ENG 204-002

When I am in group settings I usually play the roles of the plant and the Coordinator. I find myslef in the role of the Coordinator becasue in my daily life I am very organized and I stick to my schedule. I finish all homework and tasks nights before it is due, so I can relax and not be stressed out. I think that traigh stands out to my group members because being able to stick on a schedule enables you to take your time on group projects and not rush the process. I also like to mediate when problems arise and keep everyone focused on the big picture, and that is us receiving a good group grade. I find myself as the plant alot too because I am always looking at ideas with a different perspective. I like to be creative and imaginitve. An example of this would be when my LLC group was trying to come up with a advertisment plan that was catchy and had not been overused, I came up with the idea that we use a facebook theme. The theme was catchy and worked very well.
If I am going to play a negative role in a group it will probably be the role of the dead beat. When things are going the way I Want them to I tend to shut down, or I might play the role of the bully, trying to impose my beliefs on everyone else. This is very rare, but there was one time last semester when I was in a group project and it revolved around critiquing a speech, The group was very un organized so I tried to fix that by just telling everyone else what to do and ignoring their thoughts and remarks about the speech, my dictating the group costed us dearly becasue we ended up doing bad on the paper, but at the time I felt like there was nothing else that could have been done.

If anything, I am very organized and hardworking when it comes to group work. I don't like it when others don't pull their weight, so I would not put that burden on the other members of my group. Often I have found that I usually play the role of the leader and I am good at fairly dividing tasks between group members. I think it's important to focus on what people might be more successful at accomplishing versus merely designating roles. The more comfortable you feel with an assignment, the less of a hassle it is to get it done. Last semester in a Film Production class of mine, I took on the role of Producer for a short film I made with three other people. I reserved and picked up all of the equipment necessary to shoot our film, and arranged meeting times and places that worked with everyone's schedule. I organized various forms necessary for our shoot, such as talent release forms and location permits. I'm pleased to be the group leader for this assignment because I think I'm good at breaking things down step by step for myself and the people I work with.

As a film major, everything is collaborative. Unfortunately for me, this isn't always a good thing. It is inevitable that some people will work less hard than others when collaborating. Hopefully, in a professional environment, this isn't as frequent an issue. I can be somewhat controlling in group situations. Sometimes I believe my way is best, even though it might not be. I know that isn't fair to myself or to anyone else in the group, so I try to be cooperative and make the best of the teamwork experience. I understand everyone needs to play a role in the assignment and as long as everyone does their part, I think I am very easy to work with. I only like to be in control because I don't like pestering people about their work and wondering or being unsure if something will be completed on time. It's frustrating but hopefully it will not be an issue for the projects we work on in this class. If we all do our part, everything should work out smoothly.

Organization is something that I highly value and because of this I tend to function best as the group coordinator. In a past communication studies class we were divided up into groups for a group paper. We were told of our groups a few weeks in advance, but I hadn’t heard from my group members when there were only a few days left to work on the project. I had initially hesitated to be the first to coordinate group efforts because I didn’t want to seem pushy, but that experience taught me to really go with my instincts and get the project done in a time period that I was comfortable with. Honestly, it was a pretty stressful process but in the end it worked out well and we received an A for the project.

Back in high school, I probably acted a lot like the martyr during a group history project. I chose to work with some friends who are really fun people, but not exactly the kind of people that are used to pulling their weight in a group project setting. As a result of this, I was left to do basically the entire project. Unlike the martyr in the reading though, I didn’t complain about it to my fellow group members or teacher. I reserved most of my complaints for my family and friends outside of the class, which I’m confident drove them crazy. I really feel that I’ve grown up a lot since that time though and learned how to better stand up for myself in these types of situations.

Last semester I had to teach a chapter from my Latin American history text book in a group. We were to come up with an interesting way to lecture on the material for around 20 minutes. I assumed the roll of the coordinator. I worked with the group members to find times and dates that would be good for each meeting time. Along with setting up the meeting times I headed up the schedule for what we should be focusing on/accomplishing during each meeting time to make sure that the project was done on time. If everything wasn't finished during the group meetings I helped figure out who would do what at home to make sure the work got done. Experiencing being a coordinator for a group project is something that I can bring to the table for other group projects because having someone to coordinate meetings, schedules, etc. is an essential part of successfully getting a group project done on time and in a manner in which everyone participated.

I feel like I would be more prone to adopt the Saboteur roll in a group, especially if I were in a group full of dead beats which is what I was in in my last group project experience, in which case it is kind of necessary to do to get things accomplished. But, if I were in a group with all functioning and participating members I think I may be prone to make tweaks here and there where I see necessary while forgetting to inform the rest of the group. Now that I am aware of these group project "personality types" and their habits I can consciously make an effort to avoid doing these things by keeping in mind the descriptions of each negative type.

