Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Are you a group or a team?


We learned that groups and teams are very different. Although 3 or more people is a requirement for both groups and teams and they each share having a common goal; the dynamics of how they function differently is apparent. Where is your group in this process? Do you see yourselves as a group or a team? Why? Is everyone expressing how they feel? (not just agreeing) Have you added anyone to your facebook? Is everyone comfortable? Have specific roles been established? Do you have natural leaders, followers? Who are you in your group? Are you a listener, doer, challenger, what? Do you see any conflicts arrising based on personaities and opinions? Ponder these things and discuss them with the class.


Abby has challeged you to be even closer than the her Dignitas course. What can we do to meet that challege? How can we work together to become "tight"? Suggestions, thoughts, ideas?

34 comments:

  1. I think my group is almost to the point of where we are a team, but not yet completely. We will have to continue they way we are working together to become one. Yes we are expressing how we all feel and we all listen to each other. Yes i have added them on facebook. Yes we have natural nborn leaders because we they take control when needed. I think that I would be a doer and a listner cause I listen to what others do and I help out with when needed. No I don't see any conflicts rising because we all have different ideas and if we listen we can all take a part and help out.

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  2. I feel like we are a team because we are very comfortable with each other and help each other when in need. We act not as group members but even better, as friends! We havnt had a lot of issues to talk about but i feel that we will all be able to express our thoughts without being pressured. I have all three members on my facebook. I feel like we have an even amount of leaders and followers. On certain subjects some of us take the leardership roles and the rest of us be the followers. But i do admit, that some of us have the natural leadership traits. I was nonminated as the group leader. I dont see any conflicts that might arrise because we get along so well.
    I think to make our Dignitas class closer is to ahve everyone add each other and then makea facebook group, i think that would be a cool. Or have a movie/game night.
    Connie A :)

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  3. I agree with Sammi! I think that we have a great group :)
    COnnie A :)

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  4. I think that our group is more like a group at this point but we also posess some team-like qualities. We can definately be open with eachother and express how we are feeling in our group. With our applying theory to practice projects i think we might gain more team-like qualities. I too, have added my group members on facebook. I am not really sure for everyone, but I know i feel very comfortable in my group.Our group has sort of established roles. We nominated Connie as our group leader and each of us takes a leadership role at different times. In my group i feel i am a leader at times, and otherwise a follower. I like to say what i believe but yet i am content with following at times too! Through working with my group so far, i do not see any problems arising!

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  5. Connie i think it would be a great idea to create a facebook group! i think it would be a great way to stay connected! I also like the idea of watching a movie and playing some games!
    - Becca

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  6. I agree with Becca cause our group is like a group not a team yet. Yes we have voted our leader to be Connie. I also do not see any problems rising in our group...We are amazing...
    Sammi K

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  7. At this point I think my group is still a group. We have started sharing our ideas and giving input but we still tend to just agree. Sara is kind of our group leader but we try to work together as much as we can and all take leadership sometimes. I am probably a doer in my group. I can't see any conflicts coming up because we are all pretty agreeable and get along well. I think that our class will bond best if we have a common goal and are forced to work together to achieve it.
    ~Katie

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  8. I like Connie's idea about our whole class becoming friends on facebook and starting a group. I also like the idea of a movie or game night because we will get closer if we can have fun together as a group.
    ~Katie

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  9. I believe my group is in between the stages of a group or a team so we're a gream. We started out not knowing anybody, but since then we've had a couple meetings and everybody is comfortbale expressing their opinion, and isn't afraid to say "no, I don't think that is right" without the person getting mad. The reason i don't think we are a team yet is because we don't really discuss anyting outside of class. If we don't have a project to do we don't socailaize really, but i do see us getting to that point as the year progresses. As for me, i believe i am a does. I like to express my opinion on lots of topics and throw my two sense out there. As for the natural leaders, i believe we do have some.
    People are born leaders and those people you can tell while others may be more shy, they bring other qualties to the table that help establish the group. As for becoming closer, i think we have a good start. Everybody is comofortable around one another, knows each others names, and has a good time in class. If we continue down that path i think we will achieve that goal.

