A Brief Analysis of the Presentations for chapters 3, 9 and 10 - Sandro

Chapter 3: Intercultural Communication by Group 1.

The topic of the first presentation was intercultural communication, presented by Group 1. During the presentation, I learned the meaning of intercultural communication, which is the interaction between people whose cultures are so different that communicating with them is difficult. We also reviewed the meaning of culture and why it is important to correctly understand cultural intercommunication. We learned about the dominant cultures, co-cultures, and the identity of cultures. These topics cover very important things such as race, ethnicity, sex, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, generation, disability, individualism, and collectivism. We also learned about different cultures, which allows us to empathize and adapt our communication patterns accordingly. Individualistic cultures value personal rights, responsibilities, privacy, expressing one's opinion, freedom, innovation, and self-expression, as I learned in the following section. Collectivist cultures, on the other hand, value community, collaboration, shared interests, harmony, the public good, and the avoidance of shame. This section also covered context, chronology, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity and femininity, long-term and short-term orientation, and indulgence. The last section that the presentation covered was the development of competence in cultural communication. I learned that to develop intercultural communication competence, you first have to recognize potential barriers. These barriers are anxiety, assumed similarity or difference, ethnocentrism, stereotypes, incompatible communication codes, and incompatible norms and values. To overcome these barriers, it is necessary to implement several strategies. It is necessary to acquire accurate knowledge, adopt an appropriate attitude, and develop culturally focused skills. Now that I have summarized what I learned in the presentation, I will try to give my opinion on it. I think it is always difficult to be the first group to present because you don't have much idea of what the expectations are, but if you are in the second or third group, you have a clear idea of what to do. It was a very good presentation, although I noticed that some were a bit nervous. Considering that they were the first and had less time to prepare, I think they did a good job.

Chapter 9: Communicating in Groups by Group 2.

In the second presentation, the topic was communication in groups, presented by Group 2. The first session was about the nature and types of groups. In this section, we review the meaning of "group," which is a collection of around 3 to 20 people who interact and try to influence factors to achieve a common purpose. Families are also discussed throughout the section, and how they can generally be defined as a group. Topics such as social groups, support groups, interest groups, service groups, workgroups, and teams were also covered. Of course, virtual groups and types of virtual groups were also discussed, for example, online social networks, teleconferences, video chats, and videoconferences. The second section was about the characteristics of a healthy group. We learned that a healthy group has ethical goals, is independent, is cohesive, develops and meets productive norms, is accountable, and is synergistic. The third section was about the stages of group development. These stages are Forming, the initial stage of group development characterized by orientation, testing, and dependency, Storming is the stage of the group's development characterized by conflict and power plays. Norming is the stage of group development characterized by increased cohesion, collaboration, trust, and motivation. Performing is the stage of group development when the skills, knowledge, and abilities of all members are combined. And finally, adjournment, the stage of group development characterized by the celebration of goal achievement and disconnection. The last session of the presentation was about conflicts in groups. This section covered topics such as pseudo-conflicts, which occur when group members who actually agree on something believe that they disagree due to miscommunication. Problem-Related Group Personality, Related Group Conflicts, and Virtual Groups were also discussed. As for my opinion of the presentation, I think it was my favorite. The presentations were loaded with information and used quite a few examples. I also liked several of the slide designs. Like all the groups, you could also tell that they were nervous, but of all the groups, I think it was the only one that made me pay more attention to the presentations.

Chapter 10: Group Leadership and Problem Solving by Group 3.

Lastly, the third and final presentation was on group leadership and problem solving, presented by Group 3, which is the group I am in. The first section was leadership, which is the process by which an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. This section is about the task leadership roles of the Givers, Seekers, and Analyzers. The maintenance roles are supporters, interpreters, harmonizers, meditators, and tension relievers. Procedural roles are logistics coordinators, expediters, gatekeepers, and recorders. We also learned about the five common types of leadership: autocratic leadership style, democratic/participative leadership style, laissez-faire leadership style, transformational leadership style, and servant leadership style. Finally, this section covers the shared responsibilities of leadership, which are: being committed to the group goal, keeping discussions on track, completing individual assignments on time, encouraging input from all members, and managing conflict among members. The next section is about effective meetings. This section talks about the guidelines that leaders must follow before starting a presentation. For example, preparing and distributing the agenda, deciding who will attend the meeting, or talking to each participant before the meeting. It also talks about the guidelines that the meeting participants must follow, for example, studying the agenda, completing their tasks, or studying the minutes. The next section is systematic troubleshooting. This section covers topics such as identifying and defining problems, analyzing a problem, determining criteria to judge solutions, building a host of solutions, evaluating solutions, and finally deciding and implementing the agreed-upon solution and evaluating it. The next section is about communicating group solutions, which is basically how the group communicates its results. Your group could communicate its results through written formats, e.g., a written summary or a comprehensive report. You could also communicate using an oral format, such as an oral report or panel discussion. Finally, they could use a virtual format, for example, a streaming video or a remote access report. To finish, the last section is an evaluation of the effectiveness of the group. That is the section that I present. In the presentation, I try to explain what group dynamics are, which are how the group interacts to achieve its objective. I also use examples and talk about the importance of group dynamics. The next thing I presented was about group presentations, and I tried to explain what an effective presentation is and what you have to do to achieve it. During the presentation, I was nervous. I also got a little confused at first because the colors of my slides had changed. I deduced that it was due to a problem importing PowerPoint into Google Slides. For the next presentation, I will try to improve my body language because while presenting I felt like I didn't move a bit because I was nervous. As for my opinion of our presentation, we did a good job, but I think we could have done better because we had a lot more time than the other groups.