Ricardo Santana Reflection

 

Reflection on Intercultural Communication, Group Leadership, and Group Communication

Over the past weeks, exploring the themes of intercultural communication, group leadership and problem-solving, and communicating in groups has significantly enriched my understanding of how people interact in today’s diverse and collaborative environments. These topics are not only important in academic settings but also in everyday life, helping us become better teammates, leaders, and members of a global community.

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1. Intercultural Communication

One of the most impactful concepts I learned was the importance of understanding culture as a framework through which people interpret the world. Culture shapes everything from how we express respect, to how we interpret time, to how we build relationships. For example, the contrast between individualistic cultures (which value independence and personal achievement) and collectivist cultures (which prioritize family and group harmony) helped me understand why miscommunications often occur, even with the best intentions. Growing up in the Dominican Republic and now living in the United States, I’ve experienced this contrast firsthand. The directness of American communication sometimes clashes with the more relational, high-context communication I was raised with.

What I really appreciate about this topic is how real and relevant it is. I’ve met many people from all over the world, and I think intercultural communication is more important than ever. Technology has opened the door for us to connect with others no matter where they are. Personally, I’ve met people through video games, WhatsApp, and other social platforms. These virtual spaces have helped me make friends from different cultures, and even when we don’t speak the same native language, we find ways to connect and understand each other.

Being here in the United States and studying has further shown me how diverse our world truly is. There are people from all races and languages in my classes, but what stands out is that many of us are actually of mixed heritage. Most of us come from families with diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, which means it’s essential to treat everyone with respect regardless of where they come from or how well they speak a language. Some people speak two languages, others more than two. Even if someone isn’t fluent in their second language, they’re trying, and that effort deserves recognition. What matters most is the willingness to communicate and connect.

I’ve come to understand that intercultural communication isn’t just about avoiding misunderstandings it’s about appreciating the courage it takes to speak up in a second or third language, and the strength it takes to keep learning and connecting across barriers. Respect, patience, and empathy are at the heart of successful communication in a multicultural world.

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2. Group Leadership and Problem Solving

The discussion on leadership made me rethink what it means to be a leader. I used to associate leadership with a title or position, but now I see it more as a dynamic process that can emerge from any group member. Whether it's giving ideas (task role), encouraging participation (maintenance role), or keeping things on track (procedural role), everyone in a group can lead at different times.

I believe that we are all capable of taking on leadership roles in different areas of life. Each of us recognizes our strengths and weaknesses, and that awareness shapes how we lead. From my experience, in a workplace where there is often someone in the position of a boss or formal leader, I’ve encountered many types of leadership styles. Some leaders are more serious, demand results, and set firm deadlines. But in one job I had, my boss stood out because he gave everyone a voice. He recognized each employee’s individual strengths and gave us opportunities to participate based on our abilities. As a result, everyone respected him and followed his guidance willingly, not out of obligation but because of the mutual respect he cultivated.

This taught me that leadership is not about control it’s about bringing out the best in people. While we all have different strengths and areas to grow, we all have the potential to lead. Personally, I enjoy math and science, and I like to teach others. I find that I’m good at it, and I thank God for giving me that ability. In those moments, when I’m helping someone else understand something they didn’t before, I feel like I’m stepping into a leadership role. This kind of everyday leadership is just as important as formal roles. It shows that leadership is not about having authority it’s about having impact.

Learning about leadership styles autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, transformational, and servant leadership helped me understand the value of adapting to different situations. I feel most aligned with transformational and servant leadership because they focus on inspiring others and putting people’s growth first. These styles emphasize empathy, vision, and empowerment qualities I want to continue developing.

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3. Communicating in Groups

This topic brought everything together by focusing on how communication builds group cohesion and effectiveness. I learned that communication is not just about speaking up; it's about listening, being vulnerable, respecting differences, and adjusting to group norms. Whether it’s in families, social groups, work teams, or virtual groups, communication defines how well we collaborate.

The stages of group development forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning were especially useful to learn. They helped me reflect on past group experiences where a lack of clarity in the early stages caused confusion, or unresolved conflict in the storming stage slowed us down. Recognizing these stages helps me better support a team’s development and understand what phase we’re in.

