As part of our workshop for Situated Communication this week, we ventured outside with the task of ‘building a den’. This task was done in groups, meaning communication was crucial.
Group and leadership
- Within my group, there wasn’t really a set leader throughout the task. I feel that we all took turns at being the ‘leader’ at different stages.
- One positive trait that everyone showed was determination and were ready to give it our best shot. The verbal communication within our group was good and clear meaning everyone was on the same page and no one was isolated and not knowing what to do.
- I often found that we would discuss ideas in smaller groups of the team and then feedback to everyone once we had a solid plan of action.
- The most challenging thing that I found working within the group was the amount of people for the task, especially to begin with. Everyone had ideas and wanted to share them with each other but looking back, I think if we had discussed this within smaller parts of the group and then did some feedback to the full group with possible ideas and contributions then this could have been more successful and less time consuming.
Explaining
- I think that our groups explaining and overall communication was effective. I always knew what was going on, who was doing what and what our end goal was due to clear discussion. This was shown as everyone was constantly \doing something and nobody was standing around with nothing to do, everyone was helping and supporting one another.
- If we were to improve on one thing it would be the preparation behind who was discussing what part of the process. Although our presentation and explanation to the other group was fine, we could have put more thought into who was saying what in order for everyone to have a chance at explaining.
EnvironmentÂ
- The environment impacted our groups decision making. Due to being in such an open space, we became very indecisive as to where to build the den. It was a bit of a distraction to begin with as we were in a different environment than what we were used to.
- I think that if the weather had been different (eg. windy, rain etc.) then we may have struggled more with the volume of our voices, however the weather was dry and not too windy so it didn’t affect us too much. If this had been the case then a louder voice would be necessary in order to get information across to all members of the group to prevent miscommunication or confusion. By using a louder voice, this doesn’t necessarily mean shouting but instead articulating your voice and speaking clearly, this would be effective so everyone can hear and understand whats happening.
NegotiationÂ
- Our negotiations were successful. We bargained with another group and explained why we needed the item and what they could use as a replacement to it. Therefore, we offered an alternative solution in order to benefit ourselves and them.
- This was challenging as it meant speaking and negotiating with different people that I might not have yet spoken to properly, however I found this beneficial as it created conversation that might not have happened otherwise.
