Project Presentations

Last time we met in class my group and I started making our presentation. We came up with some of the requirements needed for a satisfactory presentation. We decided on what our forms of new media will be, as well as started writing about what we learned individually from our event. With help from Jasmine we also did a good job of critically thinking about what happened during the event and how we could have done things better. I personally think that we should have done a better job organizing the guests that entered our area. The major issue we faced that contributed to a lack of structure was the rotation of volunteers that we had. Our volunteers weren't able to come so we had to continually prep new volunteers, which was almost impossible while the event was going on. I think we should have done a better job of getting solid commits from our volunteers prior to the week of the event. Overall day 2 of our event ran exponentially better than day 1 because we learned from some mistakes made on day 1. I think that we are going to have plenty to talk about during our presentation.

Sam Brooks

Service Learning Presentations

Last week we started preparing for our service learning presentations. These presentations will have to be at least 40 minutes long so our group has a lot of work to do to prepare for our presentation. Due to the nature of the assignment and the amount of work involved, this will be a good opportunity for our group to display some of the things that we have been learning in COM 32o this year. On Friday I thought that my group members and I did a good job of organizing our thoughts to develop a solid game plan. We followed along the presentation requirements sheet to help us structure our discussion and wrote down the points that each person brought up in regards to the requirements. We also talked about some creative solutions to the requirement of multiple sources of new media having to be a part of the presentation. Monday we plan to start piecing our presentation together by doing things such as pulling our pictures from the actual event off of our digital cameras, and assigning portions of the presentation to each group member to work on over break.

Sam Brooks

Ouch

Well I have finally gotten my computer fixed so am able to get on here again. This one may be a little late, but I was just now able to get my thumb to stop bleeding all over the place. That's a different story though. Right now I'm going to blog about miss-communication. Today I was supposed to be somewhere around 2:00, so I left my house around 1:30. I spend about 20 minutes looking for the place before I decide to grab a handout that is in one of the campus buildings. After about 40 minutes of driving following the instructions of the handout, I call a friend and she tells me I'm most likely going the wrong way down 231. Once I get back to campus I decided to try going north on 231 just to see if that was the way I was supposed to go. Keep in mind that it is now 4:00 PM and I'm over 2 hours late. 10 minutes down the road I see a street that I've spent the last 2 and a half hours looking for. This is what happens when the directions say travel south and the place you are looking for is north of where you started. Luckily one of the people that I needed to meet with was still there, but I missed the others that were there originally.

James Costner

Humor and communication

Humor is an excellent way to communicate a point. In order to be effective it must be concise and memorable. Humor helps commit key points to memory which should be the objective of every good teacher. Here are excellent examples.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tGq3tH4qSw

Creative Workshop

Last week in class was involved creative thinking from each member of the class and their groups. It was interesting to see what group members came up with for their creative workshop. Each group came up with something totally different from everyone elses. Each group presented a problem where groups had to find solutions on how to succeed. The main problem with this activity was the time constants and finding the best solution. This just represents communication is key to finding the right answers. Every problem groups received, they just looked for the first easy solution and all agreed. Overall I thought the activity was very fun and interesting.

Jeff Lindsay

Cigaretts and Communication

What? So how are these two things related? First some back story. I have two roommates one who smokes and the other with a nasty uppercut; know from experience. The first one, the smoker, made the other sware an oath that if he ever caught the smoker (smoking) to bust him in the face; for you see the smoker wanted to quit and only threat of his life would make him quit. Well the smoker started up smoking and the other roommate has just started to suspect him doing so. How can this be that someone could successfully have evade punishment for a month even though an entire floor of guys were aware of the situation?
It is important to remember in communication that no matter how trustworthy a person may seem they can and will still deceive. Individuals do what is in their best interest first. This is especially true in this situation. Despite the fact that the smoker has serious social flaws, he managed to gain support in his deception. This had nothing to do with any of his own abilities of persuasion it had to do with human nature. No matter how bad an underdog is society cant see him fail. This is because inspite what people thing society is often not attracted to the most power or authoritative force. They will resist the hegemonic force and participate in the deception.

