One concept from this chapter which I felt needed further discussion was that of Group Communication. If you think of your daily routine, communication is inherently Group Communication. Whether it be your family, roommates, or colleagues, you are almost always engaged in some sort of Group Communication. Therefore it is important to know and understand the rules and relationships that go along with Group Communication. Table 7.1 in the Trenholm book highlights the Characteristics of Groups and was a great resource to look at what constitutes a group, how they form and how they behave. What is most important, I believe, is to understand the shared behavioral standards of the different groups you are a part of. For example, the way in which most friends speak to each other would most likely not translate to how you would speak to your parents. For this reason, our speech behavior changes automatically from group to group, most of the time without conscious effort. In this way, by taking the time to study Group Communication and our own behavioral patterns within our personal groups, we can better understand how to adapt to the ever-changing environments.
Great Post! I have to agree that everyday, we engage in sometime of group communication. I like the fact that you said that you have to change the way you speak from group to group. I have experienced two different groups that I communicate with, whom don’t communicate within each other, and I find it a little harder to communicate between both groups at the same time. I think that often times we do have to change the way we speak from group to group because in a sense we have to conform to those groups. The example that you used, we wouldn’t talk to our parent in the same way you would a friend or a cousin was a perfect example. Well done =)
ReplyDeleteHi Steph!
ReplyDeleteI like your insight about how we change our communication behaviors, according to what groups we are involved with. You are totally right about how we would not talk to our parents the way we would talk to our friends. Another thing that i think is interesting is how the roles are different according to the group you are in. For example with a family the parents are usually the leaders of the group. At work I have a supervisor role, so i am a leader in my work team. With my friends, There are others that tend to plan group get togethers and organize events, and kind of take on a leadership role. I think its cool that you can have different roles, in the different groups that you are a part of as well as have different forms of communication!
Great job, have a great rest of your summer!
-Lars