COM 101 Week 6: Group Communication

In this week, group communication was the focus topic of the lessons. The following is an example of my experiences during polytechnic days, based on the Model of Five Stages by Moreland & Levine.

Hating life to be just studiously studying, I decided to join a club to make school life as fulfilling as possible. Experiential Learning Facilitators (ELF) appealed to me the most as it coincides with my mottos of life-long learning and supporting others in terms of teamwork.

Several of us who joined in the orientation had opportunities to try out the various high and low obstacles, and at the same time learn to overcome challenges such as fear in heights for an example. Being a facilitator requires one to be able to identify and minimize any potential risks when participants are attempting the obstacles. We then decide if we like to be part of their team.

At that time ELF was a relatively new club; so anyone who decides to join the team of facilitators were all immediately recruited as new members. As they wanted to recruit as many members, the stage between prospective members and new member was fast track. If their focus was on quality of members instead, prospective new members would be filtered based on their abilities.

Belonging to a group is not always a breeze. There are bound to be differences among members. As the old saying goes, it takes two hands to clap. We need to recognize each other differences.

To become a full-fledge member of ELF, new members are required to pass a series of test and activities, which includes Safety Precautions, theory and practical test on the various high and low obstacles. Without these basic requirements, members are not equipped with the knowledge to participants and may pose additional risks to the participants involved.

Members may move on to assume leadership roles to help improve or to implement changes in the club. Leadership roles were based on club members’ voting to avoid disagreement among our own people. With voting, leaders are likely to garner support from members when implementing decisions. On the other hand, promoting some to senior positions helps junior members blend into the family. The role was equally important as they are still contributing to the club.

At this moment, it is time to recruit new blood to the family. This time round we implement improvisations. Selections are now base on quality of members as compared to previous batches.

As our graduation day approaches, my batch decided that it was time to pass on our responsibilities to our juniors. We then became Marginal Members, whereby we set aside, to let juniors take over the various roles from us. We remained around, helping junior to adjust to the environment and ensuring that they are able to handle their newly assigned tasks; even with problems, they can still approach us for advice. While we adjust ourselves to be their advisor, at the same time they also adjust themselves to assume respective responsibilities from us.

Overall, maintaining a team may not be an easy job. However able to recognize each other difference helps maintain cohesion in the team.