Creativity

This week we were focusing on creativity workshops and problem solving skills. This is something that I usually find enjoyable. I like challenging myself to think of creative solutions to problems. It is also a good way to build team cohesion and trust. I found the group's activity on friday to be both challenging and fun. I thought that our solution was ingenious and it ended up working so that was a plus. I'm looking forward to the other groups' activities.

David Brelage

Creative Thinking

There aren't many times that I've experienced in college thus far where I have seen two non related classes start to overlap, but recently this Com 320 class and my Entrepreneurial class have started to do so. Lately in class we have been talking about thinking outside of the box, and that has been a point of emphasis all year in ENTR 200. Im starting to realize that even if the exercises that we have been doing may seem kind of funny, they are all meant at changing how you approach problems that you encounter. You have to change your perception if you want to learn how to think outside the box. In our ENTR class we got a "thinking outside the box" exercise which is a great example of how to think creatively to solve a problem. The link for the exercise is here: http://www.officerave.com/blog/id_29-logic-puzzles-think-outside-the-box-puzzle.html. The challenge is to connect all of the dots with four straight lines without lifting your pen. Thinking outside the box is important to become a successful entrepreneur as well as being a good problem solver which is what I have been learning here in Com 320.

-Sam Brooks

Interesting Times

I know we have been studying creative thinking in class and I have tried to use this while explaining to my bosses why we shouldn't have to stay at pappy's until midnight on saturdays for the after hours catering service. I've gone the logical way by stating how much money we lose by only serving one person from nine to midnight, and that didn't work. Recently I took a poll from all the employees from pappy's and rack 'n roll bowling alley that are tied up in this catering event and they all agree that we shouldn't be doing this. Guess what, that didn't work either. So last weekend on Halloween I decided to take a more creative route and throw a little shock value into it. I closed the store two and a half hours earlier than normal and we all walked out. Yes, this may not have been the smartest move to make but nothing else was working, and yes I did recieve a warning but it got their attention and they held a meeting because of it. Due to the action that I took, the catering after hours event that we are doing for the bowling alley will be canceled at the end of the semester and one person each saturday will be allowed to leave the store two hours earlier than the other two employees that must stay. This wasn't the result we were expecting, but at least now the ball is rolling in the right direction.

James Costner

Visual Aids

During class this week we returned to our normal groups. We were asked to draw our solutions on a piece of paper that described what we were going to do with our problem. Our solution/problem was no natural light coming into the classroom. In order to have this we would dig out the road and place a window in our classroom. It was tough to explain how we would perform this project. Our visual aid was very helpful at this point because the class was able to understand what exactly we were intending. This proves that visual aids can help an audience understand what is being said.

Jeff Lindsay

Small Group Communication - Practices

Communication 320 (concise overview): A study of group thinking and problem-solving methods; participation in, and evaluation of, committee, and informal discussion groups. Focus on the roles, networks, and messages employed by small group communicators.
According to the syllabus, This course emphasizes experiential learning where you learn by doing. The final project is designed to develop effective efficiency and work styles using communication.

I do not believe the Service Learning Project is an effective means of accomplishing the previous benchmarks. Although it is my opinion that many of the colleges within Purdue University no longer place the deserved emphasis on "hands on learning", I find in this instance it to be a detrimental education style. The group project is an unnecessary teaching technique for Com 320, because, students are exposed to small groups throughout their collegiate careers; examples of these groups include: social groups, clubs, study groups, group projects, etc; therefore exposing them to another is: redundant, tedious, wastes time and instructional opportunities. Students are familiar with groups and seldom do groups fail at tasks, but success or failure is an inadequate test of communication. There can be poor group health and still successes made within the group. Perhaps the group even partially dissolved or shut down and all the requirements were met or exceeded. That surely does not mean there was excellent group communication. Conversely there can be groups that constantly communicate but rarely make timely decisions and this is a failure. To learn how to resolve such issues Purdue offers many Organizational Leadership and Supervision courses many of which have labs where learning by doing takes place. Instead emphasis needs to be placed on identifying why individual members of a group are using specific styles of verbal and nonverbal communication and how to effectively reach out and communicate with them. This will be a tough and uncomfortable assignment because it will expose each group member's flaws. It can be uncomfortable to listen to and criticism can sometimes be harsh, but this is about correcting mistakes now, in a safe environment, so they are not painfully learned in the workplace. This requires well orchestrated activities with peer and instructional commentary. An excellent example of this was on October 21st. It was not without flaws, however, the assignment could have instead I envision have a situation where a group is observed by the entire class and then an open forum that lasts perhaps two periods to discuss communication within the group.

