Working within a group is not an easy task, regardless if the group occurs on the executive board of a top-selling company

or inside of a college class. Meeting, working with, and trusting new people with an important goal can be quite difficult, especially if a majority of the members are introverted which happened to be the case for !eam "arey. !hough working with people whom we had never met before this semester was at times challenging, we were able to overcome conflict and reach a majority of the goals we sought after. #fter learning various concepts over the course of the semester each member of !eam "arey was able to analy$e certain aspects of our group experience. Meetings, norms, roles, leadership, and the advantages and disadvantages of groups, were all pieces of the small group communication pu$$le that we were able to piece together to create efficiency within !eam "arey. Team Carey MeetingsMichael Salazar %n the beginning of the semester % did not know which group % was going to end up in until the teacher began counting out each student one by one. Which % was then put into a group that % had no idea how we were going to work together to be truthful. We had to be in agreement and abide by a group contract that everyone was going to follow and if anybody failed to do so they would get kicked out of the team but since we were awesome, nobody did. &n the day that 'rofessor (rooks left out of town for a business meeting we were given the day to introduce ourselves and to come up with a fun activity we could do in class. )o when we met in class that day we ate our lunch together first and it took a while for any of us to speak to each other. #fter breaking the ice, % was able to listen and get know *manuel, #ngel, (rooke, and "aitlynn better by talking about where we were from and also what sports we played When !eam "arey had our first meeting, we did not really use our time wisely. &ne article % found stated that meeting times could be cut by ninety percent and it would result in more efficient meetings +,"utting Meeting !imes-./. We all just wanted to get things over

with, but as time progressed into the semester we began to set agendas and were able to use our time wisely. We were always good at communicating on where we were going to meet up at to discuss our parts in each presentation we have had. We used face to face conversations, e-mails, and text messages so that there was always a way to get a hold of everybody on the team. 0or our panel presentation "aitlynn, (rooke, #ngel, *manuel, and % discussed the possible topics for panel in the library. )o we all agreed on doing it on it physical education in college. %t was going to be on the pros and the cons on the side of this topic. We all did our research and wrote down key points on what we were going to talk about on the day of presenting. &ur !eam !each was on chapter twelve, which covered *nhancing "reativity in 1roups and !eams. #s usual we met up in the library, and discussed which roles we were going to cover in the 'ower'oint of our !eam !each. #s a team we were always able to agree on everything and were aware of what parts we always had to do on our own time when we left each meeting. %f we ever got stuck on something % liked the fact that we always communicated before the meeting ended to help each other out. #s the semester progressed we used our time very wisely and were not as quite as were in the beginning of the semester, so we changed over time as a group. 2uring that meeting we had a difficult time with brainstorming games for the class. *ventually we came up with the circle game that had four groups which consisted different techniques that help with enhancing creativity. 3astly for our last !eam 'resentation of !eam "arey we met a couple more times in the library and were also able to think together when we had time during class to work. !his included a two page paper which we divided up the first time we met for our final. 0or this last project we were able to edit each other papers and talk to each other in order to create the best paper. #lso by having extra meetings during class, we were able to bounce creative ideas off

each other so that we could really enhance our presentation. #s our final presentation as a team we are hoping for the best and that all our efforts will pay off in the end. 0rom the very beginning until these last few days it has been a privilege working with "aitlynn, (rooke, #ngel, and *manuel. &ur meetings have changed a lot since the very beginning. We were quite at first, but then it all changed once we spoke up and were able to organi$e everything in a way that made it easier in the long run. #fter all of our meetings, we are able to get down to business and work efficiently together as a group. NormsAngel ONeil When talking about norms the book defines them as ,rules or standards that determine what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior in a group.. %n the beginning of becoming a group, we did not create a list of norms that we wanted to follow nor we did create any later in the class. 4owever, by the end of the semester various norms had been created all on their own. !eam "arey5s biggest norm would be that we had a ,go with the flow. attitude, which made us choose the first idea that someone said and go from there. )ince our group was so quiet, it was difficult to break this norm. 3ooking back now, we have improved so much on the way we communicate. % feel like the ,go with the flow. attitude is still there but now as a team we talk about the subject more and how we can achieve our goal. 0or example, when we were planning our first fun group activity "aitlynn offered an idea that we could eat lunch in the classroom together and get to know each other, the whole group agreed with no other discussion. (ut now % feel that if we could do it again, we would brainstorm a little more rather than all just agreeing. 3ater through the semester we all got to know each other and were comfortable enough that there was not an awkward silence. We started interacting like we were friends and not like we were just people doing a project together. 6elationships started forming and % feel like that

