Self-reflection on Group Work

At the start of the semester, we were randomly placed in different groups by our seminar tutor. Our exercise was to work on principles of marketing and communication. Through the group, I was able to learn on how to work with other people and how to unite with others working as one to produce a good outcome. This included fully understanding myself and also understanding others. I would term the exercise fairly successful. Even though we had several hitches here and there, at the end of it all, we were able to present a good piece of work, and I believe that everybody was able to learn a few social skills.

One of the aspects that I loved about our group was the fact that everybody put their best foot forward in ensuring that they played their part efficiently. This was an excellent way of ensuring that everybody took part in the activities of the group and that nobody was joy riding (Glassman, 2009). However, it became a setback for us when it came to working as a group. There was also difficulty in controlling some of the group members who did not want to give others the chance of putting their points across.

            An example of one point where we had hitches, is during one of our final group meetings. This particular discussion was aimed at vetting out some of the excess or irrelevant points that have been brought to the table. This would help in shrinking the large volume of work that we had. It would also ensure that our work as straightforward, hence getting us more marks. Most of the group members became defensive. They did not want some of their points to be eliminated.

After reflecting back on the incident, I noticed that the group members did not want some of their work to be deleted mostly because they had put a lot of work and time into it. This hence prompted them to be rude to their colleagues. As a result, one of the questions that hit my mind is how we can prevent such an occurrence from happening again. How can I gain more control in such an instance? How can I prevent myself from busting out again?

One of the ways of preventing violence is the invention of the secret ballot system. Where the vote of an individual is secret, this prevents the occurrence of conflict, especially among the citizens (Arlo, 2017). From these, they choose an elective committee to count the votes, announce the results, and then give the public the opportunity of filing a petition if they want. If faced with a similar situation I would follow the example of the secret ballot system. I would present the all the information, then would request them to write down what points they think are weak secretly and forward them to me. This would help prevent the group members from attacking each other.

References

Arlo, C. (2017). Work, Play, and Clinical Writing: Response to “Thinking About Our Work: Work”. Group, 41(1), 49. doi:10.13186/group.41.1.0049

Glassman, U. (2009). Group work: a humanistic and skills building approach. Los Angeles: SAGE.

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