11/12-11/18 Post 3: Reward-Punishment Power

The one concept from the assigned reading comes from chapter twelve that I found interesting and/or intriguing/useful. It is the reward-punishment power. The book defines this as, "Those who can effectively reward or punish other members of the group hold another type of power, that is, to the extent that we can effectively praise or humiliate fellow group members," (215). It's interesting because it can be a boss or an assistant. This type of power is rather old school, in my opinion. For example my parents were a part of the baby boom era and nonetheless foreigners. So the way I grew up was very much exerted in either getting rewarded or punished for my actions. Going to Catholic school and gymnastics, both of those groups also faced reward-punishment power from their leaders. When it comes to power in group conflict I feel like this one can be misused and is a lot of the time. The reason why I picked this concept is probably because I can relate to it.

11/12-11/18 Post 2: Collaboration vs. Competition

The book defines collaborative conflict as the ideal strategy for groups to overcome a conflict. An example of my own is when my friends and I were throwing a surprise birthday for our best friend. There were many conflicts involved, time, place, keeping it a surprise, etc. The entire time we kept our focus on the birthday girl and the party. It was such a fun time because we were all having fun and on the same track in terms of keeping our mindset on the party. As for competitive conflict, it's a bit more challenging but more common in my opinion. Competition (survival of the fittest for example) is a part of human nature. So whatever we do, we try to out perform or outdo others. A personal example from group experiences, is a class activity I had one semester. We got into groups of about 5-8 and the professor assigned us tasks that had to be completed within a certain time limit. The group that I was in were all very competitive and we ended up coming in last for every task because we did not look at the bigger picture. Out of the two, even though I personally love competition, I would have to go with collaboration. At least out of these two instances. My friends and I had so much fun together planning everything and throwing the party that we wanted to do it for everyone's birthdays. My friends definitely loved it as well, we still talk about that party and the memories made today.

Week 11/12-11/18 Post 1: Formats

The Forum: It provides a format for speaking and listening to a larger audience.

The Panel: It is a public format in which a group of four to eight experts discusses a problem or decision in front of an audience.

The Colloquium: It is a form of public discussion in which a group of three to six experts, usually chosen for their divergent views, discusses a problem, following the problem-solving format, in front of an audience with a moderator facilitating their interaction.

The Symposium: It provides a format for a series of two to six brief speeches made on different aspects of a complex and difficult problem.

Out of all these formats for group presentations I prefer the forum format. I believe that speaking and listening are two essential components to group meetings. Having the option for everyone, the audience and speakers, to participate in a discussion is wonderful. It stirs up thoughts and ideas to brainstorm more possible solutions for whatever the task is at hand.

11/5-11/11 Post 3: Me, Myself and I

A concept from the assigned reading that has not already been discussed that I found interesting was the concept for encouraging creativity. There are four techniques; idea needlers, manipulative verbs, association/metaphors and analogy. Put of these four I am going to focus on idea needlers. As the book states, "These idea needlers offer us the opportunity to use a different perspective, or lens, to view a problem," (170). I found this interesting and useful because in table 10.2 there's a list of all the different questions that stir up creativity. For instance, "What if this were turned inside out? reversed? upside down?" or "Can motion be added to it?" Questions like these almost force people to think differently to come up with the answers for it thus stirring up creativity. I love this technique because at work or at school in either group, once group members start asking the "right questions" (idea needlers) imagination begins to flow and ideas are pouring out left and right. The groups then come up with outrageous, silly, amazing, weird and awesome ideas. No matter which idea is chosen for the given task, the other ones can me stored/remembered and used for later or morph into something else.

11/5-11/11 Post 2: Cultural Barriers

There are numerous cultural barriers to creativity. Particular arenas for competition and cooperation, an expectation of politeness/following rules of social order, reliance on statistical proofs, dependence on generalizations and reliance on expert knowledge are just five of those barriers. Like the text says, "when we become too orderly, we lose the ability to see things from a different perspective, "(168). And this is exactly what keeps group from being creative. If a sport or hobby is always done inside in an arena, it can be difficult for a group to figure out where else the sport or hobby can be done if part of an event. Nowadays with so much information and technology people are rather skeptical of one another and want proof/evidence or statistics of information to back up the credibility. Different cultures have a different way of doing things and when people are accustomed to that particular way, it's hard for them to be opened minded about other things as well as thinking outside the box. I've definitely experienced these barriers along with the rest in groups. A lot of the time it's my way or the high way, and I often stick to what I know. So my creativity is very limited and short lived. In recent years I've been able to open up, listen and try to do things/see things from a different perspective. It has helped a lot in my group communication and outlook on the world as a whole.

11/5-11/11 Post 1: My Creativity

One personal example of creativity is from my work. I am a gymnastics coach and am in charge of fellow coaches to make sure they are doing their job to the best of their ability. Lots of them are younger coaches, less experienced and need help. When teaching a gymnastics class with 10 other classes going on in a gym, a coach must be quick on his/her feet and be able to improvise, adapt or be creative. That's where I step in. I'm very fast passed and quick on my feet so I give advice and suggestion to the other coaches when they can't think of things to do for their classes. Whether it's a boy, girl or preschool class I have ideas for any class and every situation. This fits into the class discussion of creativity because it's being able to see something, in this case gymnastics, in a new way. Lots of the time coaches face perceptual barriers because they are so used to things being done a certain way. They forget to think outside the box. Again that's where I come in cause it's a part of my job to think of new ways to do old things and such, creativity.

10/29-11/4 Post 3; Something New

One concept from the assigned reading this week, that I found very useful, was Table 15.5 Effective Computer-Mediated Group Meeting Facilitation. As I was reading through the list of was the group meeting facilitator should do, I thought to myself, "These are great points, and I should do these." But I always rush myself when I have a meeting (Most of the time they are in person). Things like, "ask appropriate, well-timed questions to encourage thought and participation" and "help achieve a clear meeting process and outcome," are excellent concepts to follow by. A problem I have a lot of the time, is that meetings go by too fast and the group doesn't really participate. Small groups can be very discouraging for the meeting facilitator when group members are not "in-tune" for the meeting or ready for it. So information like this table reassures me that it is possible to have successful meeting, whether F2F or CMC, as long as you are well prepared for it. It encourages me and motivates me to prepare for my next meeting.

10/29-11/4 Post 2: Anonymity, Proximity and Group Size

Anonymity, group size and proximity influence participation and communication in CMC groups in both positive and negative aspects. In groups of any kind there always tends to be "clicks", norms and tensions between the members. So being anonymous can benefit CMC groups in the sense that judgments will be very limited since no one will know who's talking. It also provides people the safe zone to talk comfortably. On the other hand being anonymous has its consequences. People can be discredited or blamed for. Meaning people can assume that others said something went it was them. Group size plays effect in the sense that more people in CMC groups provide more opportunity for better results. It can also cause a bit of turmoil and disorganization if a consensus cannot be found or agreed upon. CMC can be beneficial in the context of proximity because when people to live by each other, they can still communicate. And the communication is not limited to time or space really. But if a group needs to come together to discuss, rehearse or prepare, proximity is relevant.