made our group talk more. (ecause of our friendships, another norm that developed was that everybody participated and did their part nobody had to do more work than another person. We were able to distribute the work evenly and not let one member carry most of the work load. We could communicate as friends so that it did not feel like we were harassing each other about work that needed to get completed. !hat was a positive norm in our group because some groups do the opposite and give the leader all the work to do that the rest of the group gets nothing. !eam "arey had a drive that everybody wanted a good grade so everybody worked to get that grade. %n the article, Establishing Group Norms, it stated that one group may have a norm of always sitting in the same place, another group may shuffle the seating arrangements and a third group5s norm may be that some team members always sit together while others have no particular pattern answer. With our meetings, we always ended up sitting in a circle at a table in the library. 7o one was necessarily in the same spot around the table at every meeting, but we always sat at one of two tables. *verybody in !eam "arey has worked in a group or has been on a team and had to work with people over the course of their high school career. !hat past experiences has helped our group conform to some our norms. &ur group confirmed the norm that ,we go with the flow., even though we tried not to do it, but our group was so quiet we tended to just go with the group idea. % felt like later in the semester "aitlynn and (rooke tried not to conform to that norm because we were so quiet and it was hurting us, especially when we presented. %n the book it states that ,# group whose members like one another and respect one another5s opinions are more likely to support conformity than is a less cohesive group.. !eam "arey5s relationships

have grown throughout the semester, so % think that this quote definitely applies to us and explains why we were able to work better together in the end. Roles in Team CareyEmanuel Matanza *ach individual presents unique abilities and skills to offer when working in groups and teams. 0rom these skills and abilities, members of groups are expected or assigned certain roles and responsibilities to achieve the group5s main goals or tasks. )ome of these roles include8 initiator-contributors, elaborators, coordinators, orienters, evaluator-critics, energi$ers, followers, gatekeepers, and many more +,6elating to &thers in 1roups and !eams. 9:-99/. )ince the beginning of the semester, !eam "arey had no idea what skills each member possessed, so we could not determine which member played what role. 2uring our fun activity, communication and sociali$ing among !eam "arey was insufficient. With three women and two men on this group, this group was segregated by genders. #t first, it was just #ngel, (rooke, and "aitlynn talking to each other and Michael and % talking to each other. When communicating in groups, studies have shown that women tend to connect, support and achieve closeness, while on the other hand, men just want to accomplish tasks and assert individuality +,Managing 1roup and !eam 6elationships 'art ;. </. % noticed this study is true when at one point, !eam "arey tried to sociali$e with each other, rather than just talking to the same genders. %t was very weird because "aitlynn, (rooke, and #ngel talked about hobbies, likes, and nail polish, while Michael and % wanted to discuss about group goals and backgrounds of ourselves. !he ladies of !eam "arey wanted to establish friendship, which is fine, but Michael and % wanted to emphasi$e more on getting tasks done for our first group assignment, which was the 'anel 'resentation. %t seemed that we had very different characters and aspects, and we did, but eventually we all became good

friends and learned how to communicate with each other, which led to the roles each member portrayed in !eam "arey. 2uring the !eam "hallenge, we started to depict the roles among our group. 2uring the !oxic 'opcorn challenge, we all served as initiator-contributors, proposing new ideas as to how we can place the popcorn bucket into the waste container without spilling or crossing the border resulting in elimination. %n addition, "aitlynn became our leader, as she guided the group throughout the whole challenge. (rooke was our evaluator-critic, judging whether the group5s ideas would be successful or not. #ngel portrayed as an energi$er when at times, certain tasks were frustrating for this challenge and we needed motivation. Michael was an information seeker and follower, and % was an orienter trying to keep the group focused on the challenge. 0rom that point moving forward, we5ve all held on to those roles today and during team meetings we have also adapted to performing other roles such as being elaborators, information givers, recorders, and coordinators. (etween roles and norms, each member obeyed the norms of the group despite the fact that we had different personalities and played different roles. 0or example, one of our norms is to be socially active and participate in group discussion. Michael is very quiet and usually portrays a follower, however, with me being a gatekeeper, % would draw Michael into the discussion to receive his input on ideas and topics we discussed about during team meetings for our panel presentation and group concept application activity. 0urthermore, with "aitlynn serving as our leader and coordinator, she would establish and keep !eam "arey up to date with group meetings which is also another norm of ours to attend meetings and discussions. !o distribute the work evenly, (rooke, as the encourager, encouraged members of !eam "arey to choose which part of our presentation they wanted to cover. (y doing so, everyone receives the same amount of work