Everyone can identify a poor or excellent communicator, but what makes each one so. This must be identified and spoken plainly about so successes can be duplicated and shared by all in the group. Only then can problem solving methods be formulated that improve the functionality of the small group.

Presentations

Over the weekend we met with our new groups. We had a problem involoving Jack in the Box and e-coli. It seemed like we had all the right tools to show that our solution was the correct one. It's funny to see all the questions at the end of a presentation. That's the positive thing about presentations is other classmates can help you. Also, getting into these new groups was very interesting. We had to meet new people all over again and discover each of our roles. The group meetings went great and information was passed along without any troubles. Just shows that you can have a successful group with almost anyone!!

Jeff Lindsay

Group Problem-Solving

The other day I had to sit and watch a group talk about a problem. This problem involved an airline that had an important situation happen to their company. Many customers were very unhappy with their business and the way they handled things. This group was very interested in their problem and very good solutions. Even though this group was just formed a week ago, they still managed to communicate as if they knew everything about one another. They found their main solution quickly and were done discussing within 10 minutes. Getting to know your group members and their roles within the group enables you to conduct a productive meeting.


Jeff Lindsay

Crisis Management in COM 320

I was partnered up with group one to present how we would deal with the racism crisis that escalated with the Texaco Executives slandering their African American employees. Apparently my way of dealing with the crisis was to sell my stocks and not come back.... Truthfully, I was assigned to cover the different aspects of what our public announcements were going to be. To start off the presentation I was going to discuss the policy for our public announcements that was developed during our pre-event planning session. Our public announcements were specifically going to be used to honestly inform the public about the situation and what we were going to do to correct it. This was going to be accomplished with two public announcements given by Texaco executives. The first public announcement was designed to inform the public of the situation prior to any outside sources. This would let the public know what is about to be happening within the company and would provide a direct link from our company to the public informing them of the situation rather than having them hear about it through a middle man. The second public announcement was to provide the public with live statements of remorse from the executives that were involved with the tape. During these statements, the executives would not be admitting guilt for that is to be decided within the court room. After the statements of remorse are made, an executive from Texaco would outline the programs that are being implemented into the plant to help inform the employees of what racial discrimination is and how each person can prevent this from happening.

This is what my presentation was going to be over, until I was abducted by complete exhaustion and was not able to make it to the class on time. I guess I should probably do some pre-event planning for my own life.

James Costner

Blogging is a waste of time and resources in Com 320

Blogging is ineffective at teaching any skills regarding small group communication. Primarily this is true because there is no benchmark to measure success, no instruction, no correction, nothing of any kind to make noticeable changes in ones communication style. Students learn by instruction and then correction. Osmosis can be effective in chemistry but in communication it requires lecture. How can a person objectively grade their own communication skills. They cannot because any reflections that can be hoped to be made are hopelessly distorted. Just as one cannot accurately see the world beyond a mirage so to is personal critique in this subject hopeless. Perhaps a student has some notion of their skills based on successes or failures, but to learn solely from mistakes is unacceptable. Certainly no one tolerates a war being fought, a business being run, or other endeavors by simply blundering around in manors as these. This is precisely why humans have communication in the first place and what separates us from animals. Powerpoint presentations are ok but they lack energy and effectiveness. Dont instruct on the five (insert topic here). College students allready know they exist because they experence them all the time, rather give advice of how to become effective at communicating in small groups. Where are the examples, how to sway skeptics, disarm opposition, prevent failure deal with intimidation when communicating with peers. Where are the suggestions of vocabulary tone and mood. Where is the advice and critiques in posture tamber and etiquette. I have seen only a small fraction of what I expected to receive from a 300 level Com class from Purdue.