Healthy group communication depends on sharing work fairly, listening to each other, celebrating small wins, and holding each other accountable. One major takeaway for me was the importance of establishing group norms. Whether it’s something formal like “no phones during meetings” or informal like using emojis to signal emotions, these norms build a sense of trust and shared expectations.

Another important aspect was conflict resolution. Understanding the differences between pseudo-conflict, issue-based conflict, and personality clashes allowed me to see conflict not as something negative but as an opportunity for growth if handled with empathy and respect. Virtual group communication was also a big part of this topic, and I appreciated the practical tips for making remote collaboration more personal and effective.

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These three topics intercultural communication, group leadership and problem solving, and communicating in groups are deeply interconnected. They each emphasize the role of empathy, adaptability, and shared responsibility in successful communication. Whether we're navigating cultural differences, leading a team, or resolving group conflict, the key is to stay open, respectful, and committed to common goals.

These lessons have real implications for my life. As someone who wants to make a positive impact in both professional and personal spaces, I see how communication is at the heart of progress. Understanding cultural nuances makes me more inclusive. Embracing shared leadership makes me more collaborative. Practicing healthy group communication makes me more effective. Ultimately, communication is a form of respect and through it, we build stronger, more meaningful connections.

Joel Barranco Blog#1

 

Introduction to Communication
Joel Barranco
Blog Post 1

 

Working in groups can bring a variety of challenges and I always get queasy when group projects are mentioned but after learning from my peers and working with a great team, I feel prepared for what comes next. Working with my team was very easy, we communicated what needed to be done and our group leader delegated tasks as needed. There was not much in the way of problems since the project was short and brief, but it was a good start to getting to know how everyone works. All the presentations were very insightful, and I especially enjoyed learning about different group dynamics and leadership styles. Group 2 started with the presentations, and it was interesting to learn about the different family dynamics. I was reflecting on that while on a walk and I thought back to my childhood and how my family operated and how my friends spoke about their families. I think my family and I have a Laissez Faire communication pattern, and I wonder how much that affects how I operate in a group environment. I consider myself a quiet person and while I don’t like to say a lot I do try to make strong contributions with my work. Something group 2 spoke about was some of the group struggles where a lack of communication and undefined goals can be disastrous for a project and I believe having a clear and defined goal is the most important part of group work. After Group 2’s presentation I’m trying to keep an eye out for how I and others behave in a group setting. Whether it’s work, school, or my own friend group I try to see the good things we do or the pitfalls we may fall into. Seeing the stages of how a group forms was especially informative. The different stages of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning were interesting to see explained. It’s funny to look back at movies like The Mighty Ducks or The Avengers and see all the stages unfold and see how closely they follow this formula. Seeing the different types of conflicts get explained was super helpful and looking back I think most issues I’ve ran into in group environments was issue-related group conflict. It’s probably the most common and understandably so, we all have different visions for how to work out a solution and I believe this is one of the hardest parts of being in a team. An issue our group ran into was someone who dropped the class and didn’t notify us until the night before the presentations were going to happen, but it was handled extremely well, and I am thankful for the level-headedness of the whole team.

            Group 1 had a strong presentation about Intercultural Communication and the difficulties it can bring but also the strengths that come from so many different perspectives. A team can be comprised of many different people with vastly different backgrounds and experiences. I believe it’s important to have a group of people with a diverse set of experiences to broaden the scope of ideas people can bring to the table. Especially in a country like the United States where someone’s race, gender, and socioeconomic status affect the types of experiences they have in this country, it can bring a valuable insight to reaching ethical solutions to many different issues. Something interesting that was brought up was the contributions and considerations to make for disabled people. I have never gotten to work with someone with noticeable disabilities, but I believe I am better equipped to make those considerations should I ever have the opportunity. Last semester I had an intro to ethics class which was extremely important to me developmentally. There was a seminar presentation every week on readings we were assigned, and it was always so interesting to see everyone’s different interpretations on readings and how their cultures and backgrounds influenced those interpretations. This presentation also had some very informative heat maps that showed every country’s cultural difference whether it was masculinity vs femininity or uncertainty avoidance which was interesting to see. This presentation was the first time I learned about Power Distance Cultures; I personally am a big fan of a low power distance.

