Chapter Group Presentation Reflection (Jazmyn Martinez)

For our first presentation, during remote learning, I think that every group did an amazing job. Working remotely with a group, is very difficult but I think everyone managed to homogenize and communicate effectively with their groups, which resulted in good presentations.

Group 1 presented Chapter Three: Intercultural Communication. The chapter spoke about what culture is, the different level of cultures and how they vary. The chapter mentions how American culture is made up by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status, disability, age/generation, sex, and gender; and how this may affect our cultures. This chapter also speaks about how important communication is among all cultures and methods in which we can use to develop better communication with different cultures. The overall oral presentation of the group was very good, but at one point during the presentation it feels like they relied too heavily on videos. Also, the theme of the PowerPoint was not consistent and made it seem slightly unorganized.

Group Two, which is the group I was apart of and we presented Chapter Nine: Communication in Groups. This chapter spoke of the various types of groups such as service groups, support groups, virtual groups, etc. and what makes them different and what makes them alike. This chapter also talked about the different characteristics that make a ‘healthy’ group. A healthy group is not about fitness but rather is about ethical goals, interdependence, cohesiveness, accountability, productive norms, and synergy. The chapter also talked about the stages in which a group develops and how to effectively manage conflict within the group. Overall, I think my group had a very good presentation. For the most part we were organized but we perhaps could have cut back on the writing and spoken instead of reading off the PowerPoint.

Group Three presented Chapter 10: Group Leadership and Problem Solving. This chapter informs us of what leadership and the responsibilities there is when it comes to leadership, especially in a group. It also talks about the different types of roles one might play in a group such as task roles, maintenance roles, and procedural roles. This chapter also informed us on how to run an effective meeting and how to communicate group solutions in different ways like oral, writing, or virtual. It also talked about how to problem solve and how to evaluate how effective a group is using a certain criterion. The presentation of the group was all very cohesive, which I enjoyed, and every slide had a picture pertaining to information which I also liked. Although, like my group I think they relied to much on the writing on the presentation instead of just speaking.

                For my first virtual group project, it was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. I know that I prefer communicating in person, but I am happy that my group was able to communicate effectively to have a good presentation. I learned that communication and cohesiveness are extremely important when working with a group especially due to the limitations because without that then there would not have been any good presentations. Overall, I think every group did a great job given the circumstances and every group has the potential to fix minor flaws that will improve our presentation skills.