Proposal: Improving Group Communication

Submitted by Mickayla Hardman Salt Lake Community College Communications 1010 January 10, 2013

Contents:
Overvie !ro"ect #escri$tion %rou$ &ssets %rou$ Limitations )ecommendations Conclusion )e,erences 2 3 ' ( * + -

Overview
Our grou$ $ro"ect ,ocused $rimarily on bettering t.e lives o, abused animals in our community/ &s a grou$ e anomalously decided e anted to s$end as little time and money as $ossible to com$lete our $ro"ect/ 0e also ,elt it as im$ortant our $ro"ect as sa,e and easy to incor$orate into our individual busy sc.edules/ 0e came u$ it. a detailed team contract describing all t.at as e1$ected o, eac. team member/ Our team contract as a key $art in kee$ing our grou$ organi2ed and $re$ared t.roug.out t.e entirety o, t.e $ro"ect/ &ll o, our meetings ent smoot.ly and e ere able to success,ully com$lete every assignment on time it.out too muc. di,,iculty/ 3y using t.e re,lective t.inking se4uence in t.e Communicating &t 0ork te1tbook e ere able to analy2e and solve our animal abuse $roblem by volunteering at 5ait.6C.ing 5arms/ 7.e 5ait.6C.ing 5arm is a non6$ro,it organi2ation t.at takes in abused animals and cares ,or t.eir every need/ &s a grou$ e .el$ed interi2e t.e ,arm and $re$are t.e animals ,or t.e ne1t ,e mont.s o, inter/ &,ter volunteering at t.e 5ait.6C.ing 5arm e ere all t.ank,ul ,or t.e o$$ortunity e .ad to .el$ t.e abused animals in our o n community/ &lt.oug. our e,,icacious grou$ as able to success,ully com$lete our grou$ $ro"ect in t.e allocated time e did .ave some small limitations/ 8t as di,,icult to ork our team meetings around all our di,,erence sc.edules/ &ll t.e girls in t.e grou$ ere very busy and e .ad to care,ully select t.e dates and times to .old our meetings/ 8t as also di,,icult to kee$ every team members9 individual assignments se$arate/ 0e ould o,ten a,ter to remind eac. ot.er .o .ad .at assignment and .o as s$eaking on .ic. $art o, t.e $ro"ect during t.e oral $resentation/ 7.e Communicating &t 0ork te1tbooks de,ines organi2ing by task by stating :sometimes a $resentations doesn9t ,all neatly into se$arate to$ics it may make sense to assign s$eakers se$arate roles it. t.e discussion o, a to$ic: ;&dler < =lm.orst>/ 7.is as a conce$t our grou$ could .ave more care,ully im$lemented in our oral $resentation/

Project Description
My grou$ decided e anted to make a di,,erence by .el$ing better t.e lives o, t.e abused animals in our community/ &s a grou$ ere able brainstorm and ork e,,ectively toget.er to create t.e best $ossible solution and met.od to better t.e lives o, t.e abused animals/ 0e decided to give o, our time and volunteer at t.e 5ait.6C.ing ,arms in Herriman ?ta./ &s a grou$ e relied .eavily u$on t.e re,lective t.inking se4uence/ &,ter identi,ying t.e animal abuse $roblem is our society e ere able to ,urt.er analy2e t.e $roblem and brainstorm $ossible solutions to .el$ better t.e lives o, t.e animals 3e,ore deciding t.e solution our grou$ as able to establis. a list o, criteria e ,elt as im$ortant ,or our solutions to include/ Making our ritten $lan a reality as t.e best $art o, t.e entire $ro"ect/ 0e ere able to im$lement all our .ard ork and make a di,,erence in our society/ @olunteering at 5ait.6C.ing 5arms as not only a good e1$erience o, t.e entire grou$ but e ere able to make a di,,erence in our society/ My grou$ o, ,ive girls orked very e,,ectively toget.er ,rom t.e very beginning/ 0e .ad no $roblems staying in contact and com$leting our assignments/ 0e orked ell toget.er and it as a good ork e1$erience ,or all o, us/

Group Assets
Our grou$ .ad several assets t.at contributed to t.e success o, our grou$ $ro"ect/ 7.e biggest assets t.at contributed to our grou$9s success as our illingness to ork toget.er and our s.ared desire to ac.ieve t.e same goals/ 7.e Communicating at 0ork te1tbook de,ines $arliamentary $rocedure on $age 221 as a :set o, rules t.at governs t.e ay grou$s conduct business and make decisions in meetings:;&dler < =lm.orst, $/ 221>/ 3ecause my grou$9s $arliamentary $rocedure as clearly de,ined in our team contract e ere able success,ully ac.ieve our goals and com$lete our $ro"ect/ Our grou$9s s.ared desire to ac.ieve t.e same goals as anot.er asset t.at greatly in,luenced t.e success o, t.e grou$/ !age 1-+ o, t.e Communicating at 0ork te1tbook describes several c.aracteristics o, ork grou$s and one o, t.e most im$ortant is a .aving a :s.ared !ur$ose:;&dler < =lm.orst, $/ 1-+>/ 7.e book states :unless t.ey s.are a collective goal t.ey on9t collectively accom$lis. anyt.ing:;&dler < =lm.orst, $/ 1-+>/ Our grou$ establis.ed a collective goal ,rom t.e ,irst team meeting/ Having a s.ared $ur$ose as $robably t.e biggest contributing asset to our grou$/ 0it.out our collective goal e ould not .ave been able to com$lete anyt.ing/

