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Guthrie - Groups Part 1

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    Hi. My name is Dr. Jennifer Guthrie, and
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    today we're going to talk about working
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    in groups. So before we begin, I want you
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    to take a bit
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    and think to yourself: do you enjoy
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    working in groups?
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    Have those experiences been positive?
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    Have they been negative?
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    And if so, what made those experiences positive or negative?
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    Well, if you thought to yourself, I
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    absolutely hate working in groups, I
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    can't believe I have to do this project,
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    you're not alone. Unfortunately, a lot of people
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    despise working in groups. In fact, so
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    much so that we even have a name for it.
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    It's called group hate--the idea that
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    people do not like working
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    in groups. Well, here's the deal: if people
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    have a lot of group hate, when they actually
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    do work in groups, sometimes it can set
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    up a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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    So hopefully today,
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    after this video, you'll have a bit more
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    positive attitude about groups, and we'll
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    give you some tools for how to work better
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    in groups. So again, as mentioned, there's
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    this idea of group hate. In fact, there's even a
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    popular meme out there that says, "When I die,
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    I want the people I did group projects
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    with to lower me into my grave so that
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    they can let me down one last time."
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    Well, here's the deal:
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    there's actually a lot of research that
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    shows that working in groups can have tremendously
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    positive effects. I myself avoided every
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    small group class
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    possible in my undergraduate, until later
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    in life I realized
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    that would have been a great experience
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    for me. I had to do a lot of group
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    presentations and projects
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    in the workplace, and now, as a researcher,
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    I write in teams.
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    So I've been able to see the real-life
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    effects of how wonderful
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    it can be to work in groups. So
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    to begin: first, working in groups--it
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    makes sense, right? Think of it
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    as a puzzle, where if you have different
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    unique smart brains coming together,
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    usually groups have better
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    problem-solving than an individual. So
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    you're able to bounce ideas off one another,
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    come to more creative solutions. Also,
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    having
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    different opinions at the table can
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    result in more
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    innovative solutions and better projects,
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    which makes sense. You're smart, you're
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    capable--
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    but imagine what you can do if you're
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    working in a powerful team with
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    other smart, capable people, and you have
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    folks you can test your ideas with
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    and make sure you have the best ideas possible.
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    So working in groups, even though it does
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    have its challenges,
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    can be tremendously beneficial.
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    So today, we're basically, in this first video,
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    going to talk about what makes up a
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    group and then the typical group processes.
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    So first of all, what distinguishes a group
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    from working autonomously
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    is its size. Anything with three or more
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    people is considered a group. If you have two,
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    we usually think of that as a dyad and
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    the dynamics are different.
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    As soon as you add a third person,
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    there's the potential to form what we
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    call
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    coalitions, which is basically where you
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    can have
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    some folks teaming up against another
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    person.
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    So, in a dyad--two people--you can, of course,
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    have conflict, but as soon as a third
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    person is introduced,
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    one person may feel like the other two
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    are ganging up on them. So
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    that's what makes a group special or
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    different. Coalitions--little heads-up,
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    we'll talk about this later--
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    can be a positive thing in groups.
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    Usually, they end
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    up being negative. No one likes to feel
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    like they're being ganged up on, so be
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    careful of that when you're working in groups.
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    Make sure that you don't have one group
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    member who thinks everyone else is
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    against them. That usually doesn't go well.
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    Think--if you've been in that position,
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    it's hard, right?
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    The second aspect of working in
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    a group is interdependence.
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    Everyone in the group depends on
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    everyone else to do their job.
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    In the next video, we'll talk about
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    problematic group situations,
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    and one of those is a social loafer.
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    That means that someone in the group is not
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    doing what they're expected to do.
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    So to be a good group member, remember:
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    everybody's
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    depending on you like you're depending on them.
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    So make sure you meet deadlines, you keep
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    in communication--
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    that sort of thing. The third aspect of a group
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    is a group identity. So one thing you can
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    do to inject some positivity in your group
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    work is come up with a name.
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    Even if it's a silly name and it's just for you all,
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    have that group identity. If you feel
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    like you're a group, you may
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    act like you're a group. The fourth part
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    of any good group
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    is to have goals. In terms of your group project,
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    talk amongst yourselves on what your goal
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    is. Is the goal to get an A?
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    Is the goal to learn from the experience?
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    Is the goal that you want to have fun
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    with your group? Make your goals
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    explicit to your group members--what
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    you're hoping to get out of the project--
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    and then keep each other accountable in kind ways.
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    Make sure your goals are
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    reasonable, they're something you can actually achieve,
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    but being clear about what you want to
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    get out of this project from the start
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    will help you plan. The next aspect is having structure.
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    Every group needs structure. We can have
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    formal roles as well as informal roles.
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    Joanne and Keaton, a
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    prominent group comm scholar,
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    recommend that you have at least three
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    formal roles in your group.
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    The first is to have some sort of a
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    leader. If you appoint a leader or elect a leader
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    right off the bat, that can make things a lot easier.
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    That person can be in charge of overseeing
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    or making sure you meet deadlines, of
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    making sure the communication runs smoothly, etc.
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    You can break up those leadership roles, but
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    make sure someone is behind the scenes
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    organizing what you all are doing.
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    Also, you should have somewhat of a secretary role--
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    someone to keep track of your meeting
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    minutes and notes,
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    scheduling appointments--so that way you
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    can keep track of those critical documents.
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    Perhaps you set up a Google Drive, and
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    that secretary function, the person, can
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    make sure you all stay on track.
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    And then finally, Joanne and Keaton
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    recommend that each group should have
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    what we call a critical advisor.
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    Another way to think of this is a devil's advocate,
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    which sounds bad but it's not. Basically, if
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    everyone in the group understands that
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    you should have at least
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    one person who plays devil's advocate with ideas--
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    like, "Okay, I like that topic for the speech,
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    but here are some potential negative
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    consequences. What do you all think?"--
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    just having someone to question, to toy,
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    to maybe look at other aspects of an
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    idea can go really, really well.
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    So try to have some
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    sort of leadership
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    going on, some sort of organizer who's
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    taking care of your written notes and documents,
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    and then someone who's either appointed, elected--
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    you can even rotate that role--who's
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    playing critical advisor,
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    meaning they're going to test ideas in a kind way
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    to make sure you have the best
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    innovation. So that's basically the
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    components of a small group,
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    and in the next video, we'll talk about
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    dealing with not-so-great group issues.
Title:
Guthrie - Groups Part 1
Video Language:
English
Duration:
07:37

English subtitles

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