This week, I've chosen to do my entry with regard to teamwork/group work in relation to sports, work and socially.
As defined by Trenholm, a group is "a collection of individuals who, as a result of interacting with one another over time, become interdependent, developing shared patterns of behavious and a collective identity"
Sports is a very common theme in which we see group communication at its best, how so? Well, think about it, team sports like Soccer, Rugby, Basketball, all involve more than one person, and as long as there's more than one person involved, it becomes a group activity! And hence, group communication is essential. ;)
Group communication in sports is essential as team effort sports thrive on teamwork to succeed, and hence in order for teamwork to be successful, group communication is present. In each group, be it sports or not, there are certain roles that indivuals play, and these individuals with each unique trait, come together and form a group. In relation to sports, each individual has a certain role to play, and they work together to achieve a common goal.
Watch this short video, on the Rowing event in the Olympics. (:
Do you notice how they do not row individually but as a team? And how is this possible? If you notice, when interviewed, all the members say "we" and not "I", they row in synchronisation, and this is not possible without group communication during training. There has got to be a counting or timing system and the team is to familiar with it that their "shared patterns" is seen. It is not as obvious as a person counting the timing to show the different roles, but it is clear enough that there was some form of group communication.
A more obvious sport would be Soccer or Rugby, in sports of these sort, you constantly see players shouting at one another to pass the ball, or shoot, or which way to go. Why? Because in a big group like that, in such a big area, it is important to communicate. Each player is dependent on the other as they need each other to succeed. Take Soccer for example, one cannot expect just one player to run back and forth on his own right? Hence, the only logical thing to do is to communicate with your team mates around you and pass the ball to them. A "devil's advocate" can also be seen in these games, the coaches, they scream/shout/yell at mistakes made, making it clear to the team what to do ad what not to do.
Even kids are taught teamwork. ;) (okay, this video doesn't show much, but i think its absolutely adorable, and im in the soccer mood, haha. (: )
With regard to work, Group Communication is definitely essential. Imagine no group communication between the members of your current Com group, how hard would that be to do a GROUP PROJECT? haha. Well basically, in each group, as Ms Hui has pointed out, there are certain individuals that play certain roles in our groups, and even though we were grouped way before knowing each of our individual traits, we tend to mould/shape into the environment needed, don't you think? What I'm trying to say is that given different situations, we react or act differently. In a group of all passive people, eventually, someone has to start speaking up. Or in a group of headstrong people, some one will have to eventually give in. Agree? So basically, what I'm saying is that, no doubt we did not group ourselves according to our traits, but our traits are definitely shown in each of our groups, and we are important to our groups in one way or another. One definite way is Group Synergy, I personally experienced this with my com group, Disinhibition, right girls? :D With our joint effort and ideas, our video was a success, different from other groups, unique. (: I'm sure other groups experienced this too, yes? (:
Lastly, group communication with regard to our social life. Just look at the cliques we're in, do you see the different roles your friends and you play? I certainly do in mine. (: So much so that we are so interdependent on one another, and we know what to expect out of each other in the different situations. What about your cliques? Do you see this too? Comment and tell me more! (:
