In this first section of the paper I will describe my experience from the practicum event, Building a Better Aggieland. I will discuss my initial feelings and thoughts upon arrival to the practicum event, then go on to a description of the participants who attended the event and then explain the techniques I used as a lead facilitator during the group facilitation. When I had arrived I was nervous, I felt this way since I knew that Hannah and I were one of the eight partners chosen to facilitate at the event. Although I was nervous I felt some confidence knowing I was prepared by having facilitated twice before and acquiring many facilitation skills throughout the course. With arrival to the meeting room in the MSC I noted that it was a familiar …show more content…
Therefore at the event the people I saw who attended were all undergraduate students, many had said they came for the free dinner or that they had a friend in the COMM 447 course. These participants did not initially seem to have a strong tie the problem, which could affect the conversations generated. By all being students at Texas A&M was main contributor the climate that was manifested during the event. Once we started the event people had become comfortable with eachother and there had been a sense of comradery between participants. The climate among the attendee seemed to be comfortable this could have been created by being peers since they were all students as well as sharing a meal with eachother. Throughout the event the climate was comfortable and the participants seemed to project a feeling of community with …show more content…
I had used many different techniques, some I had used were asking questions to elaborate, paraphrasing, summarizing and mirroring. When a participant in my facilitation said something a bit absurd I had mirrored what he said so he could hear in his own words. This was a way to have him fully grasp what he had said and would hopefully elaborate on what he meant. Additionally when someone would say a vague sentence, I would ask them to elaborate so that it could elicit for a deeper conversation and understanding. During a participants reasoning, there was capacity to understand why they had said what they said. I would also paraphrase what was said by the participants to help Hannah on what to write and to build concreate ideas from what had been said. Consequently through summarizing and reviewing what was discussed after each topic, to again build a coherent summary for the participants. In all I believe my presence did have an influence the conversation discussed in by Spada and Vreeland had used “a novel experimental design in a real deliberative decision-making process, [they found] that moderators can significantly influence the attitudes and behaviors of participants by expressing views in a constrained manner” (2013, p.1). In their experimental design it was discovered that the facilitator has an influence even if “neutral” (Spada & Vreeland, 2013). As the facilitator my presence had to
While only a small percentage of the entire workforce was able to participate in the event, its intention was to provide employees with something to strive toward. It was also rejuvenating for those given the opportunity to attend. The event was inspiring and left you with the feeling that you work for a great company and they do care about you; so much so that they are willing to spend a lot of money and provide you with a wonderful experience . The event also focused heavily on the driving force of the company: the students and helping them to improve and change their lives. Employees returned to work feeling inspired and ready to do just that. The event provided the company with an opportunity to invest in their employees, reward them, and make them feel
Reflect on everyday life conversations, it can relate to you, the audience Now this leads to, are we really communicating effectively? With fragmented words, as we do with our cellphone texts.
During this course, I have learned that no matter how simple or basic a change may appear to be it requires planning from of every aspect. Someone once said if you don’t prepare, be prepared to fail. This has been a life lesson because one of my shortcomings as a leader is that I tend to not do in-depth planning and just forge ahead; this has caused failures in my past.
As an active leader in several organizations, I have had the opportunity to reach out to several different groups of youth throughout my years. The utmost prestigious role I have gained is my Area IX Office in the Texas FFA Association. Being an area IX officer had been my goal since freshman year, and I finally accomplished it this past May. Over the course of the past few months, we have held several leadership camps, but I feel our highest success has been the Area IX FFA Leadership Camp held in June.
The purpose of this report is to reflect on my team working experience and to critically review the events of this experience. Throughout the process I kept a diary of events which I will be analysing in conjunction with Tuckman and Jensen’s (1977) model on stages of group development, these are: forming, storming, norming, preforming and adjourning.
What appears to be the issue (of concern, problem, challenge, or opportunity) and its significance for the organization? How does it relate to the theme of the workshop?
Susskind and Cruikshank discuss the role of the mediator as someone who provides assistance to any given situation as a nonpartisan convenor. The role of the mediator is therefore to create a joint problem solving approach that delves into finding a solution or the “bottom line” to two parties as an intermediary and a spokesperson. This works especially well in groups where there is a perceived imbalance of power and reassures those who are anxious that their voices will be heard and information will be shared. In my last journal entry I spoke to the preservation department town hall meeting that was initiated by the students who had felt that they were not receiving the information that they were initially promised and had assumed they would when starting the degree. While many other prevalent issues were on the table, the role of Joe Tripodi, the Associate Director of Student Affairs, was crucial in understanding the positive
Toseland, R & Rivas, R 2012, An Introduction to group work practice, 7th edn, Allyn & Bacon, Massachusetts.
In week 7 our seminar leader allocated us into smaller groups of six to work together, get together and to start preparing for the mock debate in week 9 and the debate in week 10. When we started to get alone with each other, it was seen that it is not going to be easy to achieve our goals, not just because in our group had a strong activist, reflector, theorist and pragmatist, but we also needed to face some solvable difficulties as our first meeting of the week was cancelled by problem like the lack of communication, miscommunication and the ability to listen to another.
Invite the others to analyze judgments and your premises. Have others enable you to think things through, when you have the chance to perform with them.
After completing the group task of preparing a presentation on, transferring individual facilitation skills into a group work setting I will critically reflect upon my own participation. I will evaluate my self-awareness while working in the group, as well as those around me. The way that I personally dealt with any issues that arose within the group and how that affected the group dynamics. I will also briefly discuss the roles in which each member of the group took and how role allocation affected, the group dynamics and the working relationships. Finally I will evaluate my work having discussed it with my fellow group members.
First, let’s discuss tools I obtained during the Facilitative Leadership class which I will utilize when I return to the unit. One important aspect I will implement is the delegation of duties during a meeting to keep the group involved. According the “Performance Improvement Guide” an effect meeting group should be comprised of a Timekeeper, Scribe, Recorder, Co-Facilitator,
In reflection on my learning experience in the group class, I have gained clarity on what sorts of competencies of facilitating group therapy, as well as in what areas social workers and students tend to feel most strong in my practice. Regarding my specific gains in competencies, I feel that I learned the most and was most likely to gain specific group facilitating competencies at the weekly class. Learning in group class is taught me the tools to use to work with groups therapy, communities and also with individuals through the process of changes. In this past three months I think a lot of opportunities have been created to shadowing with (beside and behind) and being a part of group members to learn. In addition, this class has taught me about the skills and how effectively help
One of the main aspects in communicating is listening. An effective listener is one who, not only comprehends how the speaker feels but, also understands what they are stating. Building a strong connection between the speaker and the listener is one of the first steps to become a good listener. By building this connection speakers should first be in an environment with open minded listeners, it makes them feel more comfortable to state their opinions, feelings and ideas. Listeners should avoid being judgmental. The individual does not have to agree with the ideas, values or opinions of the speaker; however, to fully understand them, one must put aside their criticism. Speakers will believe that they can trust the listeners with their information when they know that they will not be judged. Miscommunication happens frequently, listene...
Class participation was great everyone joined in on the discussion. People in the class felt comfortable talking out loud and putting there two sense in.