When I'm taking on a challenge with others I tend to be the person who looks over the whole situation and makes sure everything is put together in a timely fashion and is well organized. I believe that I would fall under the category of the coordinator for those reasons. This past summer at a camp that I work at I was the waterfront director and taking on that job at the beginning of the summer was a challenge because there was so much that had to go into starting the summer right. I had to make sure that everyone was throwing in their own weight as well as making sure we stuck to our schedule so things would get done in time for the campers to arrive. I think this experience will help me in making sure that I do my part in the project and encourage others to do what needs to be done and getting it done in a timely matter.

As far as the roles from the article "Feuds in Student Groups", if I had to choose a category to fall under I would lean more towards that of the Saboteur. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a "distrumption" per say, but when I don't like the way things are going I stand up for what I believe they should look like. I won't cause a scene but I tend to keep going until things work out in a better favor for the group. Sometimes I don't know that I'm pushing so hard towards a specific this or that until someone speaks up or the whole group disagrees with my thoughts. In the future while working in groups I feel I need to throw my ideas out on the floor at the beginning of the project and not fight it if they are shut down. I also think that while working in groups I need not over work myself in taking on other peoples duties and focus on my own work.

Upon reading chapter 4, the role that I was immediately able to identify with was the Coordinator. Last semester I took an Intergrated Marketing Communications class with Dr. Jeanne Persuit in which two group members were selected as Project Managers. The selection was based on our major, class standing, and/or completion of necessary Communication classes. Myself, along with another group member, were the Project Managers for our group. We took on the role of setting up meetings and making sure we could fit it into everyone's schedule. We made it a point to have at least one Project Manager at each meeting in order to help make the meeting run smoothly. We contacted the other group members to make sure they were on track with the assignment(s) they were given and made ourselves available to help them with any questions or concerns. My experience in this role will help me to positivly contribute to our current group project I have learned to handle problems/concerns that may arise in groups. I understand the importance of delegating tasks in order for the project to run smoothly and I am willing to help whenever necessary.

As far as negative group memeber roles, I would be more prone to being the Saboteur. There have been times when I decided to change some things around at the last minute in hopes of enhancing the final product. However, I do not make changes that would intentionaly hurt the final product of our project, nor would I do so without consent from the other group members. For our current group project, I will make sure not to make any changes unless the other group members also agree to it. I understand the importance of working together and I will try to do everything I can not to hinder our groups work.

When it comes to planning a project or just writing a paper, I tend to be an editor of sorts. Over the years, I've developed a slight OCD towards incorrect grammar so whenever I am put into a group setting, I tend to ask to be the one to look over people's papers before we hand them in. That way grammar mistakes can be caught or some information could be added that can really improve what we already have. Other than that, I'm mostly just a team worker. I can't think of any situation in particular where I took on these roles specifically; my memories of group projects from high school are just lumped together but I do know that I've implemented both of those roles at some point. I think that these collective experiences will help the group as far as having an editor available outside of spell check on Word; and to know that there is someone who is willing to do just simply the work that's handed to them.

I can't think of a situation where I've taken on any of the negative group member roles in the "Feuds" article. If I had to guess though, I think I would be more prone towards the Saboteur. That may come from the fact that when I am simply just handed the work to do without question (most of the time), I'll usually think of something to add to it to make it better later. However, when that occurs, I try to get in touch with the group members before I make those changes or 'enhancements'. With this group project, I'm just going to have to be more vocalized during the meetings so I can avoid situations like that when I do get back to my room to work on it after class.

After reading the chapter, I think that all the roles it described have the potential to be positive roles in a group atmosphere. In my Holocaust class last semester I was placed in a group that had to outline and teach/present a chapter of our book to the rest of the class. As the group worked together, I think I took on more of a coordinator role. As we worked I was able to suppress my "inner micromanager" and coordinate group schedules through emails, work out the dates and checkpoints (a.k.a turning in sections of the outline), and work out who and what was needed for the presentation. This should help with our upcoming project in that I'm familiar with how group work can go and different roles that people can play.

If anything I would probably be the saboteur. Still, in looking at the advice given in both the book and the article, if the group is successful in having good communication and planning I'll be okay. Through high school and the beginning of college I've come to realize the importance each person's role comes to play in the group. Trusting in those roles will help me personally have a good and productive experience.

In a previous class I took on the role of the coordinator. As a group, we met outside of class with 4 other members. As the coordinator, I was in charge of scheduling our meetings. Our project involved a lot of building; therefore, we needed to work on it a lot in order to have it done by the due date. I had to work with everyone’s schedules in order to find time for the entire group to meet. There were times when only 4 out of 5 of us could meet but we had work to get done. I also had to make sure that we had somewhere to meet and enough to work. With this previous experience I’m sure I’ll be able to contribute to my new group on this project. I’ve dealt with the difficulties of trying to schedule everyone in a group at the same place at the same time. It’s tough because everyone had different schedules with school, jobs and extra-curricular activities.