            I really enjoyed our topic on leadership and problem solving. After learning about the different leadership styles, I think I prefer the Laissez-Faire Leadership Style where responsibility is delegated to every member, and they can work with minimal interference. Obviously, some issues can’t be handled this way, but I find it works best for these kinds of group projects. There are a ton of roles we learned about, from maintenance roles to procedural roles and it’s good to highlight these different types and I find myself trying to pinpoint roles different people fill whether it’s people at work or friends of mine. Everyone’s contributions taught me something new and showed me the importance of committing to a goal and how to keep everyone on the right track. I liked the structure of the power point showing bullet points of information and the speaker explaining the easily digestible information so when I look at it again their words echo in my head. Systematic Problem Solving was the section Sofia, and I were responsible for and we handled the slide with a Laissez-Faire approach that worked effectively for us. Something I really liked about the text was that it was extremely easy to digest. The pages were brief but very good at informing the reader. The six steps of systematic problem solving were an enjoyable topic to write about and I wanted to say more but felt pressed for time. I hope to instill these thoughts and practices into myself for future work. As much as I dislike presenting it was good to get it out of the way in the first week to get the nerves out. I consider myself a pretty reserved and shy person and I look forward to coming out of that shell when presenting and hopefully become a better communicator by the end of the semester.

Valentina Soto Reflection

 Although it has only been a few weeks into the course, I have already learned useful information about how people communicate and work together in different group contexts. Through three initial presentations about Intercultural Communication, communication in groups, and our group's project about Leadership and Problem Solving, I have begun to see how cultural awareness, communication styles, and leadership roles help define how we operate as a group. While the term has just started, preparing and delivering the presentation as a part of a group, allowed me to experience how theory becomes applied in working collectively. 

The first presentation, on Intercultural Communication, established a basis for understanding the diversity that exists. One of the most striking things was the disconnect between my notion of communication as limited to linguistic transfer, and the recognition that communication can be shaped or influenced by a multitude of factors; including one's cultural identity, gender, socioeconomic status, generation, and even our perception of time. For example, when we looked at high-context and low-context cultures, it was great to be able to see and explain a continuum of communication styles, from indirect to direct. This new knowledge reminded me to be aware of how I express myself and how I interpret others.

The idea of cultural humility is what resonated most with me in that presentation: understanding that we all have different experiences and perspectives, and that respect in communication means being willing to learn together. I especially appreciated the discussions about individualistic cultures (such as the U.S.) and collectivist cultures (such as many Latin American and Asian societies). Since many of us are from different backgrounds (even within the classroom), these models help to avoid miscommunication and shape better collaboration.

In the second presentation, Communicating in Groups, we examined all of the groups we are a part of and how the groups work. I appreciated the way we discussed family, workplace, social, and support groups, and how each type of group operates differently and has different communication practices. For example, we discussed family communication patterns (protective, pluralistic, laissez-faire) and this had me thinking about how my upbringing influences how I engage in group work. What resonated with me the most was the groups go through different stages of development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. This helped me realize that it is typical for groups to have tensions or confusion in the early meetings, and if the conflict is managed effectively, it could lead to better collaboration later on.

Now leads to our own group presentation, Leadership and Problem Solving, which I feel has been the most significant experience to date. Although the semester has just begun, I feel as though working with my classmates on this project, we were able to apply many of the theories we had only begun to learn. We did not just learn about leadership, we practiced it. From making decisions on whose side was who's, to decide who was going to speak on which slide, this team needed to display effective communication, resolve minor disagreements, and stay on top of the project deadline.

Completing our presentation led me to learn that leadership is not about one person leading everyone, leadership is a process that we do together. All of us offered different traits. Some acted as “task leaders” who paid attention to work completion, and other members joined as team-building leaders or clarity leaders. Actually, we did not plan for this to work; we simply slipped into our own leadership roles through time. We developed into givers, seekers, analyzers, supporters, and gatekeepers, and these roles kept us in balance or productivity.

We also discussed different leadership styles, such as autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, transformational, and servant leadership. I thought this section was interesting because we were able to identify aspects of leadership in our own actions. Some members preferred to take the lead and delegate work out to other members (transformational), while some depended on members to voice their suggestions and opinions before making decisions themselves (democratic). I think I tended to lean toward a servant leadership style, I liked to check in with members and make sure everyone was comfortable speaking out and taking on the role they wanted.

