Public Presentations

For small groups to reach success, goals and ideas must be shared. A number of small groups undergo through different public presentation formats. The first format is the forum. The forum involves a short presentation done by the group. Afterwards, the audience shares their feedback on the issue one after the other. Another form of public presentation is the panel. In a panel, 4-8 people explain a problem in front of an audience. To gain involvement from the audience, a colloquium involves the participation from the audience, but with 3-6 group members discussing a problem. Last, but not least, the symposium provides for a number of brief speeches made on different aspects of a complex problem. In my opinion, I prefer to speak to an audience by presenting a small speech and hearing input after like a forum format. I believe more different ideas can be heard and less ideas will be missed by allowing each member to speak at the end of the presentation. Audience feedback is just as important as presenting the issues at hand.

Give Your Creativity a Boost!

Creativity does come naturally, but it may be more difficult for some people. There are several ways that can help boost someone's creativity. Idea needlers and metaphors are some tips that can encourage creativity and give someone an extra push to use problem solving techniques.

Idea needlers are questions that people ask themselves to see a different perspective to view the problem. For example, the book gives an example of a Styrofoam cup. How many ways can you use a Styrofoam cup? Presently, Styrofoam is used for packaging items, drinks, cookie cutter, and storing items. Idea needlers are a great way to give your mind the boost of creativity that it needs.

Another technique that encourages creativity are metaphors. Metaphors include the use of descriptive words to allow the listener to visualize an image that can lead to another new idea. For example, when someone says, "an interesting window in the world", most people will tend to look beyond the literal meaning. Metaphors are another way that encourage creativity. 

Cultural Barriers to Creativity

Creativity allows one to use their imagination and think outside of the box for an effective solution. At times, thinking of ideas may seem difficult because of known barriers. According to Harris and Sherblom, there are a number of cultural barriers: requirement for conformity, and expectation of practicality and efficiency, particular arenas for competition or cooperation, an expectation of politeness and of following rules for social order, and a trust in the power of reason and logic (168).

The book discusses that numerous people are taught in school to follow the rules. If everyone follows the rules, each person concludes their idea with a similar outcome as everyone else; therefore, the groups loses out on diversified solutions. As we get older, we begin to notice that "bending" the rules, allows us to show our creativity in a different sense.

In the state of California, there are a number of democrats. In the 2008 election, Obama received the support of our state. Because of the way our cultural society has been brought up, most of the younger population in our state voted for him that year. This is an example of a cultural barrier because of the similar perspectives the youth had on Obama.

Creativity

Creativity is taking something simple and creating something new with it. Creativity arises from everyday questions that have effective solutions. In high school, I never used to study and I still performed well on tests. When I got into college, I realized college was something much different. I needed to find a different approach to studying and prioritizing because the material was becoming more complex. So I asked myself, "What can I do to increase my productivity to studying?"

I tried different techniques: note cards, reading the entire chapter, writing down everything the professor said, and cramming a day before the test. Despite the fact that none of those strategies worked, equifinality - many different ways to reach a workable solution - is a great idea to stay concentrated on the issue. The more ideas you try, the increased chance you will get to finding the most effective solution(s). As a result, I learned how to scan the reading for important material, take notes of relevant information, and start studying several days before a test. Creativity allows you to think outside the box and not just focus on one solution.

Similar to my example of creativity, this chapter focuses on how groups can explore and take advantage of the alternative approaches to a problem or decision to develop creative new insights, decisions, and solutions (165).

Facebook

CMC involves the use of social networking sites. After reading a couple of posts about social network sites, I decided to expand on my input on the idea of Facebook. Facebook is a way to gain social closeness within a computer-mediated group. As discussed in the book, it is more difficult to gain personal relationships with other group members in CMC groups because CMC groups tend to lean more towards reaching the goal than creating relationships with other members. The way Facebook is designed allows computer-mediated members to use Facebook for personal and social needs. For example, if another member from a group reads and comments on another member's post about their life, they are gaining a personal connection. Although Facebook can be convenient in helping CMC groups gain relationships, members must be aware of the information they post and still keep it professional in a social network setting. Social networks can either help or in a way, ruin CMC.

Anonymity, Group Size, and Proximity

In CMC groups, participation and communication are key for the group's success. The book provides examples for ways that CMC can be successful. In relation to anonymity, when certain people have the chance to be determined as "anonymous", they feel better connected and do not feel like they're being judged. For example, online support groups provide the option of being known as anonymous. Distressed people that want help tend to give more input upon their situation if their names are not shown. Another way that CMC can excel is through the group size. When there are more people involved within the group, the number of ideas expands. With that being said, there is more group involvement because it is easier to exchange information through CMC. Another factor that can help the success of CMC is proximity. The closer the members within the group are physically situated, the more they will feel the need to conform to social norms. This causes members to be more conscious of their personal-social identities. For a group to succeed, having an anonymous option, larger size, and expanded proximity all help towards reaching their goal.

CMC v. FTF

Computer-mediated communication involves the use of audio and video conferencing systems, blogs, e-mail, and social networking websites (Facebook and Twitter). Face-to-face communication is communicating with someone in physical proximity using vocal tone and inflection, facial expressions, hand gestures, body posture, and angle (270). 

 In comparison to face-to-face (FTF) groups, computer-mediated communication (CMC) gains the contribution of more unique ideas, but takes longer to reach a mutual agreement. Because CMC groups practice acquiring more input from the members, the group tends to divide participation equally. This technique allows all members of the group to engage as much as another person in the group, permitting each member's voice to be heard. For idea-generation tasks, CMC excels within FTF groups because CMC generates more ideas. 

 A reason why CMC members feel more accepting is due to the fact that there is reduced normative social pressure. In this case, if group members believe they don’t have to follow social guidelines, they are more inclined to provide input. For example, in my online accounting class, I am not as hesitant when asking questions on the discussion board because a lot more people can ask questions online, compared to a classroom filled with more students.