My Review on group presentation- Nadia

My presentation was on group leadership and problem solving. To prepare my presentation first I read the chapter and highlighted the most important idea from the chapter. It was not easy to understand what the chapter was about at first, so I read it more than once. I decided to summarize the 5 different methods mentioned in the chapter. The five methods were: 1. The expert opinion method-  the group asks the member who has the most expertise to make the final choice. 2. The average group opinion methods- the alternative that receives the highest average becomes the choice. 3. The majority rule - The group votes on each alternative, the one that receives a majority vote is selected. 4. The unanimous decision- the group continues deliberation until members of the group believe that the same solution is the best. ​Finally, 5. The consensus method- the group continues deliberation until all members of the group find an acceptable solution, one they can support and are committed to helping implement.​ So, now that we evaluate the different group methods now the group can choose which method is best fit for everyone. I personally like method five where you continue to deliberate until everyone comes to an agreement. I feel as though there will be no problem since the majority of the group all made a decision and have an agreement.

Furthermore, I personally like my presentation. I feel like I explained the chapter well and did not read everything on the PowerPoint word for word. Also, I knew the chapter very well so that made it comfortable when I had to present. However, there are some things I will change. One thing I wish I did differently in my presentation is, I wish I also explained the pros and cons of each method. By that, I mean I should’ve explained why the method can be a good method and how it also can be bad depending on the type of group. Also, I noticed  my summary in the PowerPoint was too long compared to some of my other classmates. I should’ve done it more simply to the point and explained in more detail when presenting. It is really important to not have too many words in a presentation but more pictures to capture your audience's attention. Most people don’t like to read so seeing too many words in a presentation might cause them to lose interest. While, when you add a nice picture related to what you are talking about you will grab your audience's attention. However, I try to keep a balance and not overload the presentation with animations. As anyone who’s sat through a presentation while every letter of every paragraph zoomed across the screen can tell you, being inundated with complicated animations and exciting slide transitions can become irritating. To summarize, I was very confident in my presentation and took time to present it in a way to grab the audience's attention and not add too many words.In addition, I understood the chapter well enough to present it so that I knew what I was talking about. 

Our class was divided into three groups and each group was assigned one chapter. Group one had chapter 3, group 2 had chapter 9, and group 3 had chapter 10. In chapter three the group defines culture and the role of communication in culture. Chapter three also described the dimensions in  which cultures are different and explain the practice methods to improve the communication competence in cultures. Chapter nine discussed communication in groups and identified the different types of group and the characteristics of healthy groups. For example, there are social groups, support groups, work groups,and interest groups etc. Chapter nine also gave strategies to solve any group conflict that might occur. Lastly, in chapter ten it defines leadership and explains how leadership functions in teams, run effective meetings. Nelson Mandela “a leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the other follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind”. That quote defines a leader very well. Personally, I’m interested in being a leader one day and not a boss. I want to learn to properly lead others the right way so that section in chapter 10 really grabbed my attention and makes me want to learn more on leadership.  Chapter ten also explains how groups can communicate in a variety of formats to come up with a solution. I explained the five methods that are commonly used to reach a group decision. Overall, each of the groups did an excellent job at explaining the chapter and I can confidently say I understood each of the chapter’s very well. Working with a group, having effective communication and good leadership in the group is very effective and would bring the group good results.