One of the most useful components of our presentation was the Systematic Problem Solving Process. This was even though it was a topic we investigated for the class, we actually followed the process as we were working. We began by stating "the problem" (how to provide a clear explanation of leadership) analyzed our strengths and then gathered information, generated ideas, and lastly assessed and finalized our slides. It was nice to see this type of structured process make the group work easier. I know I will utilize this in my next assignment.

This experience also highlighted the importance of preparation and communication. We had to schedule a meeting with a time that worked for all, agree on how we would divide the slides, and be prepared to speak confidently as a group in class. I think we worked well as a team. We respected one another's opinions, shared responsibility fairly, and encouraged each other's participation. I think if we had more time, another group rehearsal would have polished some of the transitions between speakers, but overall I think we worked great as a team. 

To sum up, after only our fourth class I feel that I am learning practical skills that I can apply in school and beyond. The presentations helped me to learn about the role of culture in communication, the dynamics that contribute to making a group successful, and lastly, the leadership techniques that allow a group to continue moving forward. Working on the leadership project allowed me to grow not only as a student but also as a peer and developing leader. I look forward to learning more about this as the course moves forward and am assured the skills we are developing now will continue to meet me as we progress through the semester and for my future career.

michelle romero blog #1

 

1017 AITANA GIMENEZ

 TANA'S POV 

Group 1

Intercultural communication refers to the process by which people from different cultural backgrounds exchange information, ideas, and meanings. As globalization brings the world closer together, the ability to communicate effectively across cultures has become increasingly important in personal relationships, business, education, and diplomacy. At its core, intercultural communication involves understanding how culture shapes the way people perceive, interpret, and express messages. Culture includes language, values, beliefs, customs, nonverbal behaviors, and social norms. These elements influence communication styles and expectations, leading to potential misunderstandings if not navigated thoughtfully.

One key challenge is ethnocentrism, the tendency to view one’s own culture as superior and to judge others by that standard. Overcoming ethnocentrism requires cultural sensitivity and empathy, recognizing that no culture is inherently better, only different. Intercultural communication also involves navigating verbal and nonverbal differences. Language barriers are the most obvious obstacle; however, even when a common language is used, meaning can still get lost due to idioms, tone, or indirectness. Nonverbal cues, such as eye contact, gestures, and personal space, vary widely across cultures and can lead to confusion or offense. Effective intercultural communicators practice active listening, remain open-minded, and exhibit adaptability. They ask questions, clarify meanings, and show respect for cultural differences. This helps build trust and mutual understanding.

Several models help explain intercultural communication, such as Hall’s high-context and low-context cultures, where some societies rely heavily on implicit communication and shared understanding (high-context), while others depend on explicit verbal messages (low-context). Intercultural communication is not just about exchanging words but about bridging cultural divides to foster respect and cooperation. It calls for awareness, patience, and a willingness to learn from others. Mastering this skill enriches personal growth and professional success in our interconnected world.

Group 2

Communicating in groups can be quite the feat when you understand the types and stages that help the group meet its goals. First, it’s important to identify the different types of groups. There are primary groups, such as family, where bonds are strong and support is tight. Then come secondary groups, like a work team, which form to complete specific tasks. Groups can also be formal, with clear roles and rules, or informal, which come together more casually. Healthy groups share certain traits that facilitate smooth and effective communication. They foster an environment where members can express themselves freely, and everyone feels safe to share ideas. Shared goals keep the group on the same page, and respect among members builds a strong bond. Good leadership helps the group stay on track without overpowering others. Healthy groups are also flexible enough to roll with changes and encourage active participation.

Groups usually pass through several stages as they develop. First is the forming stage, where members meet and get acquainted. Next comes the storming phase, where conflicts and power struggles arise. Then, in the norming stage, the group settles into roles and establishes norms. The performing stage sees the group actively working toward its goals, and finally, the adjourning stage, when the group disbands or moves on. Conflicts in groups are normal, but managing them well is key. Effective strategies include listening carefully, making sure all voices are heard, and working together to find fair solutions. Clearing up misunderstandings prevents problems from escalating, and setting clear communication rules helps avoid friction. Leaders can mediate disputes and keep things respectful, helping the group stay united.

