Thank you

I would like to post "thank you" to my fellow classmates in this course, I appreciate your thoughts and stories regarding communication. I have learned new ideas to not only observe but to try also. I wish everyone well and good luck with the continuation of your degree program and overall in life.

Adjourning Phase

Considering the adjourning phase and the groups that I've been involved in, there were some groups that were harder to leave than others.

If we label the 5 Steps of team development, each one of them has very important structural values. All successful group developments have considerable talents in each step.

There was a specific group that I was involved in when I was stationed in Fort Lee, Virginia. My job at the time was well informed on all instructions on the job. We worked well together, our chemistry was there, and personalities were all there as well. The best part was being able to get as much done as we did, and also have a great time doing it.

If I compare the group that I was involved in then and now, the comparisons are nonexistent. There are specifics that go into group dynamics and individuality is definitely one of them.

Communication Disagreements

There have been recent communication disagreements with my 2 daughters.

Having disagreements with family is obviously more personal than with a co-worker, but they're also harder to work through. My oldest daughter wants to move to Florida and start a new life down there, but she has no actual plan and no roadmap for her to get down there and succeed; she wants to just go and be there to live everything out like she's been planning. My second eldest daughter is having a serious lack of motivation to go back to school and she always thinks I'm attacking her when I ask her what her plans for the future are.

Beginning with my eldest; I just want her to go down there and succeed like she wants. I have no doubt she will be able to, but I also don't want her to think that this is all going to be easy, because it's not going to be. She understands the consequences, but I can't seem to make it clear to her that I'm just being overprotective rather than overbearing.

My second eldest and I always seem to butt heads, and I'm sure it's because of the personality differences. She always thinks I'm attacking her, but in reality, I'm just trying to figure out where she's heading so she doesn't get stuck like I did. I want her to be successful and I want the very best for her. I want her to understand the consequences of her waiting too long to go to school, but I think she wants to be young and live her life and not have to worry about the consequences; which I understand. It's just hard to reason with, coming from a parent's point of view.

Communication Differences

With the communication tests, there were so many different validations with the results and it was difficult for me to understand the results without finding some way to connect to all the final results. Once I thought about the questions in more detail, I was able to connect with the groups/classifications the questions aligned me in more. The problem was the Listening style test, and I did not agree with the results at all. I thought about the questions and I could see the similarities and why I was classified in that particular group but ultimately, I didn't agree that I become emotionally invested in the problems that are explained to me. 

With the results from my family member and my co-worker, the differences between all results were incredibly interesting. I figured that the test would be most accurate if I had a co-worker who wasn't someone I communicated with daily complete it, because they see an aspect of me that isn't too personal and they only have the image that is placed before them. 

When I noticed the differences, it was almost like the results were describing different people. Thinking about communication and the key factors that are immediate to effective communication like tone, body movements and eye contact, it can be interesting to think about. 

Cultural Diversity

The cultural diversity seen within my surroundings is surreal. It's actually something I don't think about often because I've always been surrounded by diverse populations. With my husband being in the military, it's assumed that there are other people around us from areas all over the world living right next to us. Living so closely allows all of our neighbors to become acquainted with one another and understand the idea of culturally infused areas.

With culture, there are definitely some boundaries that people overlook because they are unaware of the impact their lack of knowledge will influence. With people that I am unfamiliar with, I typically hesitate on my responses because I don't want to offend them or their culture in any way.