and everyone is aware of what they are covering. With #ngel portraying as a compromiser, she would resolve conflicts with the group when two or more members want to work on the same thing or an issue arises. %t was #ngel5s idea to set up a )kype or phone call, when % could not attend the panel presentation. !eam "arey was a very unique group because of the diversity and versatility that we possessed. We all brought different skills to the table, yet we have all played similar roles such as being initiator contributors or elaborators. "aitlynn wielded the ability to guide therefore she became our leader and coordinator. (rooke is very open in discussion and very social, which made her our evaluator-critic and encourager. #ngel is very passionate towards her work, which made her our energi$er and compromiser to !eam "arey. Michael was always obedient to our group and was willing to do anything, therefore making him a follower. 3astly, % served as our orienter and gatekeeper because % wanted !eam "arey to achieve its goal of receiving an #= for this course. LeadershipCaitlynn ri!al"a

%n our textbook, leadership is defined as8 behavior or communication that influences, guides, directs, or controls a group. !hough the definition makes it seem as though becoming a leader requires a specific type of person to fill the position, many unlikely group members have ended up becoming leaders without reali$ing it. 0or example, in !eam "arey, (rooke and % both emerged as leaders during different times of the semester without planning on becoming the leader. !hough we did switch off and at times even shared the leadership role, there was not really any type of power struggle between the two of us. % felt that the lack of power struggle occurred because we are naturally different types of leaders, but ultimately knew how to get the task at hand accomplished which was a positive characteristic of our group. (rooke5s role as a

leader distinctly emerged during our team challenge, while my role as the leader was more of a slow transition throughout different group projects during the semester. 2uring the second day of our !eam "hallenge % felt as through (rooke took on the reins as leader because she had more of a background with building card towers than the rest of our group. )ince (rooke knew what she was talking about when it came to the card towers, the rest of us definitely trusted her and took a step back to listen to what she thought was the right path to take. 0or that situation % would say (rooke was a task leader because she was ultimately trying to accomplish a group goal building the highest card tower. #lso, % would say with that group project (rooke was an authoritarian leader, but not necessarily in a negative, aggressive way. )he knew that she was doing and how to get the best results out of the challenge so she was able to dictate how the rest of our group placed the cards in order to reach our goal. 0or that time in the semester, % definitely felt that (rooke5s authoritarian leadership was best fit for the group because it got the task completed and overall we reached our group goal of getting a hundred percent as our team challenge score. &n the other hand, % felt as though half way through the semester % somehow landed more of a permanent role as leader of the !eam "arey. Maybe it was when % started sending out reminders of meeting times and group work or when % started answering everyone else5s specific questions about projects, but some time before our panel presentation % felt as though % had definitely become the team leader. (ecause of this slow transition, % did not think of myself as the dominant emergence of a leader in the group. 4owever looking back, during our various group meetings % found myself trying to include all the group members by asking for their ideas, opinions, and questions which was key, especially when trying to get Michael to add input to the discussions. %n 7 Traits of Highly Effective Leaders, an article written by 'eter *conomy, one of

