Group Communication

This weeks chapter hit on the area of group communication. As we all know one of the key factors to success for any group is effective communication. Communication involves how we send and receive messages, the communication networks we have in groups and the patterns of communication in a group.

First off let me start by saying that we definitely use two-way communication in order to hear everyones thoughts and get a clear consensus in the YMCA Club Leadership Team. Even though it may involve more time, I feel it is the best way to make sure that this is an educational process. In my YMCA leadership team this week I really felt as if I was successful in effectively communicating with my group. This communication occured not only in our weekly leadership team meetings but also with my individual meetings. For one person specifically I know I was able to have a productive one hour with her specifically because we started off with great communication. We were able to problem-solve very well for the responsibilities of her position that were giving her the most difficulty. Then also in my leadership team meeting our group was able to come up with a core set of group goals that we have laid out in front of us for the semester. I would say that when we were creating these group goals, we were using problem solving skills to narrow done what exactly we want to accomplish. This was all accomplished even though we had a half an hour earlier meeting time for the week. I realize that time of the day impacts communication within groups, but the extra time actually helped us have a more successful smoothing into the meeting. I want to maintain this good form of communication, and I know it is one the key goals our group has identified.

The other group that I am in definetly is using two-way communication in order to get everything done. Even though we do have one collective leader who handles many of the logistical issues within the group, it never feels as if she is using authoritatian communication. We also have a lot of discussion and consensus towards many of our decisions. This past week was the kickoff of our program and there was really a minimal amount of communicational errors. The main breakdown I have with communication involves understanding why we are unable to have more college and student partners. I have all these ideas for new possible college partners and I did not find out the answer to my questions until the middle of the week. Along with that I unfortunately missed our weekly coordinator meeting due to a trip for my YMCA club. I honestly do feel like I let down the group. The majority of the reason being that I could have told them much earlier in the week about missing the meeting. As a team member I feel like it just is not fair to the other group members and I am hoping that we can rearrange meeting times soon. I have had with difficulties with the meeting time and I need to effectively communicate that with the team.

I enjoyed this reading on communication because once again it gives me some more grounding on the topic. We all know how important communication is and I know that constant reminders are key to following through with the art of effective communication.