I don’t believe I’ve ever displayed traits of any of the negative roles described in the reading. Whenever I’ve done group work in the past I’ve always felt like others in the group consider me the “deadbeat” because I’m not very outspoken and I feel as though my input is never important enough to contribute. I don’t think that I will take on any of these negative roles during this upcoming project. I also believe that my only way of ensuring that I am not considered the “deadbeat” is to step out of the box and contribute best I can. I usually result to being the note taker so that I am not fully useless because I don’t like feeling as though I am not part of the group or I am not helping.

In high school I once had to take the role of the researcher. For some reason people thought I could be resourceful and capable of looking things up in the library and on the internet. Because of what my group members thought of me, I found out that i was great at gathering information for group work. I am also great at organizing the different parts of a project and using different graphic design programs. Since my high school emphasized the importance of research, it made me a good researcher. From the reading, I guess i could also play the role of the editor but i'd be much more comfortable researching the data and gathering the information for my group.

In the same group project, before I was assigned a particular job, I could not figure out what I wanted to do so i was playing the role of the deadbeat. I was not carrying my weight and I felt that there was nothing for me to do. So i became the monkey on all the other group members backs. I really regretted that because even though we completed the assignment well and received a great grade, the overall experience was tainted because my lack of cooperation. I was not trying to sabotage anything, I just didn't motivate myself to take a role in the project. I don't think I would be the winer because i was just keep my mouth shut, the idea of being a bully makes not sense because i think team cooperation is essential in achieving a certain goal as a group. I don't think i could be a saboteur because my personality wouldn't allow it. I wouldn't put my ideas ahead of the group. I would give my input and explain my reasons for any changes or "Enhancements" (David Salas use that word in the reading), but i would not make changes without the ok from the group.

On one hand, the positive role I usually play while working in teams is the coordinator and the completer/finisher. Last semester, we had a report to write and a PowerPoint presentation to do. Since I like being well-organized, I made all the members’ lives easier by organizing the work in ways that it was fully understandable for each of us. I made sure that every step of the project was on progress and that it would respect the deadlines, and facilitated the communication within the team. Once the goals and the tasks were set and after each meeting, I sent the feedback to everyone so that each of us knew which part of the project he or she would deal with and when it needed to be completed. Concerning the finisher role, before submitting the final work, I was voluntary to check the report and the presentation, scrutinizing the details, the potential mistakes and the overall quality. It is believed that effective communication/planning and organization are both keys to good teaming and this experience, among others, will surely positively contribute to our current group project since it will help me improve not only the way I communicate with others, but also the communication within the team. Finally, a good organization and planning of the work will lead to a better understanding and encourage us to provide the best work.

On the other hand, the negative role I would be prone to adopt is the Saboteur. I tend to be a little picky sometimes and since I always embody the role of the finisher/completer, I often notice things that need to be changed. It happened to me a few times actually. While proofreading documents and before handing in, I slightly modified some parts without consulting anyone in the team. I did not feel the necessity for communicating the changes since it did not seem to be such a big deal. Indeed, it was only about modifying a couple of words or the presentation of the document and it did not have any impact on the content. I truly believed I was improving the quality of the work. However, I will definitely not embody this role since it might affect the final work and, therefore, the grade. Before changing anything, I will communicate my opinions and ask for the team member’s ones to eventually reach a consensus.

Among the positive group member roles listed in Chapter 4: Working in Teams, I have identified myself as an editor. Last semester in my Entrepreneurship class, we had to write in groups of three a whole business plan to launch a firm. Being detail-oriented, I quickly took on the role of editor. I was indeed the one in charge of organizing the document in terms of content and format. I made most of the suggestions regarding the outline, the font and style of our paper. I did it with the consent of the two other team members. I also proof-read and fine-tuned the document before handing it in so as to make sure it was mistake-free and transitions between parts were smooth. This experience was one of many were I was in charge of editing. Hence I should be able to contribute positively during the corporate crisis group project when it comes to shaping the documents to be handed in.

Upon reading “Feuds in Student Groups”, I cannot come up with any particular situation in which I displayed some traits of any of the negative roles the authors describe. If anything, I think I would be more prone to adopt the role of saboteur. Since I have often been in charge of editing the document, I have to admit it has been tempting to change partially or completely parts of the written work. This is even more true when the lack of involvement of some team members is clearly reflected in the quality of their writing. So far, I have resisted making any modification without the group’s consent and will try to continue to do so.