Group 3 

Leadership is often seen as an inherent quality, but it is also a skill that can be developed with self-awareness and dedication. A leader is not defined solely by their title but by their ability to inspire, guide, and influence others toward achieving a shared goal. Effective leadership requires a blend of emotional intelligence, communication, decision-making skills, and the ability to foster collaboration. However, the path to becoming a great leader begins with understanding oneself.

The first step in diagnosing yourself to become a leader is assessing your strengths and weaknesses. This requires honest self-reflection. Are you a good listener? Do you stay calm under pressure? Can you articulate your ideas clearly? Leadership is often about recognizing where you excel and where you can improve. Regularly evaluating your communication style, emotional resilience, and problem-solving abilities helps pinpoint areas of growth. Feedback from peers, mentors, or team members can also offer valuable insights into how others perceive your leadership potential.

Another crucial aspect of self-diagnosis is understanding your motivation and values. Leaders who are genuinely passionate about their work inspire loyalty and trust in their teams. Ask yourself: What drives you? What do you stand for? Understanding your personal mission is key to leading authentically. This sense of purpose helps maintain focus during challenging times and guides decision-making, ensuring consistency in actions.

Moreover, self-diagnosis requires acknowledging the importance of adaptability. Leadership is not a one-size-fits-all approach. The ability to adjust to different situations and people is vital. Great leaders don’t rigidly follow a single style; instead, they assess the needs of their team and context, adjusting their approach accordingly. In conclusion, diagnosing yourself as a leader involves a continual process of self-reflection, seeking feedback, and aligning your personal values with your leadership actions. By cultivating self-awareness, understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and adapting to changing circumstances, you can develop the qualities that make a true leader.

Together, these themes highlight the importance of communication, self-awareness, and adaptability in personal and professional success. Strong communication skills allow individuals to connect meaningfully across cultures and within groups, reducing misunderstandings and fostering collaboration. Self-awareness helps individuals understand their own values, emotions, and behaviors, enabling more authentic interactions and thoughtful leadership. Adaptability ensures that people can respond effectively to diverse situations, whether adjusting to cultural differences, shifting group dynamics, or evolving leadership challenges. In a world that is increasingly interconnected and fast-changing, these skills are not only valuable, they are essential. Mastering them empowers individuals to build trust, lead with integrity, and contribute positively to any team, organization, or community.

Roseli Falcon - Blog Post #1

Understanding Groups:
     Culture, Decisions, and Leadership      

      We looked into chapters 3, 9, and 10 during our class presentations; each of them included useful information about group communication, leadership, and cultural awareness. After watching the presentations along with taking part in one myself, I had the chance to reflect on the topic. I was able to delve deeper into the topic of leadership and how it manifests in group dynamics by working on slides 10.1c and 10.1d in Chapter 10.

Chapter 3

       Intercultural communication was the subject of Chapter 3, which I believe is crucial in the multicultural world of today. The group that presented did a fantastic job of using relatable real-life examples to illustrate how culture affects communication. They clarified a complex subject and demonstrated how cultural differences alone can lead to misunderstandings.

  

      The concept of gaining perspective struck me as being very relevant. I am open to learning about different cultures and generally try to understand the points of view of others. But sometimes I find myself drawing conclusions based on a person's actions. I learned from this chapter that something that seems strange and rude in one culture might be totally acceptable in another. I will keep that in mind, especially in the future when I work in diverse group settings.

      

       Adding more interactive components to the presentation was one way to make it stronger. It would have been even more interesting and memorable to analyze cultural misunderstandings from a TV show or social media.

Chapter 9

      In Chapter 9, the presentation discussed a variety of decision-making techniques, including authority rule, consensus, and majority rule. The group did a great job outlining the advantages and disadvantages of every approach and emphasizing how crucial it is to clearly define the group's decision-making process. In my opinion, they did a good job of illustrating how disagreements can occur when opinion are ignored or choices are made too hastily.   