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  10. I think that our group is almost to the stage of being a team. I think our group is expressing how they feel because we give each other time to answer and after everyone expresses their option – we decide which the best answer is. No I have not added anyone to my FB yet, but I will in the near future. To me, everyone seems comfortable speaking in our group. We do have specific roles and we have a leader but I don’t feel we have followers, just different roles. I think I am a little bit of everything; leader, doer, and follower. If I don’t know the answer to the question – I am a follower. So far I don’t see any problems with my group.

    Kara

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  11. Connie -
    I AGREE with you that we should make a facebook group! And get together and plan something fun for us to do together!

    Kara

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  12. I'm in the same group as Katie and Joe. I know exactly what both of them are saying. Gream is a good way to describe us. I think that we are on our way to becoming a team, but it makes it tough for me sometimes the fact that I live at home 20 miles away and I usually work most of the week right after school. I think that as the year goes on though, we'll find more time to do things. I hope that eventually we will do things outside of our class projects. I'm not sure what role I play in the group, maybe a doer, maybe a thinker. I am anxious to see how we progress in the future.

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  13. I belive that are group is almost a team. We are pretty open to each others opinions and ideas. Personally, I feel very confident in my group. I like when we discuss things and try to exlpain why we think this way or the other. However I still feel like we aren't fully a team. We communicate but don't really know each other. I think we just need more time to establish this goal of becoming a team. I'm not sure who I am in my group but i fell like i will find out very soon. :)
    I think to meka our class closer we should all go bowling togather, maybe skating during winter time.

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  14. Connie,
    I really like your idea about having a movie or game night. Also we definitly should add each other on facebook and creat our own page. I think that is a great idea :)

    Maria V

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  15. I feel that our group is a team. I feel that we are getting more comfortable with eachother and we work vey well together. For jeff's project we all got together at his house and i think that was good for our group. I feel like we are becoming more as friends instead of just group members. I know we havent had many issues but i think we would be able to get through them easily. I know that we made Elise the leader, but i think that we all act as leaders and take on things together. I did add them on facebook.
    To make our class closer, i think going to Monica's house will help and also if we planned going bowling or something really fun.

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  16. I think that everyone liked Connie's idea. I think it would be really cool. game night or something would be alot of fun and it would bring us closer.

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  17. I think that my group is almost a team. We are getting very comfortable with expressing our thoughts and opinions with each other. Everyone usually speaks up and we don't have just followers we all have different roles that we do but not just one person is a leader I think that we switch leaders depending on the task we are trying to complete. I have not added everyone on facebook but I think thats a good idea I will do that as soon as I am done doing this blog. I think that I am a listener and then I challenge what some people say just so we all have a good idea of what our answer should be.
    I agree with maria and connie on how to make our class closer. They are both really good ideas and I think that would go over really well.

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  18. I believe that my group is also a team. My group came to my house to do my project and it was more like a fun thing rather than just an "assignment." I think my group members are a lot closer then when we first started. I think the more fun things we do the closer we'll become because that way we aren't just thinking of it has a class. I think my project that we did recently helped us get that much closer. In my group, we have all added each other on facebook as well:)I feel that my group doesn't have specific roles. I think that we're all pretty equal in role status and I believe that we're all pretty comfortable talking to each other. Doing more fun things, in my opinion will help us become "tight" as a whole and not just by focusing on the assignments. I like the bowling idea! :D
    Jeff

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  19. I like the movie/game night i think that'd be a sweet idea. Same with the facebook group that'd be even cooler. Those are great ideas and I think we can accomplish Abby's task! Any suggestions on movies???
    Jeff