Response to chapter 4:
Due to the fact that I am extremely into communicating effectively with everyone, I tend to take on the role of coordinator. I can talk to my group members well and figure out a decided plan for meeting dates, keeping a running list of what we need to accomplish and what has been done.

I have a lot of experience as the coordinator. I was in charge of the Senior Project judging at my highschool and making sure the whole night ran smoothly which included gettin students and their projects where they needed to be on time, making the lives of the judges comfortable, and finally giving out directions and decided decisions based on what is most effective in a tense environment.

I also fall under the team worker title because i always work to my full potential and am not know to slack when it comes to group projects.

Response to Feuds in student groups:
I would not classify myself as someone who falls under any of the negative roles in a group, however if i had to pick one i would slide into the easiest it would probably be the martyr. I wouldn't complain to the teacher or classmates but possibly outside friends and family but would still take on more work than necessary if it seemed like no one in my group really came to work or did not care about the project.

In past group projects, I usually take on a role more along the lines of a coordinator. One of the most important things in group work, is that everyone is on the same page and knows that they are responsible for. I like to make sure the group is meeting when appropriate and that everyone is putting in equal amounts of work in quantity AND quality!

As a negative role in group work, I would say I am closer to a bully or saboteur. I absolutely cannot stand when people are just plain lazy, that is fine when its individual work, but not when my name is on it. I also like things to be professional and neat and when a group member does something sloppy without caring, it bothers me. So I guess that makes me a bully or saboteur.

After reading the several positive group member roles mentioned in Chapter 4, I am confident that I will function as my groups designer. I have assumed this role in nearly every pertinent group project throughout high school and college because of my extensive knowledge of graphic design and illustration software. This position is not extensively applicable to our Corporate Communication Project, but is relevant to the Gannt Chart and the Recorded Message for Customers, especially if the recorded message is video instead of audio. I can also see myself as the group's editor because of my attention to detail and my ability to realize where lapses in communication exist in the project's message as a whole.

After reading the several negative group member roles described in "Feuds in Student Groups", I cannot think of a situation where I displayed the traits of any one particular profile. I do, however, absolutely think I am more prone to becoming the saboteur of my group. I tend to dislike group work and think I can do things better on my own, a trait that I can see leading to actions associated to those of a saboteur. In order to ensure that I do not assume this negative role in our upcoming group project, I'll have to reassure myself that five brains are better than one and that group work can absolutely result in a better project than the work of only one.

When working in a group setting, in the past, I believe I have been most likely to take the role of the researcher. I like to get all the background information and in a way play detective. I feel as if i have good communication skills so I am able to inform everyone in the group of all the information I have fouund. I like to be well-informed on every aspect of a group project, instead of just doing my one part and the bear minnimum. I feel comfortable not only doing research on the internet, but as well as doing research in the library. I like to find books for additional information and other resources rather than just the web. I enjoy doing research and have all throughout high school and college.

I hate to admit this, but to be honest, in the past I have played the Whiner. it was back in high school in a horticulture group project with 4 other people. I just complained about everything because I was exhausted from playing soccer all the time, had a late soccer game the night before, and our project we worked on at 7:15 a.m. right when schooo started. I am embarassed looking back, at how much I complained during the project, it was simply to early in the morning for me. My parents would literally be ashamed if they heard the way I was complaining about the simple tasks I had to accomplish. Since being in college, and working with many groups in my classes I have not played teh Whiner since and I have to say that all the group projects I have had in college have worked out fairly easily.

My sophomore year of High School my group had to write a research paper on the African Poacher trade. I was responsible as the editor as well as the resource investigator. My job was to find not all the information, but the most important information. I had to look at multiple sources and trim it down to be as concise as possible. It was a hard job because there is so much information on every topic on the internet. This was excellent practice for a project such as this. A project where there is mass information that needs to be broken down into what is really important and what isn’t. Also, once all of this is decided and the paper is written. I also was able to edit it. I was able to find the small mistakes that could turn an average paper into a great paper. It is the practice I had in the past that will make me a more competent team member for this project.

I displayed a combination of a deadbeat and a whiner at one project during high school. I don’t even remember what the topic was, but it certainly was a boring one that I did not like. Therefore, I tried to do as little as possible and when I did have to do something, make sure that everyone else knew I didn’t enjoy it. If I had stopped insisting on being miserable and just worked on the topic it might have actually been interesting or worthwhile. I didn’t give it a chance to get better though, and because of this the project suffered some. In this project I’ll be sure to come into it with an open mind and even if it doesn’t seem like the most interesting of topics, still give it a chance. And even if after giving it a chance, I still don’t like it still work on it with the best of my abilities. It isn’t fair for the other group members to get poor quality work, or for them to have to do more work because of me.