Blog Jorge Ramos

 

The three chapters the whole class presented worked out great. All the groups put in an effort in communicating to each other to create great presentations. I personally enjoyed being part of group 2 since I was able to meet new people with great attributes, beliefs, and new cultures. At the beginning of group presentation, I was afraid of communicating online to others for help mainly for the reason of bothering other people when they might be busy, I didn't want to have a bad image of myself to the group. After needing help, I confronted my fear of bothering others and went ahead and asked through our group chats all the questions I needed to be asked. The whole group reached out to me, giving me all the help, I needed.

In chapter 3 Group One discussed cultures and the communications inside of them. They also explained the relationship between dominant and cocultures, the seven dimensions in which cultures differ, and practice methods to improve intercultural communication competence.    Culture is when society shares the same beliefs and values. Values are the standards considering rights and wrongs. Intercultural communication is one two different people from different cultures try communicating and it becomes very challenging for them a way to make this effective for them is by understanding what each other's culture is about, differentiating it from one another, and then realizing how those differences influence communication. I found the culture shock very interesting since I have been to other countries and realized how different our culture here in the United States are compared to others. Personally, I have felt discomfort when I had to drive on the opposite side of the road. Made me feel very Strange, to drive on the other side of the road also having me feel uncomfortable to drive the car right hand drive compared to the United States having left hand drive since I have driven all my life in the United States. Going into dominant cultures and co cultures, dominant cultures are the majority of the group of society who learned system values, beliefs, attitudes, and orientations. Co cultures are groups of people living within dominant culture who hold common values, beliefs, and attitudes. Group one explained the seven dimensions in which cultures differ which were individualism/collectivism, context, chronemics, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity/femininity, and long-term/short-term orientation. Group one finally went over the methods of how we improve intercultural communication competence. To start improving intercultural communication competencies, we must recognize and overcome common international communication difficulties, such as anxiety, assumptions about differences and similarities, ethnocentrism, stereotyping, incompatible communication codes, and incompatible norms and values, in order to become interculturally competent. We must also utilize competent communication tactics such as gaining accurate knowledge, adopting a culture-centered mindset, and the development of culture-centered skills. All in all group delivered a great presentation covering all of chapter 3.

My group brought a dozen of students to create a presentation PowerPoint on communicating in groups. I felt chapter 9 was a great topic because throughout this presentation you notice the resemblance between the groups spoken in the chapter and the group, I have currently participated in. Although at times we may not give much thought to the groups we partake in, when recognized, it is interesting to learn about its goals, achievements, and tactics that provide help. Some examples of different groups include family groups, social groups, interest groups, service groups, and virtual groups. Although these groups may broadly differ, their setting, mindset, and aim to change their individual end result. Support groups are widely known for supporting other individuals, this can be for AA or counseling. A group I felt most connected to is workgroups and teams, throughout creating my own presentation, I had to bounce ideas off of other members. In this case, I had to present to my professor and classmates a detailed presentation about communicating in groups. Something else that I learned is how groups can be interdependent or cohesive meaning a group can depend on each other’s knowledge to finish tasks and goals. A quality that hopes to form a healthy group is holding accountability, or in other words holding yourself responsible for your own actions, and no one else’s. I believe accountability is highly important. For instance, if you were lazy and did not complete your work, and blame an external factor, you are not holding yourself accountable. Instead, you are blaming someone or something other than yourself, backtracking the goal because of your expense.  The stages of group development are the progressive aspect of being grouped with others. The stages include forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Conflict may come up when in a group, for example, there can be a disagreement. Therefore, communication is necessary to overcome an encounter like this, continuing the path of success in a group.

Finally group three presented chapter 10 which covered group leadership and problem solving. All throughout their presentation every single group member had me interested throughout each slide. The group presented the main criteria of the whole chapter they had explained how leadership functions in teams, described how to run effective meetings, communicate group solutions and a variety of formats, and evaluating group effectiveness using key criteria. I understood from group three that leadership is a process whereby an individual of the whole group influences everyone to achieve a common goal. Throughout their presentation I learned the five common formal leadership styles which consisted of autocratic leadership, democratic leadership, laissez- faire leadership, transformational leadership, and servant leadership. They explained the task of being a leader, the maintenance leadership roles, and their procedural rules. They also made it clear that each leader has to be committed to the group goal, keep discussions on track, complete individual assignments on time, encourage input from all members, and manage conflict among members.

All in all, this group presentation was great. I was more than comfortable with the chapter 9 and how it related our presentation. I found it very interesting how we worked very well in groups virtually. The class is a whole presented in a great manner.