Small Groups and Alcohol

This weekend provided me with a good example of group think. On Friday night after I got off of work, I met up with a few friends at a local bar. After about an hour of drinking and throwing around random conversations, a mutual acquaintance walks into the bar. One person in our group is friends with this person, one person absolutely hates this person, and there are a few of us who are undecided. Well with the courage that alcohol brings, the one person who can't stand this person speaks up and the other undecided people join in on this view of the person. Now everyone doesn't like this guy other than the one who is friends with him. Most of us don't have any other reason to not like this guy other than someone else in our group doesn't like him. Unless I have completely misunderstood the concept of group think, this should nail it on the head.

James Costner

Negotiation Method

In class Monday we talked about the method that should be used to resolve group conflicts. The most important of the points raised in this method, I believe, is the emphasis on using objective criteria when resolving a conflict. When people argue they always have a tough time staying objective. I know that sometimes people are so biased going into a conversation that most of the points they raise are so one-sided that nothing is accomplished. I can't even count how many times I've walked away from a conversation frustrated because of this exact thing. I think all groups would be a lot better off if they kept this in mind because it helps facilitate productivity even when a group might not be seeing eye to eye.

Sam Brooks

Problem-Solving

In Wednesday and Friday our group did a very interesting activity. This activity was about picking out the most important things in order to survive. It was very tough trying to decide what items should be our first choice for survival. Everyone thought different items should be picked first. There was only about 10 minutes to decide, so time was not on our side. One of the group members said he already did the activity in the other class, so we all followed his lead. Turned out his answers were wrong and proved that we needed to discuss the problem more in depth before making decisions.


Jeff Lindsay

Boo at the Zoo

Well this group has gotten involved in some philanthropic work this fall so here is a rundown of what is going on

Negotiation

Negotiation was the topic of discussion on Monday and it raised some very good points. I like to think that I'm really good with compromise but a lot of times I sacrifice more than I should to reach that compromise. I normally would rather please the other party to avoid the confrontation if it comes down to it. I think I need to be more assertive when it comes to what I want and what I think is fair. The key thing to remember is that letting the other person have their way for the sole purpose of keeping the peace is not really the best option. A good idea could be passed over just because someone is more passive than they should be. I will try to work on being more assertive when it comes to compromises so that we can reach a solution that truly benefits all parties instead of settling even though it is the easiest route to take.

David Brelage

Group Think

I think I have always experienced the phenomenon of "Group Think" but never really acknowledged it (had a name for it) or thought about it being a hindrance to a group. I think that most of us have been in a situation where they have just gone along with what the majority of the people in their group wanted to do. This is "Group Think" and when team members concede to group think, they are severely handicapping their group. Yes, there are some situations when the status quo doesn't adversely effect a group, but most times it does because it eliminates creativity. Sometimes the person that is afraid to speak up in a group, the one who likes to go with the flow, could have the ideas that would take your group from being a good team to a great team. Something I am thankful for about our group is that no one is afraid to speak their mind. At first, when we were first getting to know each other, this was a bit unnerving, but it has become the strong point of our group. Everyone is heard, and most importantly, all ideas are heard. I have learned since taking this class that you need to avoid "Group Think", even if it is like pulling teeth for you, because avoiding it will help your group down the road.

Sam Brooks

Negotiating

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK5fi8qQC6g

In class on Monday we were discussing how negotiations work, and how position bargaining doesn't work and is a waste of time. This clip is set up in an office in a lecture setting, but the last half demonstrates one example with three different negotiations strategies and shows how negotiations can work and what the outcome can be. The first example out of the three is purely position bargaining and it is demonstrated and explained why this does not work. The second example shows how even when one offers something for trade, if you don't take the dominate position it may not work in your favor. The final example displays how if your position is worded properly, you may achieve the results that you were looking for in the beginning.

