Reflection on Contribution to the Group

Reflection on Contribution to the Group

Introduction

Following the advent of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, holding group discussions for our project become a challenge. Being geographically dispersed prompted conducting the group discussions in the online zoom platform. Consequently, there were contributions of each group member, including myself, which I will share in this paper. Further, there is a description of the lessons learnt during this group exercise and how I could use them in holding future teamwork sessions.

Max is one of the group members who held exemplary group discussion skills among us. He was the critical player through his leadership and management skills. Personal skills portrayed his natural ability to be assertive, expressing emotional stability, remaining objective, and being self-confident. Besides, Max democratically allowed every member to contribute their opinions to each answer equally and avoided interruptions, thus, exhibiting patience. He demonstrated using apt language by using both excellent verbal and non-verbal cues when expressing ideas. Max listened keenly to each member’s contribution and controlled team behavior by seeking opinion, initiating the discussion, clarifying issues, facilitating the procedure, and provided clarification. He was at the forefront to make the discussion resourceful.

Acting a little bit bossy was Michael’s attribute. Throughout the group discussion, wanted to control the activities in the group. Portrayed being overly confident and, in some cases, interrupted exchange of ideas during the discussion. The nonsequential expression of thought was due to lack of active listening and talking a lot which sometimes impaired contributions from other members. Although Michael had excellent subject knowledge, there was less clarity in expressing thought.

Moreover, some members kept on pardoning Michael because the tone varied from being too loud and sometimes overly low. Although acting a leader, it was authoritative by acting bossy, controlling, and moderating every group activity. However, Michael ensured group activities got done.

Kyliena always contributed last to each discussion. An aspect of submissiveness become apparent from Kyliena, always agreeing to any point raised by any member, regardless of being right or wrong. No assertiveness was expressed and make no initiative to comment not unless commissioned to contribute. There was a constant encouragement from us to make Kyliena talk. At some point, while we collectively argued, she could not participate, and it seemed absent from the discussion. No initiative got made concerning raising a point, asking a question, or dismissing not unless compelled. However, Kyliena had excellent subject knowledge because she had correct solutions when obligated to contribute to a discussion.

As for me, there were some aspects where I had merit, whereas some seemed challenging. I had a good understanding of the topic under discussion and was enthusiastic about it. However, I lacked a little bit of confidence about the subject matter, which sometimes made me contribute in a low tone and ensured to avoiding committing grammatical errors. Nonetheless, I actively listened to every member’s contributions without interruption, which made me learn new concepts. Also, I assumed the correct posture and maintained meaningful eye contact and appropriate nodding. Keeping the topic on track was a role I played well. However, the lack of confidence made me shy to raise some points but worked to ensure the discussion was a success.

Lessons Learnt

Upon reflection on the group discussion, there is an array of lessons learnt. Despite discussing through an online platform, it remains a systematic and purposeful interaction among members using communication skills. It facilitates the exchange of ideas in a subject matter and thoughts, and feelings get expressed by the use of oral communication regardless of the setting. Group discussions are a useful tool for solving education problems and questions through collective decision-making. Besides, it provides a platform for personality assessment.

I was able to identify different skills among my team member and understanding their point of view. Group discussions facilitate success in breaking down a problem and providing solutions, thereby portraying the power of teamwork. Most importantly, group discussions challenge every member to have adequate knowledge regarding subjects, requires practical verbal and non-verbal communication skills, active listening, coherence, and clarity in expressing thoughts, exhibiting proactivity and leadership skills. Deductively, in the future, I would encourage members who are inactive and silent to contribute freely, avoid interruptions, act as a team moderator, avoid monopoly or talking too much, and manage members who behave bossy by choosing a leader.