The Concept of Communication Competence in Groups - Essay Example

?Journal for Small Group Communication Communication Competence in Groups Week One Month…Year… Being an active member of an athletic team specializedin the field of soccer there have been many things to explore. Throughout the period of working and playing with each of my team members, I got the opportunity to groom my athletic skills to a very large extent. Moreover, I along with my team members got the opportunity to learn multiple skills as we have been primarily involved with soccer. Moreover, in the first week itself I have realized that all of the activities that we followed throughout our cohesive existence jointly represented the aspects of task along with relational orientation that have delivered all round effectiveness. We have team strength of 15 members whereby all of us are competent enough in our specified sport i.e. soccer. However, not all of us are equally skilled. A few of us are still learning to play volleyball in a proper format. Nevertheless, somehow we have managed to set our standards to a much higher level. We have always focused on playing cohesively and in this process have been able to fulfill the facets associated with task orientation. Furthermore, all of us in due course have got the opportunity to exercise our relational orientation skills that in turn have helped in deriving improvements in our group communication process as well. Our cohesive existence and sports training provided great aid in the development of the communication competence among ourselves. It has been able to create all round impact in improving our communication process so that we are able to lucidly convey our strategies with each other. It has resulted in the creation of all round improvement in maintaining a flow proper flow of the feedback mechanism process (Rothwell 1-381). Groups as Systems Week Two Month…Year… We represent a diverse team with efficient skills specialized in volleyball. Together we make a very strong group consisting of 15 members. Throughout the period of our co-existence, all of us have been able to maintain high extent of cooperation among all the group members and we are also able to know our own strengths and weaknesses because of the countless hours that we spend together. Throughout our co-existence, we have been able to learn many new things in the second week which is considered to be relatively better as compared to the previous week. I have realized that alike any other field, learning is a continuous process in sporting arena as well where in order to develop one’s own skills feedbacks of others are of extreme importance wherein communication can play a decisive role. It has been learnt that the both the aspects i.e. task along with relational orientation resulted in high amount of effectiveness. These factors can be provided with weightage as we are very much focused on the task in hand i.e. to excel in the concerned sport i.e. volleyball that we have chosen. Moreover, it can also be highlighted that we were following a much cooperative approach as we had strong mutual understandings with each other. I felt that most of the members in my team needed volleyball training as we were little weak in this particular sport. I learnt that we were operating in a very much systematic manner as we knew our strengths along with the weaknesses. Groups as systems represent a dynamic entity that intends to excel in any activities that are undertaken. Similarly, group sport or team sport lends an invaluable opportunity for an individual to share space with individuals of different skills being in a system. In such an activity, the prevailing barriers related to learning and skill development can be efficiently mitigated. I have also been able to ascertain greater group dynamics that has been the critical success factor for the athletic team (Rothwell 1-381). Group Development Week Three Month…Year… During the course of week three, we have been able to learn a lot from each other. The best part about our team is that we are small in number. It has allowed all of us to open up to each other and get to each know other in a very precise manner. Moreover, it has even allowed us to mix up with each other and in the process we even got the opportunity to learn and groom our sporting skills from each other. Our strong collaborations helped in the fulfillment of the aspects of group development to a very large extent. Our routine activities have helped us in the fulfillment of the group goals i.e. sporting excellence at large. It has been learned that both the aspects i.e. task along with relational orientation were seemed to be present that resulted in high amount of effectiveness. The facets of group development provided aid in proper orientation towards our assigned task i.e. to excel in bowling in an equalized manner. It made all us very much focused. However, our positive approach towards our assigned goals did allow us to improve the relational orientation with each other in a decisive manner. Spending countless hours together automatically enabled us to get our positive sides and helped in developing strong mutual understanding amongst each other. Thus, all of these aspects combined together helped in developing the group cohesiveness by a considerable extent (Rothwell 1-381). Developing the Group Climate Week Four Month…Year… In relation to the aspects of group development, we all got the opportunity to groom our individual along with group skills. Our week four was considered to be as one of the busiest weeks. In this context, it can be further said that we as a group learned to function as a team. This aspect has been fulfilled to a very large extent and it also resulted in development of the overall group climate. Our strong cohesion with all of the group members along with our mutual respect for each other resulted in development of the overall group climate. Furthermore, it helped in orientation of the relational aspects with all of my team members in an appropriate manner. This level of orientation also provided great aid to us in overcoming various obstacles that were met throughout the period of operating in a team. Our strong relational orientation with each other urged us to assist our team members with proper aid in times of injuries that were faced during the soccer sports event. We provided every possible amount of help and support to other team members in such kind of situations. Moreover, by way of following such activities, we have been able to maintain high level of orientation with our tasks in hand. We have been able to keep our focus towards the game to much higher levels as we have remained assured that each member of the group would lay their support and motivation to the other member (Rothwell 1-381). Roles and Leadership in Groups Week Five Month…Year… Being an active member of the team, it provided great aid in determining my individual competencies in the fifth week. Individual competencies play a major role in ensuring group success as a group can get motivated by individual’s success. In certain cases, I had to play the role of a mentor as I am holding slightly more sporting experience related to volleyball as compared to my team members. There had been times when my team members required assistance to grasp some of the basic techniques of volleyball. In such situations, I had to act as a leader and a guide to them so that they are able to learn and develop quickly. Besides, leadership role I also had to often play the role of a coach. As a coach, I attempted to demonstrate to them the intricacies associated with playing the games in a better and skillful manner. Thus, all of these aspects proved to provide great aid in determining task along with relational orientation that resulted in high amount of effectiveness in the overall group. By way of following multiple roles in the group, we have been able to set very high standards in the group. It helped in fulfilling the aspects of task orientation as all of the roles that reflected