drive, we were able to all work on the project equally at the same time. We all logged in, created our slides, added our information and picture, and left comments for one another on there. Bhavik introduced me to a new meaning to the quote, ”I don’t want to see you—die—trying not to suffer,” which I was able to later use in my presentation (Baldwin 264). I set up a group text message so we were able to ask each other questions and stay connected at anytime. Our group also met up in the library the morning before presenting so we could discus how we would present to the class. Working in the group setting was very important because we were able to hear each other’s different interpretations of scenes we did not understand or scenes we analyzed

My group consisted of four other members-Christy, Daniel, Brian, and Allison. When we were first introduced to the idea of a small group project we knew that our presentation had to entertain the audience, and at the same time inform them. At that point, we were functioning as individuals. Each of us tossed out a ton of ideas and some were shot down right away. That took about 5minutes. Then Daniel mentioned that we can do a parody of the television show Change of Hearts, and it stuck to us like glue. Gradually we began to feed into his revelation, and started to add our personal touches. Each of us became elaborators. For about 15 minutes we took the idea and expanded it to see where it could lead

I felt like due to most of us not knowing each other and ever really interacting with each other, there was tension. We did not know how to start a conversation over some very intense issues that this activity bought upon us. I definitely was anxious at the beginning because I was nervous about how such a a large group was going to interact with each other. Other times that I felt some tension was when people started disagreeing on ideas. When people thought their idea was better than another persons. I felt some tension when people started using their job title as being superior to voice their opinion over

When the project was first introduced and we were out in a group together, we immediately discussed topics that we could present on. At the time, we did not choose a topic, but the following day we were able to find a topic that we all enjoyed researching and presenting on. Once we had a topic to present on, we split up the work evenly between us and started a google docs so we could post our notes and completed work online. This process was very dependent on every member of the group contributing to the end goal of presenting our finished project. For the most part we completed our respective tasks and was able to complete our presentation on why health care should be free. Our group did not communicate very much, this highlighted the interdependence

The first was getting a scheduled time that worked for absolutely everyone. I don’t believe I was till the last two or three weeks that we had a group meeting that worked for everyone to show up. Most of the time people were going to come late or couldn’t make it because of previous commitments like a job. Thankfully in the end the project became more of a priority. As we all learned and memorized our lines by ourselves, we put attitude and movement to it as a group. One time there was class time of almost an hour to work on our plays and every group left expect for ours. We took it upon ourselves to practice in the space we were to eventually preform in and you gave us helpful feedback to each character that allowed us to make the play even better. The second hardest part of our group meetings were that because we bonded so well together we always had a rough time of getting down to work. The first 45 minutes of every group meeting was spent just catching

Working in a group setting can cause strain on some individuals, but it also can be helpful to the same individual. Group projects are a major component to both negative and positive effects. There are then easy and hard components of working in a group setting, that can range from person to person. The easiest part of working in a group project was commitment, trust, and motivation. In our group everyone was committed toward getting a great grade and wanting to work for that. Group projects usually tend to have people rely on others to do the work. For this project, for example, I believe my group did not have that issue. We all worked together, splitting parts up for the presentation, including the PowerPoint, annotated bibliography, and

On the other hand, there were parts of the discussion that didn’t run as smoothly. First, despite our efforts it was difficult to coordinate a time for the three of us to meet. As a result of a non-responsive group member, we had to hold two Roundtable discussions. While I didn’t mind sharing my research, it was frustrating to have to allocate additional time at the last minute to accommodate one member. As you said yourself, we are busy grad students and time is a valuable commodity! Additionally, the quality or usefulness of feedback from my peers varied. Some responses were thoughtful and truly aided me, whereas others were more generic or tried steering me in a direction I did not want to take.

Apart of the beginning stage, we had to enable a sense of trust for one another in order for the group to proceed. We also clarified confidentiality within the group, developed a contract, and helped to guide the development of the group and group tasks. The beginning stage play an important role in this experience because it was the foundation for each of us to become engaged. Things that were accomplished during the beginning stage were getting to know one another, define our roles within the group, recognize communication styles of each member. We decided that everyone in the group would have a chance to lead in each meeting. We decided on ground rules and developed a concrete plan by completing time tables for each task. Initially, the group was formed and completed only to fulfill the class assignment and seemed annoying. However, as the process progressed I found it extremely useful. In preparation for continuing the group, it helped to structure our obligation within the group and gain group experience.

