Recently we done our Situated Communication workshop outside. The objective of the workshop was to build a den within our groups whilst following all instructions and challenges given to us, under timed conditions and later explain to another group the process of planning and building the den.

Group and Leadership

The group did not pick somebody to be the leader, however certain members of the group were more confident with the task given so they therefore acted as a leader. Some examples actions that showed they were a leader was by being more vocal and suggesting ideas and additionally demonstrating previous knowledge from doing similar tasks in groups such as guides. However, this did not impact the group in a negative way. Everybody was included and was given the chance to give their input and everyone listened to each others ideas. Personally, the most challenging part for me was working with a group of people who I didn’t really know. It was difficult trying to get to know the people you are working with whist trying to complete the challenge under the timed conditions.

Explaining

The other group explained their den very clearly to us. They went into full detail of all the important key features of the den, they also showed us around and explained how they set it up. They showed enthusiasm throughout and were very specific and detailed. However similar to our group, they missed out the beginning pre-assessment part of the 5Ps . It was clear the group planned and prepared before presenting but however due to the time restraint I believe the group did not have enough time to pre-assess the situation.

 Environment

The environment had an impact on our communication with each other, being outdoors gave us a lot more freedom and space to move around and use body language. Also as we were outdoors it was noisier than usual, so when we were exchanging ideas with each other or explaining our den to another group we had to increase our volume, and this impacted our pitch and tone of voice. The outdoor environment however did not distract us from listening to the other groups explanation.

Negotiation

Our group had to negotiate with another team on swapping an item that was crucial to their den. We successfully managed to do so however it was very difficult to do as we had to explain why we wanted a specific material from them that was so vital to their den.