I find what we learnt on group communication, roles and needs very helpful and insightful.
Not only do they apply to student life now, they will also be helpful to life in the working world. Obviously, we will never be far away from social groups and associations. Being a part of a group/ society is a simple part of being human. All of us yearn for acceptance and tolerance from like-minded people/ friends.
Certainly, all groups come together with something common in mind. A project, similar interests or even similar goals.
But when a group comes together to do a project, task and maintenance roles play an important part in sustaining the group goal. Indeed, our individual task and maintenance roles would differ according to our own personalities.
Being a person who’s pragmatic, direct and sometimes, impatient (when I find things to be too slow and not progressing), I tend to be a critic-evaluator with my own opinions. However, a part of me is also empathetic. So it’s not hard for me to compromise to people/ situations.
It’s definitely essential for a group to have a good mix of people with different task/maintenance roles. With everyone trying to be a procedural technician and following every process by the book, simply said, it will drive me nuts. A group of bossy people would also not work well together because all they’d do is struggle for power and control, instead of keeping the project in perspective.
Mastering the art of communication in a group is most definitely important – no one lives alone, do they?
Chrislyn Said:
on February 25, 2008 at 10:00 am
Hi! I would definitely say that being able to work well in a group is an art that requires one to possess multiple abilities.
Firstly, one would have to possess the ability to express himself/herself to others so that he/she will have a lower tendency of getting misunderstood or irritating others around them.
The second one would be the ability to sense what to say and what not to say in certain situations or to a certain individual or group. For instance, you are with a group of friends who are moaning for the lost of another close friend. In this case, you would not want to talk about how bad the deceased was in front of the group to arose further agony and even anger.
There are many other abilities that one should posses in order to survive well in a group other than the above mentioned abilities. Perhaps other readers could contribute to what other abilities that one should possess as well!
Cheers!