As a team, we are trying to reach a conclusion for what topic to select for a team project. By looking at team three’s responses to an assignment for our class, we are trying to identify sources for the project and also identify and develop the team members’ identities relating to our study of interpersonal communications.
Gym411, in their comment, “Keeping an Open Conversation… Is the Way to Go!” shows that they are looking forward to working with their teammates and show a very enthusiastic outlook towards the project in general. They say, “from the first look at my teammates blogs, I can see that we will get along very well (and will be the best team in the class!).” Aside from feeling positive about our collaboration, Gym411 mentions that “the topic of having an “open” conversation seems to be a topic that we all share.” I do think our group has been drawn to this point, perhaps we could incorporate this idea into some part of the project topic?
Saboy82 provides a very thoughtful summary of what they have gathered from the articles and class so far: “when communicating you need to be clear, communicate the whole message, and execute the communication well in order to get the message across and leave a good impression. Having these skills will encourage great productivity and chemistry amongst the group members.” They also mention that they share common interests with all fellow team three members and that they “consider this to be a good omen when it comes to working in teams.” I think it’s interesting that Saboy82 picked up on all of our common interests. We might be extremely different people but commonalities still exist.
Spiceynoodlesoup also recognized our team’s apparent focus on the subject of openness. They reiterated how exciting this material was to them and exclaimed: “After reading my teammates thoughts on the project, I knew I was dealing with a group of wall breaking bridge builders.” They continued to summarize the teams work so far, pointing out the major points of interest and one other interesting point on emotions and tensions coming into play: “My team also hopes to use its new consciousness of communication skills such as self-disclosure, impression management, and “nexting” to ensure our group is one big bridge and not one big wall. These skills will steer us clear of communication breakdowns…” (Spiceynoodlesoup) These “skills” could all be potential avenues for a team project topic? I think what we really need to do is open a dialogue where some points of interest or contention can lead to some quality nexting!
In the article, “Dialogue’s Basic Tension,” by K. Zediker and J. Stewart, the authors describe meaningful dialogue as involving some tension while also requiring engaged listening, thinking, and nexting. They summarize tension as a feature of dialogue saying: “This means that dialogue is not a steady state, something that is stable and predictable. When people are in dialogue, they experience a dynamic push-pull, both-and quality in their communication. “ (p. 614, Bridges Not Walls, ed. J. Stewart)
Are we experiencing a true dialogue according to Zendiker and Stewart’s definition in our team? I feel as though we have a tendency to avoid really delving into the topics and rather just agreeing with the usefulness or truth of all the assigned readings. Do we really take it all as fact, and how we should lead our lives? Of course most of these ideas seem to be so common sense or completely convincing and enlightening upon first absorbing them and I often almost accept things without question. But what do these topics really mean to us outside of this class? Are we prone to being too open to accepting a convincing argument? To the team, are there any topics in particular that anyone is really repelled by or feels especially strongly about?