Another key aspect we looked at in our groups was our member participation. With the tendency to not have everyone in class that our group faced, it was hard to check on equal participation. With group messaging and last-minute meetings we were able to even out the participation. I found that Katie was our information seeker, Allison our evaluator, Chelsea our orienteer, Justin our coordinator, and me the energizer. This distribution of responsibilities and jobs was hard to coordinate with one another but learned to focus on each other’s strengths. While in group projects, one tends to find an unequal distribution of participation within a group. Our group faced this same challenge with some people putting in more effort than others. We faced some help seekers and withdrawers, as our book talks about, but were able to corral them back into our speech.

For the deliberative dialogue assignment and presentation, I believe my group and I went through the Phase Theory of Group Development while working on this project. Before being assigned the project, the five of us, Charisse, Bryce, Abby, Chris, and I, were put together into a group. In class, we got together and decided which topic we wanted to research about. We shared our personal thoughts and experiences in order to have an understanding of each other’s viewpoints. This would be considered the first phase orientation, having a grasp of everyone’s perception in order to reach an agreement of the task. At first, it was difficult for us to write our position in the form of a formal letter. We all had the same goal in mind but didn’t have the steps leading to it. When we had planned to meet outside of class, there wasn’t much discussion or debate regarding our topic due to a collective agreement. Charisse and I attempted to push our group into the second phase of conflict by bringing up new ideas to challenge our existing points. This enabled us to further exchange our thoughts in order to find an effective solution. Our topic affected Chris and I the most, but I attempted to make it relatable to everyone else in the group. Charisse questioned how we should deliver the presentation during class by dividing our topics into three points with an introduction and conclusion. This lead to the third phase, emergence. Through discussion, we were able to uncover details and

To begin, working as a team made it possible for me to present more confidently as well as form better questions. I was very pleased with my group because we all had similar interests. We wanted to get a reading that involved the stance of women, and when we did it made of all us excited to work together. Our presentation wasn’t till the end of the semester, but we all still managed to communicate on time and remember our due date. My team met after class when our discussion was getting close and sketched out a plan. I was not there, but they emailed me what they talked about, and didn’t leave me out at all. It was helpful, because in the email we discussed it further and came up with the plan of meeting after class the following Tuesday. On Tuesday we came up with a solid game plan. Our decision was that two members would do one reading, and the other two a different reading. We would then each come up with two questions to discuss with our class. We decide to aim to get

Process: I think group one was well organized and spoke extremely well. I enjoyed their presentation. I liked the presentation overview in the beginning that explained what we would be introduced to and who would be speaking, this was a great organizational touch! I loved the first overview video the group showed. It explained the syndrome wonderfully and was interesting to watch. I like how Tatum pointed to the chromosome picture and explained the crossover. However, I think she should have turned the other way so her voice would have projected to the entire class. She also did a great job with the pronunciation of all of her names and terms. I like that she took the time to perfect this detail. I also liked how she bolded the “main” points of her slides. It was a great way to make those points salient. Karlee also spoke well and I liked how she defined affinity and circumlocataion. I did not like how she was the only one wearing jeans. She looked great, but I think she should have worn dress pants to match the rest of her group. Sydney did well, however, I think her portion was too brief. For example, I think she should have given examples over the different

To begin, the very first part of group development but also the class, was to form a group that you would work with throughout the whole semester. The class discussed ways to assign group members, but ultimately, the decision was to let students pick their groups. In all honesty, I was not fond of this idea, but I selected my group. I began by wanting one of the two boys in my group, because I wanted a male’s perspective throughout the project. I decided I wanted to work with Adam because I had witnessed him ask challenging questions and succeed in debates with previous professors, all characteristics I thought could be beneficial at the time. With choosing Adam came Matt, because since they were the only two males in a lecture dominated by females. Lastly, Alex decided she wanted to work with me because we had a previous class together and she stated she liked the way I handled myself within that lecture.

Not only can group mates get to know each other more, but also to exchange ideas so that we know what each other want for the project. One day before our first meeting, Tiffany said the story wasn’t right and started to change it. I think if we discussed more the ideas on the story beforehand, we could have distributed the work more evenly and did not have to change the script so abruptly. In addition, I believe we should have worked together to complete every task instead of assigning different tasks to different members of the group. In this way, every member knows our project progress because we are working on it together. These two actions combined will enable us to discuss our ideas in person and give feedbacks clearly and effectively. In this project, we mostly communicated on WhatsApp, which was not efficient enough. It is a good tool to keep us all connected but not a good communication channel for discussing project