   

 

   It brought back memories of my time working as a theater stage manager. The director, who was typically the most outspoken person, frequently made decisions, which occasionally led to results that failed to reflect everyone's comfort levels or opinions. I was able to appreciate the importance of structured communication in group settings thanks to this chapter. It also helped me realize that although I usually follow the crowd when working on group projects, I naturally take the lead when given a leadership role 

      An in-person role-play or demonstration of each decision-making style would have strengthened the presentation by allowing us to observe how they acted in actual circumstances. The small-group activity could have made the ideas more vivid.

Chapter 10

       I found this chapter especially important because I helped create it, specifically slides 10.1C and 10.1D. Chapter 10 covers the three different leadership styles: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire. It highlights that leadership is more about behavior than a job title. That struck a chord with me because, although I don't take the initiative right away, I do participate in other ways, such as organizing tasks, coming up with ideas, and helping the group.       

     

One of the most important lessons I learned was that being the loudest person in the room is not a requirement for leadership. It involves actively listening, being receptive to the needs of the group, and assisting others in achieving their goals. This helped me identify leadership traits in myself that I had not previously given much thought to.

      Our group aimed to make the presentation engaging and included a Kahoot at the end, which I think was a fun and effective way to reinforce the content. We could have considered including a brief reflection exercise where students identify their leadership philosophies and share them with their peers. This might maintain the collaborative atmosphere while promoting a closer connection with the subject matter.

      How leadership style may change depending on the makeup of the group or the level of stress is one aspect of the chapter that I wish we had discussed in greater detail. For instance, in times of crisis, a leader who usually practices democracy might have to adopt an authoritarian stance. A case study or video clip demonstrating this shift in action would have been a useful addition to demonstrate the adaptability and complexity of leadership. This could have prompted a meaningful conversation about how a group's success sometimes depends on a leader's ability to modify their behavior depending on the circumstances.

Reflection

       All three presentations were informative, but I believe there’s always room to make them more engaging. At times, the presentations leaned more toward lecture-style delivery, which could be balanced with more interactive elements. Incorporating interactive elements, examples from real life, or images might have raised interest and improved the content's memorability.

      Including audience interaction like polls, brief discussions, or even role play would have brought the material to life. Since culture, leadership, and group decision-making are part of our everyday experiences, tying them to student life or workplace examples could have made the lessons more relatable and meaningful.

      Looking back at my slides, I see that I could have prompted a class discussion with more applicable scenarios or open-ended questions. My primary focus was on effectively communicating the information, but it would have had a greater impact if I had made it more interactive and personal.

Final Thoughts

      The presentations helped me better understand how I interact with people and collaborate with others. Being in charge is not the only aspect that leadership entails; it can also involve organizing ideas, supporting others, and aiding the group in subtler ways. Although I may not be a conventional leader, I now recognize the important roles I play in group dynamics.

   

      I was also reminded by these chapters to be more deliberate in my interactions with people, especially in situations where there is cultural diversity. Asking questions, speaking up more during decision-making, and confirming my assumptions are all things I'll keep working on. In summary, these presentations not only taught me communication skills but also helped me better understand who I am, what I am good at, and how I can develop further as a considerate team player and a future leader.

Sofia Saladdino

 

POV on Chapter Presentations

Summary and Review 

In our communications class, we had presentations based on textbook chapters that focused on intercultural communication, group communication, and leadership within groups. These topics are very important and relevant today especially with how connected the world has become and how often people have to socialize and work together, especially work with those who are different from each other. At the end of the day, this all means different beliefs, different cultures, and personalities fall into this and create a big impact under this topic.

Chapter 3 Overview: Intercultural Communication

This chapter was the first one to be presented which introduced the basic idea that culture is more than traditions or where one was born, its overall a system of shared beliefs, values, and behaviors. Which all these things guide and impact the way people act and communicate within themselves.  Intercultural communication happens when people from different cultures and beliefs interact and it could be really good or there could be some troubles coming from it. This is because each person brings their own beliefs and expectations to the table causing terrible communications skills leading to bad interactions.

    Culture shock is one important term presented, which is overall the stress/confusion people usually feel when they enter a new culture impacting them in how they live, what their beliefs are, etc. One good example is moving from a high-context culture where communication is indirectly to a culture where people are more direct, it could potentially lead to confusion and a terrible time.

