Communicating for Group Projects
This week I was assigned a group project in my COM 317 class. My first reaction to this news was frustration as usual. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve always hated group projects. They usually make me feel stressed and uncomfortable. This time, however, I knew that I had to take it in stride because it would be the perfect way to start practicing my communication skills.
What did I do?
I have to admit I was very nervous when we sat down with our groups for the first time because I realized that if I didn’t take initiative, no one else would. Remembering that I wanted to work on being more confident and assertive when I communicate orally with others, I decided to try to lead the group off.
Even though I was anxious, I started the group’s conversation about project planning. I brought ideas to the table, and once we decide which topic we wanted to write about, I developed a plan of action. I created an outline for our paper, and a schedule for the division of the work among the group members.
As I was speaking to my group I tried to maintain a steady and confident tone of voice. I was very aware that if my tone sounded uncertain or shaky, my group members would not be confident in my ideas. Keeping that in mind, I tried my best to remain confident myself, because I believe that if you don’t believe in your own abilities no one else would have any reason to either.
What was the result?
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how well my group received my communication with them. I was initially worried that they would reject my ideas, or just not listen to me at all. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. I was pleased by how receptively they listened to me, and they did accept my ideas for the project.
What shocked me the most was that about halfway through the group meeting a member asked me directly how I thought we should schedule the project. At that moment I realized that they saw me in a sort of leadership position. Since I am usually not one to take on a leadership role I was a bit taken aback, but I knew I needed to be able to embrace it. I realized that it was most likely my confident tone of voice, and my taking the first initiative that cause the other members to see me in that light. In this way, I think that I made some progress on my journey to improving my communication skills. I expanded my comfort zone and communicated with enough confidence that my group members trusted my judgement to lead our project, and I am definitely happy with that result.
What’s next?
Considering that this experience was a more informal communication, as it was simply a conversation between equal group members, I would like to try my hand at a more formal communication. I think that a more formal communication, perhaps in a workplace setting such as my internship, would probably be more stressful for me. I will most likely have more difficulty conveying a sense of confidence, or maintaining my composure without getting nervous or shaky.
Another important thing I want to focus on during my next try at practicing my communication skills is being more clear and concise. I can remember one instance during the group meeting where my group members were clearly confused about something I said. Eventually, the cause of their confusion was revealed and I was able to clear up what I meant by my statement, but even though it was resolved in the end it created a definite roadblock in our communication. Because of this, I will put a significant effort into my next communication experience to be clear and concise in my wording, so that my audience knows exactly what I mean.
Even though I might have some difficulty with these things, I know they are necessary for me to ultimately achieve my goal of improving my communication skills.