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  20. I believe that our group is getting to the point that we would be considered a team. it hasn't been enough time for us to really understand everyone in the group yet. i have no doubt that we will get to that point of being a team very soon. and i think that we have a group of pretty open people. we arent afraid of telling everyone else what we think. so i think this also will help us get closer. im pretty sure that im probably the one who talks the most in the group. and as for the whole class getting closer, i think we just have to do more as a group. get together for lunch or something, even if its at the GDR. just to get closer. i have no doubt that we can easily be closer than Abby's class. sorry to burst your bubble Abby

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  21. i think that our group is not a team yet. we don't really talk at all outside of class, and don't really know much about each other. i think once the year goes on we will become more like a team. jake is our group leader, but we all kinda say our ideas, i would say i am a listener and sometimes i come up with ideas. if we play more games in class we could become closer, and things like going to monica's house will help too.
    -cassandra

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  22. i agree with Maria, i like the idea of bowling or skating when it gets colder. anything would work to have fun.

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  23. i agree with maria! we should all go skating:)

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  24. I agree with Katie, Joe and David in that our group is a gream. Thats a good word by the way Joe! I think everyone in our group has different roles at different times. I think that I kind of play the role of the leader at times but i try not be over powering. I also like to step back and be a doer or thinker.
    Sarah A

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  25. I agree with maria skating would be fun!!
    Sarah A

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  26. I feel as if my group is far along in the group process. We function very well together as a team. We listen to each other and aren’t afraid to speak our opinion, even if it is not what others believe. I feel like we are comfortable working together. We have only worked together on one project, so not many specific roles have been established. Connie makes sure everyone is at our meetings on time. Becca and I work on the computers. But all of us have our own voice in the group. I don’t see any future conflicts in our group, we all work well together.
    Matt j

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  27. I agree with Connie. Our group function more like a group of friends than a group of people trying to reach a common goal. This has a lot to do with our success as a team.

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  28. There are so many things we could do and too many to mention. We could do out of class activities, do more in depth discussions, or we could have classes outside of the classroom and be more comfortable. We could many things.

    I agree with Jake about our group getting close to the point that we are a team and that we can become closer together better than Abby's team but we need to do more class activities as well as group activities.

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  29. I feel as though my group is more of a team than a group. When we went to Jeff’s house to plant trees, it was hard but we worked together and got the job done. The best part was having dinner with his family, I feel like our group really bonded (and a night away from the GDR was great!). Our roles depend on the projects we do, we don’t have roles that are set in stone for everything we do. We have developed good communication skills as a team. We have all added each other on facebook. At this point I don’t see any conflicts arising within our group. It seems like we are growing closer so conflicts aren’t really an issue for us. We tend to all be pretty easy going people, if a conflict did arise I feel as though we wouldn’t have a problem working it out.
    I like the movie idea and skating idea. They would both be lots of fun!!!

    Elise K

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  30. I think my group is on its way to becoming a team cuz we are all learning to become more comfortable with each other. I like the idea of starting a group on facebook so we can all talk and be aware of things outside of class. Meeting outside of class is key to making our class closer than abbys class. We need to meet up more and take more time to get to know each other. Maybe e all should have a lass hang out day or something.

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  31. Connie, I really like your idea of having a facebook group because it would keep our class in contact outside of class and increase our chances of having us all hang out outside of class.

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  32. What a great idea to start our own facebook group! Super ideas everyone! Keep it up!
    Monica

    Sooooo how will we take up Abby's challenge????

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  33. I think that our group is a team. I feel this way because we can all talk to each other comfortably and we are all willing to speak. None of us are shy around eachother anymore and we are capable of working together to finish a task. I have added some of my group members on facebook but not all of them yet, i am working on that! We all can be leaders and we all have our strengths to contribute so that is a good thing!

    -Travis K

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  34. I agree that we should start a facebook group. That was a great idea! We will all be able to keep in contact even if we aren't friends on facebook.

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