Adrian Calvo - Post 1

Adrian Calvo

I found the topics of the presentation that we did to be very interesting. I can’t remember a time when I’ve worked on a group project with this many people. It gave me a better understanding of how important it is to communicate when working on a larger scale. Seeing all of our work combine into one great presentation was very satisfying.  I was also glad with the group that I was paired up with. We worked efficiently and anytime that someone might have been confused or wanted a better understanding there was always quick support in our chat. A big factor in that was that our group leader was always on track and efficient. From the very start, we quickly had our pages assigned and the group PowerPoint set up. This put us into motion to work efficiently and quickly. There wasn’t a moment where I wasn’t sure about what was happening and I think that was very vital to us being able to work together. I find projects like these to be very beneficial. Talking in front of big groups of people isn’t something that I tend to do or enjoy, and over the years I’ve seen myself improve because of it. I’m hoping that by the end of this semester, I won't even have to think when talking in front of these many people.

              The first group I'll start with is group one which was my group. I thought that the chapters that we had were extremely interesting and I feel as though we were able to show that. I think what helped express this was that our slides were well explained without being cluttered. Another thing that helped was that you could tell that we had a good understanding of what we read which made it easier to explain the topics that were brought up in the chapter. The only criticism I can think of was that the transition between speakers wasn’t very smooth. I think this is a natural thing that will happen since sometimes it's not clear if someone has finished presenting their slides or if they're taking a second to gather their thoughts on what they’re going to say. Overall, I thought the chapter was very thought-provoking. I don’t usually think about how big of an impact culture has on how we interact with each other. Thanks to these chapters I'll be more aware of how cultural norms affect how I talk and how I should approach people that come from different cultures.

              The second was about groups and their dynamics. Their PowerPoint was good because their information was very concise and understandable. I could tell that they had a great understanding of group dynamics from how they explained the topic. I had never given thought to all the different types of groups I have in my life but after hearing the presentations on these chapters, it opened my eyes to how these groups differ from each other. The obvious one is family and friend groups, but I never thought about how there could be groups beyond these two. An example of this would be how I never thought there would be a big difference between a friend group and an interest group. On a surface level, it would seem these two would follow under the same group but I didn’t think about how for the most part you would only interact with the interest group when talking or participating in the interest while friend group goes beyond a couple of shared hobbies. Thanks to the great explanation from the presentation, I now understand how these are two separate social groups that sometimes overlap. I was already aware of how some groups can be unhealthy groups but this gave me a better understanding of what makes a group healthy. Knowing that they can be categorized into ethical and interdependent characterizations will help identify them in real scenarios. I thought an important part of this was how different cultures could potentially clash and how to deal with that. Whether it’s a difference in belief or something as simple as a difference in age it's important to understand each other and respect our differences. Overall, I thought the chapter was very important since everyone deals with groups and their different dynamics in one way or another. I also thought the presentation was overall good and that the PowerPoint had a very pleasing design.

              The third group was about leadership roles, how to deal with responsibility, and things you should avoid in meetings. The first thing that I noticed was how all their slides had a similar design, I think that was neat and showed how they were working together when making their slides. I liked how the chapter goes over the different types of leaders that are in a group and what responsibilities they hold. Givers are supposed to give information and be well-versed in the information. The seeker is supposed to find information for the group. The analyzer is supposed to help analyze information that may be complicated for the group. I’ve noticed people that would fall into these roles in groups that I've been in including the one I’m in now. Knowing that these are all roles that should be taken and have happened naturally makes me appreciate that I’ve been paired up with great classmates. I thought that the most interesting part of these chapters was the seven deadly sins of meetings. The worst thing that can happen in a group is that people don’t care or aren’t paying attention when something important is happening. Knowing things that can prevent this from happening like having an agenda or assigning tasks with deadlines is something that I’ll keep in mind. I found the most important information was how to have an effective meeting. Something as simple as preparing beforehand for the meeting can make such a big difference in how the meeting will turn out. In summary, I think the presentation did a great job of encapsulating what’s needed to be a good leader and how to have efficient and good meetings.