Mickel Hoback

Human behavior in groups

The reading this week covered human behavior in groups. The article explained that there are many different things that go into making a successful group such as being able to work through problems, communication, and the roles in which each individual in the group plays while trying to implement the program. After reading the material I started to think about our own cohort groups that we were placed in last year and the new ones we were given this year.
Last year the group in which I was part of consisted of three individuals due to some people dropping the course. At first we were somewhat apprehensive towards each other as we had never met however by the end of the year we were really a close knit group. We would even meet for lunch or dinner and discuss issues that had arisen within our research proposal. We communicated really well with each other and knew our roles within the group, as some people had more experience in the issue that was at hand than I. I believe that it was easier because our group consisted of only three members. This made it much easier to communicate and set meetings. It also made it very clear who was to handle what task and when they needed to be done.
This year we were assigned new groups which I at first did not feel comfortable with. It would seem to me that individuals that were passionate about the same types of programs would actually work together and actually implement something that would be beneficial to the city long after we graduated college and not just some project to check the box. But then again I’m not the boss so reluctantly I had to follow. Our new group agreed to work with low income individuals and teach a financial management class, (I was not there they day this was agreed on). We had five members that made it hard to schedule meetings and communication was a barrier due to cultural issues as mentioned in the readings.
After facing our first big problem in which we could no longer offer the class to low income individuals we decided on changing our client base to Hispanic individuals in the area. It was during this time we really started to see our group come together and get back on track. Members began stepping up and working really hard to accomplish the task at hand. Our communication improved as much as it could due to the circumstances. I have actually become pretty comfortable in my new group and have a lot more faith in our members as I have seen each one take on new roles within the last month.