Group and Leadership
Was there a Group Leader?
A couple of people took charge at different points throughout the session.
How was this Chosen?
The group leaders weren’t really chosen as people would naturally take charge in certain situations.
If informal, how did you know? What were the actions that marked them as a leader?
When someone would take charge they would tell you what to do and would ask what other group members thought. They tended to speak clearly and made sure everyone knew what was happening.
How did this impact on the rest of the group?
This made sure that everyone in the group knew what was happening and had the chance to share their thoughts and suggestions as to how we would build our den.
What was most challenging for you about working in this group?
The most challenging thing about working in this group was that since a few people were off it meant there was less people in our group which made it harder to come up with more ideas and solutions to problems that arose. Also, since I had never really built a den like this I found it hard to help come up with ideas of how to build it and help provide options as to what to do.
Explaining
How clearly did you think the group explained to you? What made this clear or unclear?
The group explained their method of how they built their den very clearly as each member of the group had something to say and used clear and projected voices. They also used hand gestures and eye contact when presenting their den which helped keep us interested in heir explanation. The group also let us see inside their den which gave as a better understanding of the method they used to build it. They also made sure they didn’t digress from what they were saying which made sure we understood what they were talking about and also didn’t get bored.
Environment
What was the impact of the environment on your communication?
Since we were outside and it was quite windy we had to make sure we spoke louder than we would inside to make sure that we all heard each other. Due to the wind the trees would move quite loudly so you had to concentrate on others when they were talking to make sure you understood what was going on.
What changes did you make when explaining to others that you might not have considered in a typical classroom?
We had to speak louder as the wind was quite loud and it was a more open space. We also had to make sure the wind wasn’t distracting if it started to become stronger and move the trees, our hair or the bin bags on our den.
How challenging was it so speak above the sounds in the environment? How can we make this communication easier on both speaker and listener?
It was challenging at times as the wind was sometimes stronger and louder than at other times which made the speaker have to speak louder and the listener had to concentrate more on what was being said. This communication could be made easier for the listener if the speaker spoke louder.
When listening, did the environment distract you? How can we overcome this?
At certain times the environment did distract me as it was windy and if people were talking and walking at the same time it was harder to concentrate as we ha to be careful not to trip over sticks on the ground or even the uneven surface. We overcame this by either talking louder or waiting for the wind to calm down, we also made sure to talk when we weren’t walking so that we could make sure we were paying attention to what was being said.
Negotiation
Were your negotiations successful? Why/Why not?
Our negotiation was to try and convince another group to let us have something that was a vital part to their den. It was successful as, a member of our group was able to convince another group that what we wanted wasn’t vital to their den. Since she used clear points as to why we should have it and why they don’t need it meant we were able to be successful in our negotiation.
What was most challenging about these?
The most challenging part about our negotiation task was that we had to get something that was vital to another group which we thought would be really hard because we didn’t think we’d be able to convince anybody to give us something that was important. Since it had to be vital we also had to wait a bit before we could start our negotiation task and we also had to have a look around to see what would also be useful to our group.