James Costner

Blog 2 Negotiating with Roommates

Living with 4 people in one apartment can be very frustrating. Who takes out the trash, who does the dishes, who takes care of the bills, who cleans the living room? These are all questions we have to deal with at least once a month, and still have issues with it. Usually it ends in an argument and nobody cleans the mess. The only thing that gets taken care of is the bills because no one wants bad credit. After class on Monday I learned some solutions that could fix our situation. I discussed with my roommates some ways we can fix the problem and we came up with a rotation on the cleaning. That night we actually all pitched in and cleaned up the apartment. Hopefully this agreement stays or we will have to try another solution.


Jeff Lindsay

Neuclear Decision Group Activity

A number of days after the completion of our in class group activity I began to think more critically about our group. It was clear by then that there was something else occurring in class and perhaps something to be learned from this project besides how to address and resolve conflict. Here is what I have concluded. Although conflict resolution was the main lesson this particular day several others were being taught but what were they?
A series of questions arose from this: firstly what type of leadership style does The Dream Team have, secondly were we susceptible and fall victim to group think, and thirdly what kind of social system is in place in the group regarding individuals. More than probable the dream team at that time had a laissez faire leadership style. As we have read this system rarely stays in this state for long, however I believe it will for the following reasons. All members are seniors,this bring with it a confidence not usually seen in underclassmen. With this comes another advantage age. All members also have had leadership or team experience whether it is in collegiate sports, the military, etc. And finally all of us seem to lack an authoritarian nature and have the bad habit of sever procrastination. This contributes to a group that all members are able to voice their concerns however all are to "lazy" to become a clear leader. Yes the group was guilty of group think. Because this group is a goal oriented group and believes that a quick solution is just a good as one that took considerably longer we had it coming. This is simple to correct. It should have been obvious, due to the fact that we completed our task so soon that we fell victim to group think. Simply modify the decision making process so it must include at least three solutions. Finally what type of group member are each of us. Time will make this clearer. I suppose professor Tan whom was watching the group discussions made some interesting observations.

Social Convergence Theory

As we continue working on and preparing our service learning projects, my mind continues to revert back to something I read earlier this year. The reading I keep revisiting in my mind was that of the social convergence theory. This theory outlines how, over a period of time, a group can develop a collective consciousness. This development of a collective consciousness allows a group to work toward a specific goal in a very efficient manner. After multiple group meetings and a collective effort to keep in contact with each other, I can see some chemistry developing between our team members. There seems to be a good understanding of what everyones abilities are, and each member of the group has settled into a role on our "team". I think that these things will all contribute to successful completion of our project.

Sam Brooks

Neighbors of 321

Well now, this is my first blog of the semester due to the fact that I usually don't pay much attention to class work until later on Sundays. This semester has been fairly interesting as far as small group conflicts go. In com 320 I haven't had any problems with my group, but this is not what this blog is about. My main concern lies with our neighbors and ourselves with our poor communication skills in solving conflicts as a whole. In our house we have 5 people that take residence in the manor, and the neighbors consist of two people. Usually two Fridays a month we host a small party for friends and our designated smoking area is the front porch. The neighbor's house is about 4 feet away and their window is on the side of their house where our porch is. This creates problems with noise and our neighbors' needs for sleep. Instead of communicating the problem at a convenient time for both houses, they tend to wait until the problem occurs. We have taken actions to reduce noise problems and yet the conflict remains unchanged. Now instead of loud music being the problem, normal conversation upsets them during parties and throughout the week. We are now planning to take matters in our own hands to resolve this problem, and concepts from COM 320 will provide some of the bases for civilized negotiations between the two houses in conflict.