the seven traits included supporting and facilitating your team. &ut of all of the traits he described % definitely felt like % have fulfilled that one over the course of the semester. (y making sure that everyone could contribute their ideas to the group, together we were able to achieve our goals for each project. (ecause of my willingness to facilitate and make everyone feel involved throughout the meetings, % felt that % fit the role of the democratic leader. (y encouraging and directing the team but still being included in the discussions % think it was the best overall climate for the team throughout the semester. Ad"antages # $isad"antages%roo&e Callaghan There are many advantages and disadvantages when it comes to working in teams or groups. A huge advantage that Team Carey and a majority of other groups can attest to is that you are able to have multiple heads working towards the same task or goal. For example, when Team Carey was presented with the activity task of having to eliminate numbers that were in a large circle as quickly as possible, more heads was better than one. We all had many different ideas, but as it was one of the first team challenges together, we were all somewhat shy. Emanuel came up with the idea of taking each number out as we identified it. Something so simple seemed to slip over all of our heads. When you have multiple people working to find the same solution you can get a much broader range of solutions. Being in a group can help yourself and team members broaden your horizons because maybe they came up with an idea you did not and you can help each other out. Another example of why working in groups or teams is that you can learn to trust people you never knew before. Normally it takes months or years to grow to trust someone. However, when you are forced to work with people every day and have to agree on many things rather quickly, you learn to trust them. For example, when Team Carey was asked to do the activity of

toxic popcorn, another of our first team challenges, everyone seemed somewhat uncertain when presented with the assignment. Caitlynn had the idea to lasso the tub of popcorn, with trusting her idea, I suggested or tying all the ropes together in order to make them longer. Angel and Emanuel trusted mine and Caitlynns idea by putting the plan into action. I am still uncertain that Michael trusts Angel, Caitlynn, and I; he seems to open up more to Emanuel then the rest of the group. Michael would agree with what everyone says and never really expresses his own opinions and thoughts. As there are advantages to each and very group, there are disadvantages as well. Many people are set in their own ways. Once someone has an idea and think their idea is the best, they will not change their standpoint or later their opinion. Team Carey never really faced this issue exactly, but may have come close to it. When Team Carey was meeting about our group teach, we had to come up with a group activity. Emanuel had a very elaborate idea of having the class make gas masks out of certain materials, while Caitlynn had the idea to do the 30-circle test. Angel seemed to like Caitlynns idea and I liked Emanuels. After evaluating both of the choices, we all decided that the gas mask activity would take a lot of time, and might have been too elaborate. Looking back, none of us seemed to budge on our decisions. We were all being somewhat stubborn because we wanted to do what we wanted. However, after laying it all out, the 30-circle test fit the criteria we were presenting better. Another disadvantage that occurs with working in groups is for people that are extremely shy, like Michael. It can be hard for people who are very shy to open up to complete strangers and work on projects and issues. For some people, it may take months or even years to open up to people completely, like Michael. Team Carey has been working together for about 3 months now and Michael still has yet to open up. There are many advantages and disadvantages of working in groups. It is very important to

know about the pros and cons of group work, to effectively find solutions to overcome barriers in-group work (Joshi 2011). Team Carey has achieved and learned more than expected this semester. As a group we have overcome various conflicts and challenges in order to reach our goals. From going to awkward meetings in the beginning of the semester to more productive meetings or even leaving our quiet voices behind so that our opinions would be heard, we have overcome these challenges as a group. We are certainly not perfect but we have progressed drastically throughout this semester by continuing to work with each other. The learning of concepts in small group communication has definitely helped us with these progressions. Our group experience in this class has helped all of us to become aware of certain roles we gravitate toward and how to work quicker toward creating more productive groups in future classes and jobs.

Works "ited (eebe, )teven #., and >ohn !. Masterson. ?6elating to &thers in 1roups and !eams.? Communicating in Small Groups rinciples and ractices. @Ath ed. 7.p.8 'earson *ducation, n.d. 9:-99. 'rint. (ennis, Warren. ,"ut Bour Meeting !ime by 9AC.. @9 #ug. ;A@D. Web ;E 7ovember. ;A@D. (rokaw, 6enee. ?Managing 1roup and !eam 6elationships 'art ;.? 7.p., n.d. Web. ;D 7ov. ;A@D. *conomy, 'eter. ?< !raits of 4ighly *ffective 3eaders.? !nc"com. %nc., ;< #ug. ;A@D. Web. DA 7ov. ;A@D. 0eldman, 2aniel. ?!he 2evelopment and *nforcement of 1roup 7orms.? FiG>)!&6FHiG. 7.p., n.d. Web. I 2ec. ;A@D. >oshi, 7eha. ?#dvantages and 2isadvantages of Working in 1roups.? #u$$le"com. (u$$le.com, ;< )ept. ;A@@. Web. AI 2ec. ;A@D.