Month: September 2018

Reflection on outdoor Den Building task.

-Group and Leadership From my perspective there did not appear to be a single group leader. This task was very much a team effort completed with everyone voicing their ideas and the group as a whole deciding whether to go with them. From a building perspective everyone seemed to adopt their own areas to work […]

-Group and Leadership

From my perspective there did not appear to be a single group leader. This task was very much a team effort completed with everyone voicing their ideas and the group as a whole deciding whether to go with them. From a building perspective everyone seemed to adopt their own areas to work on, with constant communications with nearby team members to ensure everyone knew what each person was doing. The group dynamic was very informal without a set leader, but the team worked really well together and we were all very proud or our end result. The entire team worked on the den so nobody was left excluded or observing from the sidelines. The most challenging thing about this task for me was working closely with people that I had only had brief encounters with so it seemed bad to ask who people were just over 3 weeks into the course, but it was all taken in good stride so wasn’t a big deal.

-Explaining

The other groups I went to see explained their ideas very clearly, I knew what their thought processes were and how they executed the building. they explained what issues they encountered and what their successes were leading to their end results. From what I could see the Preparation part was left out pf the explanations, I found this to be the case as the team added on numerous end notes to their explanation as if they forgot to say that, but over all the rest of the 5 P’s were met sufficiently.

-Environment

Being in the outdoor environment resulted in our communication being effected. Being outside meant we had to communicate in a different way, speak louder then we would indoors, use different tools than we would indoors and speak more clearly in order to successfully get our individual points across easier. There wasn’t a great deal of surrounding noise so the sounds of the environment were not particularly challenging, however in the outdoors this fan change very quickly. This can be overcome by the speaker talking louder and clearer and the listener standing closer if possible and having an increased concentration on the speaker in order to not miss anything that is being communicated to them. Personally I did find some aspects of the environment to be a distraction as there is always something that can catch your eye and take your mind off the task in hand. This is slightly more difficult to overcome however making a conscious effort to concentrate more on the task in hand will help significantly.

-Negotiation

Our team negotiations were all successful and we managed to acquire materials that appeared to be vital to another teams structure. The main challenge with the negotiations was convincing the other teams to trade with us something that was a vital part of their structure. This was difficult as they wanted something either equally valuable to us, or something that sufficiently replaced what they were giving us. Through the use of persuasive language and some very skilled negotiating we managed to get what we were wanting, without any major sacrifices to our structure.

Communicating in Other Environments and Reflecting on the Outcome

This week in Sit Comm our task was taken outdoors, we were divided into small groups of six and set the challenge of building a den. The den needed to stand, have at least 3 sides and have room to … Continue reading →

This week in Sit Comm our task was taken outdoors, we were divided into small groups of six and set the challenge of building a den. The den needed to stand, have at least 3 sides and have room to fit us all underneath. We were taken to a small woodland area within the grounds of UWS and given a few simple materials to help with the structures. Our task was to work together as a team using effective communication to build a den. As a primary teacher communication is essential and therefore a skill that needs to be developed for all environments.

Group and Leadership
Was there a group leader? Within our group there was no leader, we quickly agreed on where we wanted to build the den. I then initially gathered everybody together to read through the brief instructions and to start the process of brain storming ideas, agreeing what we needed to do. There was a large section of material and everybody agreed this could be used as both a wall and roof, from this discussion most people moved away to start building with others looking for supporting material to hold the den up. The group started to merge with a few key people taking control of the build and instructing others to support. This was very natural and achieved with success as everybody was happy to do their part. I felt slightly out of my comfort with this task, everybody in the group was confident and full of ideas. I’m not particularly creative and so was happy to go along with the suggestions but did feel we rushed in and started the build without much forethought or planning. This was a strange position for myself as I am usually the person who takes control and leads in most situations.

Explaining
How clearly did you think the group explained to you? The other group explained quite clearly where the idea for the design of their den came from, they had clearly assessed the space where they would build and through a process of elimination decided on a “tipi” as this would be the most solid construction. There was an element of planning and pre assessment as they were working out how to use the materials available, we did have to probe a little for this information. I think the final stages of the 5ps might have been missed out.

Environment
What was the impact of the environment on your communication? The environment certainly meant I had to work harder on my communication in order to be heard and understood.
What changes did you make when explaining to others that you might not have considered in a typical classroom? I had to use a lot of eye contact and work in closer proximity with others to explain clearly, there was a lot more use of gestures and physically picking up the equipment to demonstrate what I meant and to see if the idea was feasible.

How challenging was it to speak above the sounds in the environment? How can we make this communication easier on both speaker and listener? It was a challenge speaking in this environment, we were in a sheltered area and I still felt our voices carried and the message was lost on occasions. I think at the outset you have to be very clear on your objectives and each individuals role. There were other teams working in a wider area and so members from our team were wondering off and so it was difficult as a lot of the time the full team wasn’t present.

When listening did the environment distract you? How can we overcome this? Yes I did find the environment to be a distraction but would overcome this by making sure I was fully involved, engaging and challenged by the experience. I would make sure others felt an important part of the team and understood how they were contributing to the overall task.

Negotiation
Were your negotiations successful? Why/Why not? Our team negotiation was to get a member from another group to come and help with our build. We were partially successful as somebody did come to help us for a small amount of time. They were however loyal to their own group and so returned to finish the build with them.
What was most challenging about these? I did suggest to our team that we could swap resources and someone from our team could go into the another as a compromise. The others however were quite fixed on gaining additional support without someone from our team going elsewhere. I think this was a little short sighted. The groups were very loyal to each other so it was going to be very difficult to persuade them to leave.

Situated Communication Reflection

In my opinion our group leader was the person who was most outgoing and naturally confident. There was not a moment when doing the task that made you feel uncomfortable because you knew that person was only wanting what was best for the group. It was not in any sense delivered in a strict way …

Continue reading “Situated Communication Reflection”

In my opinion our group leader was the person who was most outgoing and naturally confident. There was not a moment when doing the task that made you feel uncomfortable because you knew that person was only wanting what was best for the group. It was not in any sense delivered in a strict way and if anything it made the group come together more naturally as we all wanted to help in some way. This was then followed by many ideas being thrown together and allowed other people to have a chance to give their own suggestions. Personally, I think our leader allowed everyone to feel as though they had their own responsibility and with everyone working together I felt more comfortable expressing what I thought was a good idea.

  • Discussion within the group overall was very well done as each point that someone made was backed up with a reason they thought it was a good idea.
  • It was clear since I understood what they meant and if at times I was unsure of how they were going to do it, they simply showed me which gave me a better image of how it was going to work.
  • In terms of the 5p’s I would say that some of the pre-assessing could have been given more time since we all just started building, maybe next time think before we jump into things even though all our ideas worked out anyways. I suggest this since it might not work to our advantage like this all the time.

The environment wasn’t much of a problem as when we were carrying out task it was dry and not windy. I think if it was to rain heavily and if there were higher winds this would have caused issues since we would’ve had to raise our voices a bit more and may not have enjoyed being outside at the time.

Overall, our negotiations within our group were successful since everyone was able to give their own ideas and then together come up with a solution that worked for what we were building. We didn’t jump to what we thought was best and listened to what everyone else had to say first which I believe made the group work stronger.

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