James Costner

Funny Co-worker Relationship

Seeing as we are all about to start doing serious work on our service learning projects, I wanted to share a video that I found online that shows you that you can work with someone even if you aren't best freinds.....enjoy!

David Hillger Introduction

Greatings, I am David Hillger and welcome to my page. I am a 24 year old student in the school of agriculture at Purdue University's main campus in West Lafayette In. I am studying Interdisciplinary Agriculture, and Wood Products Manufacturing Technology. I am currently employed my Purdue's very own Wood Research Laboratory. My experiences include 2 years of professional work in automotive manufacturing, various summer jobs in manufacturing as well as a lifetime of working on my family's farm. You can get a feel that I like to work and I am very proud of what I know and can accomplish with my hands. I have no problem leading or following but you may not like how I do either. One might have already suspected that communication in not a strong suit of mine. I hope this class helps me hugh out a few communication skills.

Group Contract

Criteria for satisfactory group involvement:

• Show up to all group meetings
• Be prepared for meetings
• Participate in meetings
• Contribute to making meetings as productive as possible
• Provide team with an email at least 1 hr in advance if you wont be able to make a predetermined meeting time
• Check and return emails from group members
• Complete work of good quality in a timely manner
• Be willing to listen to and encourage team members
• Treat group members with respect
• Handle conflicts in a civil and mature manner
• All conflicts not able to be resolved will be directed to our instructor

Failure to comply with said criteria will be handled with a "three strikes" policy

All group memebers have read and agree with the guidelines outlined by this contract

Sam Brooks Intro

Hi, my name is Sam Brooks and I am a 21 year old Network Engineering Technology major here at Purdue. I have been a part of teams both athletically and professionally for the majority of my life. Becuase of the experienced that I've gained during that time I feel like I have alot to bring to the table for our team. I have no problem taking a leadership role when I am in a group setting, but over time have learned that being able to let someone else take the lead can really benefit the group as a whole. I've also learned how to compromise with team members so that everyone is satisfied with the end result. Hopefully this class will build upon the skills that I have already developed to help me as I enter the working world.

James Costner's Intro of himself

Well my name is James Costner although most people that actually know me call me JT. I'm from a relatively small town in Arkansas, but not so small everyone knows each other. I moved to Indiana in 2005 to attend Purdue's Engineering program, but I am now finishing up my BS in the school of Technology. (Major - MET) In May of 2007 I joined Purdue's Co-Op program, which allowed me to work for Carrier Air Conditioning every other semester. While I was there I was placed in charge of completing many different tasks, including running a couple Kaizen events. For those who may not know what a Kaizen event is, it is a small group (5 to 7 people) in charge of completing a series of tasks in a week's time. By the end of the week we were expected to complete a month's worth of projects or at least have the expected finish date for the end presentation. At the end of the week we were also required to present what we had accomplished to the entire supervisor and engineering teams that were in the plant. So basically this has given me some experience in putting together events and presentations in a short amount of time.

Intro Jeff Lindsay

My name is Jeff Lindsay. I attend Purdue University, aiming for a degree in Organizational Leadership and Supervision. OLS helps me discover all the techniques and leadership styles that are very useful for groups. Playing football for 4 years has helped me realize having a positive attitude will help any situation. I hope to learn more attributes about myself and my role within a group during this course.

An intro to David Brelage

Well as you know by the title, my name is David and I am a member of the Com 320 Dream Team. I'm 26 years old and studying Computer and Information Technology at Purdue. I think I have a lot to offer when in a group setting. I am generally level headed so I am usually a good mediator when it comes to resolving conflict. I also am a big advocate of compromise. If there is a solution to a problem that can benefit everyone, I usually try to work towards that. I get most of my small group experience from my time in the military. As a sergeant in the Army, I was in charge of a small squad of about 5 soldiers and I had to deal with all the dynamics involved in leading them. Conflict resolution is big in the military as tension can run pretty high at times. I think this experience will help me within the group.

Dream Team Blog Created

Welcome to the COM 320 Dream Team's blog!!! Stay tuned for updates!!!