from our parts were mainly intended towards the fulfillment of the broad objectives i.e. to excel in all of the concerned sport. Moreover, the overall process of playing multiple roles eventually helped in developing the relational orientation as all of these activities have allowed us to work in a cohesive manner (Rothwell 1-381). Developing Effective Teams Week Six Month…Year… In our group, we have largely focused on making joint efforts to ensure that we are able to achieve success in an assured manner. All of the advantages did not come to us all of a sudden. It has been a continuous process. In the week six, we have been able to co-exist with a cordial mindset and this aspect proved to provide us with high amount of edge to function as a team. These facets jointly contributed to the development of an effective team which provided us with even greater amount of aid in determining the ways through which we could perform better. Moreover, as an efficient team, we together performed and played the concerned sport i.e. bowling in a competitive manner. In a broader respect, performing as an efficient team helped all of us in fulfilling the aspects of task orientation in a much specialized manner. All of us tried to display our unprecedented sporting skills which was basically intended to fulfill the most important task i.e. improve the sports skills to a very large extent. Each team member cohesively worked upon our areas of strengths thereby formulating our skills in the game. By way of following these activities, we have been able to reflect high amount of team spirit backed up with the quality outputs in an effective manner. Thus, all of these processes also provided us with the opportunity to develop our relational skills to a very large extent with continuous involvement with each of my team members (Rothwell 1-381). Group Discussion: Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving Week Seven Month…Year… Starting with week seven, we have gone through certain complex situations as well. Throughout the process of operating as a team, we met with certain amount of issues that seem to take place. I was the major decision maker in our team and with the mutual consent of all of my team members I used to make many game related strategies. However, due to mixed thought processes and opinions of all of my team members, there had been situations pertaining to ineffective group decision making that came into play. It has been felt that involvement of all the team members in the decision making process may be one of the basic reasons for this issue. In relation to this issue, we have decided to ensure proper group discussions during that particular period of time whereby the main theme was to arrive at a proper solution. By holding group discussions, the interaction level has been able to improve to a very large extent. It has resulted in improving the cohesion level within the team. Furthermore, such discussions that were held in weekly basis proved to provide with great of help in determining the keys areas where we all needed to work upon. Furthermore, by way of conducting group discussions, we were able to solve major problems pertaining to the ineffective strategy formulations. Thus, all of these aspects combined together helped in the establishment of the task and relational orientation which proved to be beneficial for the team while playing soccer (Rothwell 1-381). Group Discussion: Effective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving Week Eight Month…Year… Based on the above explained aspects that we met with certain amount of issues while operating as a team, there were certain measures that were taken from my part along with all of my teammates in order to curtail the hindrances. In the above section, it has been explained that inappropriate group decision making can lead to certain amount of criticalities. Based upon my experience as a member of a sports team consisting of 15 members, I myself felt that ineffectual group decision making processes can lead to failure in delivering the required output i.e. playing soccer in an effective manner. As soccer is a team sport, thus effective and prompt decision making can play decisive role to succeed. However, these types of situations can very well be altered by inducing effective decision making processes in such instances. Similarly, in the eight week, I along with my team members had been able to widely be benefitted by way of following the effective decision making process. In this regard, I have always focused on strategy formulation as a critical part to eradicate the complexities. Effective group decision processes resulted in solving major issues that were met throughout the process of operating as a team. There had been situations in which performance of my team mates seemed to slow down a little bit. In relation to these types of situation, effective group decision processes seemed to play a very crucial role in determining the key strengths of my team and in following the task/relational orientation processes in an effective manner (Rothwell 1-381). Power in Groups: A Central Dynamic Week Nine Month…Year… Week nine started with a positive note as I was able to realize the fact that all of my team members have generally functioned in a well-diversified manner as all of them had a strong urge towards improving their sporting skills of volleyball by a considerable extent. It can be very well said that I very well played my role as an active team member in order to support the aspect of proper orientation of the task. Moreover, throughout the phase of our co-existence as a small group team, it has been observed that the nature of power came into play to a very large extent. I have also been able to learn that none of my team members are powerless and all of us are equally capable of playing volleyball. Moreover, it has also been realized that the all of us worked with a common objective of attaining task orientation. Fulfillment of this objective also resulted in attainment of the aspects of relational orientation along with developing our expertise volleyball. Moreover, the fact that we spend endless hours together has allowed us to develop a high level of relational aspects. This has enabled us to increase our group efficiency as well. Thus, it can be said that all of my team members are highly competent which has been the key factor for our sustained success (Rothwell 1-381). Conflict Management in Groups Week Ten Month…Year… The entire tenure of operating as a team seemed to deliver much effective results. The major outputs that were delivered mostly reflected upon high end sports results. All of these aspects seem to fulfill the greater objectives i.e. development of expertise in soccer. However, operating in the team was not very much easy as it consisted of certain amount of challenges. Most of the challenges arose out of the conflicts that came into play. Conflicts among the team members are a very common aspect as we are a team entailing individuals possessing diverse skills along with specialized in soccer. There were instances in which mismatch between the ideas came into play. It resulted in conflicts between the team members. Being an experienced member, I very well applied the basic fundamentals of conflict management in order to obtain a grip over the situations. In the final week i.e. week 10, I tried to figure out the root causes for the conflicts and worked upon the identified issues to make my team focused in the game. I even arranged meetings, whereby all of my team members including myself got to share the problems that were being faced by us. This strategy proved to be very fruitful as it allowed us to put all our differences aside and enabled us to attain the aspects of task orientation along with relational orientation (Rothwell 1-381). Work Cited Rothwell, J. Dan. In Mixed Company: Communicating in Small Groups, 8th ed.: Communicating in Small Groups and Teams. United States: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Read More