SPC1017 Group 1 Blog - Angel Thomas

 

I am in group 1 in SPC1017, and we were the first ones to present in class. Firstly, I was genuinely surprised at how well coordinated we were, I’ve never done a group project where every person actually did their share, especially a group with 12 people so well done to my group. Everybody was pretty helpful and kind towards one another as well. Whenever someone needed help like to ask a question or take a picture of the book chapters someone was always there to help. After being put in the group everyone was given a part of the chapter to present and I was given 3-3d. Uncertainty Avoidance. My chapter was really really short, just barely half a page and I was still pretty nervous about it, my chapter was talking uncertainty avoidance and what it is, as well as the differences between low and high uncertainty avoidance.

 

Different cultures have different attitudes when it comes to uncertainty avoidance which is the extent to which people desire to control how things happen. High uncertainty cultures like Germany are controlling, less open to ideas that are different, and don’t like when people are out of the norm. People that live in these cultures get anxious when confronted from unpredictable people or situations. These cultures also put a lot of rules for security. Low avoidance cultures are basically the opposite of this, Low avoidance cultures like the United States are more tolerable. These cultures accept people that are different and welcome ideas that are out of the norm. They usually think there should be few rules as possible as to not limit the creativeness. They are also less driven to control unpredictable people and situations. As someone who lives in the United States I would definitely  agree to that definition.

 

This chapter was mostly about different societies and cultures. I’ll go over some of the different mini chapters here. 3-1. Culture and Communication is the very first section in this chapter and it talks about what exactly culture is. Culture is like a group of people that all believe in a certain way of life and have different beliefs, norms, values than others and its all considered acceptable within that group while it may not be to others. 3-2e. Religion talks about what is the dominant religion here in the country which would be Judeo-Christian values and practices. It also brings up a sad truth on how some people in the United States equate Muslims to terrorist groups specifically Al-Qaeda since the tragedy 9/11. Those group of people are not what Muslims are and do not represent them. Some Muslim core values are peace, mercy, and forgiveness. Another mini chapter I found interesting was 3-2g. Age/Generation, because of its “co-cultures” for example people that were born in the Great Depression are frugal or are very careful with money, Baby boomers who came of age during the 1960s are skeptical of authority, Generation Xers are likely to be self sufficient and adaptable, and then Gen Z who are a generation of people that grew up in a time with technology making us likely to be adept at  multitasking and using new technology. The last mini chapter I’ll talk about here is 3-3a. Individualism/Collectivism, Individualistic cultures value personal rights and responsibilities, privacy, saying your own opinion, freedom and innovation. Collectivist cultures value community, collaboration, shared interest, harmony and avoiding embarrassment. These are all the mini chapters I found interesting.

 

Group 2 covered chapter 9, it was good and that group did great presenting it. This chapter gets into smaller groups and the importance of communicating effectively in smaller groups. A sought after skill among college students is to be able to work well in groups. This chapter also talks about the characteristics of healthy groups. A couple of mini chapters that I want to talk about is 9-4a. Pseudo-Conflict and 9-4c. Personality-related group conflict, since I have seen these issues in groups. A pseudo-conflict is essentially a time where you and another group member disagree on something but in reality you do actually agree, this can happen due to poor communication and can be resolved very easily by using effective listening and perception checking which will clear up all misinterpretations. Personality related group conflict is when two members clash because of their contrasting personalities. I have seen this happen a lot of times and it could potentially ruin a group. Rather than arguing the two should find ways to reach a compromise and continue working on the groups goal.

 

Finally is chapter 10 which was presented by group 3 who did a great job going over it. This chapter is pretty short so it’s straight-forward but they did good describing what this chapter covers. This chapter goes over group leadership and problem solving. It should go without saying how important those two are in a group.

 

Leadership is where one or a few other people influence the whole group into working toward the goal together. It goes over task roles, maintenance roles, and procedural roles, all very important in a group. It’s important to have meetings, solve problems together, communicate effectively, maintain cohesion, and have a positive relationship with every member of the group. During a meeting it’s good to ask questions and especially play devil’s advocate, because not fleshing out a disagreed idea could potentially prevent an actual good idea from being discussed. After a meeting it’s advised to review notes and see how helpful you were during the meeting, communicate your progress and finishing all your tasks means the group will thrive.

 

So to finish off things I had a great time doing these presentations and I learned a lot from watching the other ones too. Even though I was bumbling through my part I was inspired to do better by my group and other groups who did their parts effortlessly. This was definitely the best group I have been apart of in all my years in school and I hope to do even better on my next presentation.