Week 4 ~ Question #3

One concept from the reading I found really interesting and completely agree with is nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication complement the use of language and, according to the book, is made up of deeply ingrained response patterns. This is so true, often times one is judged or graded on their nonverbal communications when giving a speech or presenting in front of a group and often times being able to use nonverbal communications, such as body or facial gestures, tone of voice, turn taking, hairstyle, dress, etc, will definitely benefit not only and individual but also a group. If individuals within a group are able to positively use nonverbal communication when interacting with one another then the group would run much smoother and be able to communicate better or rather understand one another better. If the group is able to use nonverbal communications to be able to understand one another in this manner then they may be able to come to a decision or plan much more efficiently and quicker.

Week 4 ~ Question #2

I do not agree with this concept at all, I feel it is going in the opposite way. It is some what difficult to obtain a job these days if you are not bilingual or of another culture other than white. In my roommates case she has been trying to apply for an internship position for some time now and has noticed over the years that only people of a minority get the position over and over and never was is a white person female or male. She has also been to a job interview where there were about 20 people applying within this company and all were hired and placed into departments except herself and the other two white people applying. I doubt this is true in all cases but it is definitely noticeable how many more companies heavily recommend the applicant to be bilingual and of a minority ethnicity and not white.

Week 4 ~ Question #1

I think it's hard for many people to value diversity if they don't live somewhere with a lot of diversity. People are scared of what they don't know about or aren't used to, and if someone from a small town in South Dakota where there is all white people who farm and are christians and so on and come to a place like San Jose or even San Francisco, they will probably be a bit uncomfortable. Different ethnicities, sexual preference, religious beliefs would all be thrown right into their faces. I do think that diversity is beneficial to everyone tho and adds so much to society as a whole. By learning about other people's cultures and traditions we can become more comfortable with them because they are no longer unknown factors, but we understand what their cultures and traditions are rather then just shunning them. A group would benefit as a whole because by accepting diversity one can go from a small network to a global network... facebook

Week 3~ Question #3

I really enjoyed the six-step DECIDE model. Define the goal and problem, to me more people do do this step but what they miss is that they must also understand what the obstacles are that can make it difficult to be achievable. The following steps often get ignored altogether… Examine, Consider, initiate, develop, and evaluate. If one examines the constraints keeping the goal from being reached then they can find the solutions that can prevent constraints. Also more then one possibility needs to be in line in case the original falls through. This is why consider is also an important step not to be passed over. Most also the step Initiate is enacted but the process of developing a plan before jumping into the solving of a problem, is often skipped. It is very important to develop an lay out a plan before enacting it so you can see the whole thing come together and evaluate it to find any holes or possible obstacles that had not been seen previously. Finally, one must evaluate their results. By doing this step your stetting yourself up for success in the future because you can evaluate what went wrong and why and what went right and why and try to use the methods that brought out these solutions to complete future problems more efficiently.

Week 3~ Question #2

Norms in group help to identify the nature of the group and the type of relationship each group member will have will one another. They also help to identify what position each member will play. Also norms help to establish was is and isn’t frowned upon within the specific group, since certain actions may be viewed differently in different groups.

For example when I worked at starbucks I got along really well with everyone I was employed with, manager, assistant manager, shift supervisors, and my fellow baristas. When we were working together, although we had a good time, we followed certain norms that we didn’t follow when we would go out bowling for fun or even at our Christmas part/laser tag war. When working I would have to ask liz for my breaks or if I could sit down or to sign off on things I wasn’t permitted to, but when we went out we were equals and didn’t follow the norms of the employee latter at our store.

Although I didn’t personally experience a violation of a norm, some of my former employee friends from other stores did. An assistant manager from the first Starbucks store I worked at ended up dating a barista, which on the employee latter is two positions below, and because of this the employee was granted promotions above other employees who were better qualified and/or also had more years behind them.

Week 3~ Question 1

There are norms everywhere, it’s way we don’t have riots in the streets or people walking around naked. At San Jose State we definitely have norms. We are expected to show up regularly to all our classes and do well in them. We are also expected to follow the laws put in place by the university. These two examples are of all four types of norms. The laws put in place by the university is both a crucial and explicit norm followed by san jose state students. Where as attending class regularly and doing well in them is an implicit norm, and example of a peripheral norm would be a student who is constantly distrusting the class, possibly with rude remarks or questions.

I spend most of my time with my sorority sisters. I don’t live in a house full of them I have my own apartment but my roommate happens to also by one of my sisters and it just so happens my best and closest friends are also my sisters. So even though we follow the same norms set in place by the sorority itself, such as: maintaining a certain GPA, participate in a set number of volunteer hours, go to Monday meets, along with maintain a respectable (as according to the norms of society) image, along with many other things while active. But, I also don’t hang out with at 65+ of them, mostly just 8 or 10 weekly but only about 3 daily, in that group within the sorority group we also have certain norms but mainly just an implicit norm. We tend to know when to bring someone coffee or offer to make dinner or shut up if someone needs to study and even whip out the tequila in desperate times.

Week 2- Question 1

Groups are only productive and operating at their full potential when every part of the system is working together in an efficient and organized manner. This is especially true in small groups where some positions within the group may have more responsibilities related to the overall success of the group as a whole. If one of these "systems" or people is not operating at it's full potential and carrying out all responsibilities dubbed as theirs then the group will begin to fall a part at a differing speed depending on the size of the group and the system that is failing to operate at full potential.

When working for a small coffee shop their would usually be only 2-3 people on shift at a time, and most of the time one was in managerial role processing paperwork behind scenes. This would mean that the one-two employees left operating the front of the store HAD to be on top of their responsibilities. The customers required nice, respectable service while waiting for their drink along with a superior beverage and a clean environment. Granted the customer doesn't expect to have a long chat while your supposed to be concentrating on making their drink but one employee could be cleaning while talking to the customer so the other employee could get the beverage made. However most the time it ended up being myself making the drink and chatting with the customer while the other employee either lagged around and pretended to stock or went to the back to pretend to wash dishes. In the end this lead to more work (mainly cleaning and restocking) to be done at closing.

Another personal example was when I lived in CVB and had three roommates. In order for us to each be able to operate in our small living quarters productively (cooking, showing, homework) we needed to each do our part in the apartment from doing our OWN dishes, keeping our excess clothing and baggage in our room rather then all over the apartment and cleaning the bathroom when necessary and taking turns to take out the trash we all accumulated. When we each did our part the environment was very peaceful and we all were able to go about our lives in an efficient manner, but when one of us would not do their part wether it be not taking out the trash, not cleaning up after a meal, or leaving extra baggage out then the entire atmosphere would change. We would get irritable at one another and annoyed with the messiness.