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Group Limitations
&lt.oug. our grou$ orked ell toget.er e did .ave a ,e limitations/ 7.e biggest limitation in my grou$ as t.e di,,iculty e .ad trying to ork all our di,,erent sc.edules around t.e $ro"ect/ 0e .ad to $lan eac. team meeting care,ully in order ,or all grou$ members to be $resent/ Several o, t.e grou$ members .ad to com$romise in order to create a team meeting sc.edule t.at orked/ 7.e Communicating at 0ork 7e1tbook describes com$romise on $age '21 o, t.e te1t book as Aan orientation to ard negotiation t.at assumes eac. side needs to lose at least some o, .at it as seeking:;&dler < =lm.orst, $/ '21>/ 8t took a lot o, ork and care,ul $lanning but e ere able to create a list o, team meetings in .ic. all members could attend/ 7.e day o, our grou$ $ro"ect ,ell over inter break .ic. meant ,ree2ing tem$eratures and sno / 7.e eat.er as anot.er limitation o, our grou$/ 0e .ad to make some c.anges to our $lan, but e ere able to overcome our eat.er limitation/ =ven t.oug. my grou$ .andled several di,,erent limitations e ere able to success,ully com$lete t.e $ro"ect on time/

Recommendations
!ersonally 8 learned a lot ,rom t.is grou$ $ro"ect/ One o, t.e best lessons 8Bve taken ,rom orking in grou$s is you .ave to be ,le1ible/ &s a leader o, t.e grou$ 8 t.ink t.is idea is e1tremely im$ortant/ 7.e te1tbook de,ines t.e contingency a$$roac. on $age 1C2 as an a$$roac. Abased on t.e idea t.at t.e DbestB leaders.i$ style is ,le1ible, 66 it c.anges ,rom one situation to t.e ne1t:;&dler < =lm.orst 1C2>/ &s a leader t.is is somet.ing 8 could .ave orked .arder on/ 8 could .ave made a better e,,ort to be more ,le1ible and go it. t.e ,lo a little more/ 8, 8 could do t.is $ro"ect over again as a leader 8 ould encourage my grou$ to .ave a more s$eci,ic goal/ 7.e Communicating at 0ork te1tbook de,ines t.e s$eci,ic goal on $age 2(+ as At.e s$eci,ic $ur$ose o, your $resentationE;&dler < =lm.orst, $/ 2(+>/ &s a grou$ 8 t.ink e could .ave .ad a more narro ed goal going into our oral $resentation/ My grou$ as $.enomenal and 89m glad 8 .ad t.e o$$ortunity to ork it. t.e ama2ing team members 8 did/ 8 did not only .ave a good e1$erience but 8 as able to build relations.i$s t.at 8 kno ill be im$ortant do n t.e road/

Conclusion
8n conclusion my grou$ orked e1tremely ell toget.er and e ere able to com$lete our beginning goal .ic. as to .el$ed better t.e lives o, abused animals in our community/ 0e .ave yet to receive a grade on our $ro"ect but e are all con,ident e did ell and ill receive a decent grade/ Our $ro"ect re4uired a lot o, care,ul $lanning but e ere able to success,ully com$lete everyt.ing e set out to do/ &lt.oug. our grou$ .ad ,e limitations are ama2ing grou$ assets made u$ ,or it/ Our grou$ orked ell toget.er and e ere able to build lasting relations.i$s/ 7.e grou$ $ro"ect as a great e1$erience and e learned a lot about not only communication but service as ell/ 8 encourage all students to engage in a grou$ $ro"ect similar to t.e one 8 .ave com$leted/ & $ro"ect suc. as t.is is valuable, ort. .ile, and im$ortant ,or any student is.ing to ,urt.er t.eir education/ 7.is $ro"ect .as done a lot ,or me individually/ 7.e $ro"ect .as taug.t me to .ave $atience and ,le1ibility .ile orking it. ot.ers/ 8 .ave a very strong $ersonality and orking it. ot.ers .as al ays been a eakness o, mine/ 7.is $ro"ect .as .el$ed me to recogni2e and im$rove bot. my strengt.s and eaknesses/

References &dler, )onald 3/, and Jeanne M/ =lm.orst/ Communication at 0ork/ 7ent. =d/ Fe Gork CityH Mc%ra 6Hill, 2010/ !rinci$les and !ractices ,or 3usiness and t.e !ro,essions/ !rint/