    Dominant and Co-cultures were presented in the group presentation as well. The dominant culture holds the most power and influence in society. On the other hand, co-cultures are smaller groups and they base on race, gender, language, and religions. Overall, this is important because someone's cultural identity is shaped based on how one identifies with culture shock and dominant and co-cultures, figuring out where they belong.

    Cultures being individualistic and collectivist is also something reviewed in the presentations. This focuses on how different cultures can vary just like individualists = personal independence, and collectivist = value group cooperation/harmony. Depending on the culture it's either more strict or extremely flexible. This is mostly when and how groups are accepting how power is distributed, and how gender roles are viewed as well. The way to avoid any miscommunication is to understand these key concepts in order to stay on the lane.

    One way to become better at intercultural communication; because as humans it's complicated to do everything the right way, by being open minded, aware of opinions, avoiding certain stereotypes, and learning how to listen/adapt to how others think is really important. Right there, we can learn to be flexible and accept in order to be accepted with skills and patience.

Chapter 9: Communicating with Groups

    

    This group presented on communication with groups and how they shift the focus from cultural differences to how people should work together in a groups. The presentation focused on the different types of groups: families, service groups, work teams, virtual groups, etc. One of the most important parts of working in groups is knowing how to set clear and specific goals in order to serve a common purpose.

    Virtual groups was pointed out in this presentation and explained how it is becoming even more common in today's world. The way these groups work is by video chats, online platforms, etc. These virtual groups are relatively convenient, just as they can be harder to manage and adapt too since it's easy to misread tone especially if it's not face to face.

    Characteristics to know if the groups are healthy:

• Have ethical/clear goals
• Interdependence = rely on each other
• Follow agreed up norms
• Holding members accountable 
• Experience Synergy (group accomplishes more by being together and rather than individually)

Five stages of group development:

1. Forming: Getting to know each other
2. Storming: Involving conflict/figuring out roles
3. Norming: Groups agree on how to work
4. Performing: Doing the work
5. Adjourning: When the group ends/changes direction

   Due to human nature, the most common thing in a group setting is conflict. In the chapter and presentation there were 3 types of conflicts and what they are.

1. Pseudo conflict: Misunderstandings
2. Issue related conflict: Different opinions on the task
3. Personality related conflict: Personalities and how they differ

    Therefore, the lack of nonverbal cues does cause virtual conflicts and making it harder to solve since there is hardly face to face connections and bonding. Even though conflict isn't always a terrible thing, it also has a good side to this which can help the group if all these factors are used and managed properly.

Chapter 10: Group Leadership and Problems

    One big important factor this chapter taught me was that leadership doesn't always mena one person in charge. Instead, leadership can be shared among all the group members instead of focusing on one specific "leader." This chapter mainly focuses on how leadership works in group communication. All of these functions fall into these 3 categories:

1. Task roles: Getting all the work done 
2. Maintenance roles: Keep group connected/positive
3. Procedural roles: Documenting/organizing work

    This chapter mainly focuses on how leadership is important because at the end of the day the best groups share leadership. This is because every member should contribute and help manage conflicts by staying on task and supporting each other as a group. The chapter also talked about how to run effective meetings. Which at the end of the day it is extremely important to do this especially in groups. In a group, it is important to have an agenda to keep all the dates and times tracked to make sure each group member knows the type of responsibility they have before and after the meetings. There are 6 important steps the book outlines:

1. Define the problem
2. Analyze it 
3. Determine criteria for solutions
4. Brainstorm opinions
5. Evaluate opinions 
6. Implement the best one 

    The final part of the chapter was about evaluating groups and their effectiveness. This is important to look at because it depends on how groups interact within each other and how well groups completed the task. This also helps evaluate how well members worked together as well. At the end of the day, groups should reflect on what and how they communicate as an overall group.

MY OVERALL OPINION ON PRESENTATIONS AND CHAPTERS

    
    I thought all of these chapters and presentations were filled with important information and were explained very well. It made me realize how communicating is important especially in groups. It gave a real life explanation as to how culture is helping those understand for the better of everyone. Some presentations were more engaging than others and helped understand the topic deeply. Overall, these topics are relevant for an everyday life and should be done the right way in order to avoid any sorts of conflicts. In conclusion, it is important to follow all these steps and use it as a guide in order to do the right things when it comes to grouping and adapting/accepting different cultures.