This article caught my attention because it pointed out how our society uses groups to link people together through similarities. I enjoyed reading this article because it brought to my attention the importance of groups and how they are structured. Groups vary in size and all tend to be very unique from one another. The variations in groups, especially the size, effects the group in many ways because small groups tend to be more unique from larger groups because with less members allows more room for unique ideas instead of making decisions based on what a larger group votes on. In larger groups, I'd imagine it to be more difficult to be unique because there are so many people giving their opinions on the same issue. I think this allows more room and takes up more time to make decisions because it is based on what every group member thinks and the majority wins. I thought the way they categorized groups was very interesting. I never thought of their being 11 categories to describe groups. Reading this article proved to me that there are more groups that we're involved in than we realize. Not only can we put ourselves in friend groups or family groups, but we can also be in school groups, work groups, teams, etc. I also really enjoyed how they broke up the groups in the "characteristics of basic groups" on page 11 because it made the group descriptions easier to understand when it was in chart form.
Monica,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post today because I found today's readings to be highly interesting too. It's odd to think about how groups are formed, how many people are in a group, and why the group was formed. I've realized that the standard key to making a group work is communication, which of course can be key to anything but specifically developing a group to either accomplish a task or simply to feel like you are part of an organization. I found the "5 Stages of Group Development" article really helpful in organizing my thoughts on how people really come together.
Monica:
ReplyDeleteReading about group dynamics opened my eyes as well. You are right in that we do have some many groups in our lives that I do not think we even begin to realize all the interactions we participate in. Group dynamics are changing so rapidly but really the “5 Stages of Group Dynamics” has changed much. We have different ways of collaborating with one another today but the odd steps of being respectful, listening, contributing, etc. have not really changed in how we interact as a group.