Week 4, Question 3

One concept from the reading that I found to be interesting was pressures for conformity in groups. When working in a group it can be hard to work with members who come have different assumptions about the work to be done or the group work process itself. When a group member refuses to go along with the majority opinion of the group and constantly raise issues that are irrelevant can cause a lot of discomfort for the group and sometimes even hostility between the members. Although having people go against the majority opinion is inconvenient, the one group member or the few group members who bring up the issues of the can move the group toward creative thinking and bring up new ideas that would have been looked over. Pressures to conformity tend to be very high in larger groups because group members want to get the task done, but if not conforming to the majority opinion of the group grants a better outcome and new ideas I would say don’t conform and voice your opinion.

Week 4, Question 2

To a certain extent I agree with the concept “white men of privilege.” Through the history of the United States it is shown that being white and a male has more perks than being a man of color. While the United States was developing into the country that it is today you were able to achieve more if you were a white male because you were presented with more opportunities. You were more likely to be literate, well educated, and a land-owner if you were a white male. Today this is not the case. People of different races and ethnicities are presented with the same opportunities as any other person in this country. Today there are many successful men and women of color and ethnicity. Take president Obama as an example. He has overcome a long history of doubt to get where he is today. I feel that this country is starting to move away from the concept of “white men of privilege” to more of an equal opportunity to all.

Week 4, Question 1

Growing up in America diversity is all around you. You attend school with kids from different countries and practice different cultural norms. “Diversity describes the reality of our national and world community that is made up of people having cultures, languages, and social customs different from our own.” (Harris & Sherblom) I think that growing up in the world today makes it easier to accept and value diversity. Back in the early 1900’s and through the middle of the 1900’s diversity was something that people didn’t want to accept. We saw this with the struggle of integration. Now I think people have a new respect for diversity and all the new ideas that people have to offer. I think that if people in groups, such as a work place, try and see all of the new ideas and value someone can bring to the group they will value diversity a little more. People need to become more open minded about the things they don’t know about.

Week 3, Question 3

One concept from this chapter that I found interesting was the concepts of roles. “Norms and roles are related but different from each other. Norms are expectations of behavior patterns for the group as a whole. Roles identify the particular way we, as individuals are expected to act in a group.” Harris & Sherblom) Take the structure of a family for example. A family is a group. You have the parents and the children and each member of the family has a certain role to play. The father usually takes on the role of the financial provider. He is expected to go to work and make money to provide the things the family need. He is also supposed to take care of the manual labor the family requires. The mother usually takes on the nurturing role. She is supposed to provide love and support and take care of the house and the children on top of working a job. The kids take on the role of respecting their parents as they grow and learn from them. You see these roles played out whenever you look at families. It is different with every family you look at, but those roles are there.

Week 3, Question 2

Norms in a group have many different functions. “Norms influence our behaviors during the group process. They reduce ambiguity, help us to feel part of the group, and develop our overall sense of “groupness.” (Harris & Sherblom) I think that group norms help some groups to function properly. I feel that people work together better if they have a set of guidelines to follow. I am not saying that once these norms are set they are set in stone and people have to follow them forever. I do think that it is ok for people to step outside of the norms if it is for the better. For example In middle school I was best friends with two girls. The three of us could not be separated. The two other girls had stronger personalities then I did at the time and they expected me to be the quiet one who would follow along with whatever they wanted me to do. Unfortunately I did follow along with that for a while until one day I was tired of it and I stood up for myself. I was tired of being told what to do and I told them I wasn’t going to be their puppet anymore. I was very proud I did that. Even though it disrupted the group norm I made a positive change for myself and also changed the group norm, which benefited everyone.

Week 3, Question 1

When I first read this question for this weeks discussion I had to really think about my response. I do believe that there are many different group norms at SJSU. It took a while for me to come up with them, but I thought about some of the experiences I have encountered while I have been at SJSU and I came up with one example that stood out. I think, as a SJSU student, a group norm would be having pride in the work that the students create. One specific example I can think of is the four professors from the communication lab. When I first signed up to be a communication lab tutor I knew that the lab was respected throughout the campus because it had been recommended to me numerous times by these professors. They constantly bragged about all the services the lab offered and how great the tutors were. When I started tutoring in the lab I knew that I had to live up to these standards that the professors had so they could continue to be proud of the work that was being done in the lab.

In my personal group of friends there is one vey identifiable norm that didn’t take me long to notice at all. I have a small group of girl friends that I have known for a very long time. One of my friends is a big time talker. Whenever I get on the phone I know that our conversation will be a minimum of 20 minutes. This is our group norm. I know that whenever I am with my friends I can expect this one friend to always have something to say. I used to get very annoyed with this friend, but as time has gone on I’ve learned to tune her out if she isn’t talking about something important.

Week 2, Question 3

Feedback is an essential part of small group communication. Feedback helps to make a group live up to its full potential. “A group must pay attention both to feedback that it receives from its larger environment in the form of its initial charge and directions and to the response to its presentations.” The response that a small group receives from its audience will help make it stronger. Positive feedback is a way of encouraging creativity among the group and will help to make the group stronger. It also encourages different ways of thinking and encourages appreciation. Negative feedback is harmful to a small group because it can cause a reduction in productive work. It can also cause people not to voice any new ideas, which can cause damage to the work of the group. I have always though that feedback was very important to not only a group but to an individual as well, especially positive feedback. Hearing positive thoughts and suggestions helps to make a small group or individual stronger with their work.

Week 2, Question 2

Entropy and equifinality are two different characteristics of small group communication. Entropy is the disorganization, stagnation, and chaos of a small group. When you are working with a small group it is easy to be overwhelmed with all the work that needs to be done. Once group members are overwhelmed things can start to get out of hand and the productiveness of the group goes out the window. Some ways to avoid entropy is to increase inputs of energy and information to the group. There is only a small window where you can add energy and information, because if you add too much you can cause entropy to the group all over again. Equifinality, on the other hand, says that there is more than one way to reach results in a small group. Small groups don’t have to reach the same results the exact same way as another group. Not everyone thinks about things the same way.

Week 2, Question 1

When I first started at San Jose State the one thing that surprised me was how often group projects were assigned. I wasn’t expecting to do group projects because college students tend to be very busy. Not only do college students attend classes, but many of them also have jobs. Some of them even have families they have to take care of as well. I have had good experiences with group projects and bad experiences with them. After reading about interdependence, which is group members depending on one another to get their work done, I realized what went wrong in some of my group projects. One group project I did was a complete mess. In the end it came down to myself and 2 other members putting together the presentation because our other members couldn’t find the time to meet with us. It was very disappointing that they left all the work for us to do and expected the same grade. I have had great group experiences other than the one I just wrote about. Everyone did their share of the work and was willing to help other members if they needed it. These are the group projects that I look forward to.