The Reputation of the City of Canberra: Group Work Report

Joint work to change the reputation of the city of Canberra was held for several weeks. The result of this work was rather close cooperation between the members of the two teams, and certain results were achieved. One of the advantages that were accomplished in the process of rather productive collaboration was mutual understanding, which was achieved through a collective discussion of specific ideas and interests of all the team members. As evidence of the effectiveness of the work conducted, it is possible to describe the key concepts of group work, explain the importance of this type of cooperation, and determine the contribution that can be made to succeed in realizing a common idea.

Role and Importance of Group Communication in Professional Life

Communication is one of the main psychological categories that should be taken into account when carrying out various joint research projects. According to Zhang and Huai (2016), it is a continuous process consisting of a successive series of interactions, as a result of which a common goal and agreement among the participants of a certain group are achieved. This interaction allows all the members to understand the views of others.

As a result of cooperation among the members of the group, a special communication is established among each other, due to which a unique culture is formed that is specific for this group and can contain special forms of manifestation, for example, language, rules of behavior, etc. All these factors play an essential role in professional life and help to assess the performance of all the participants in a particular community. In case the results of work are obvious and all the members of a particular group easily understand one another, it means that communication is at the right level, and a certain conclusion can be made.

Key Concepts in Group Communication

In the process of work for the ACT Government, the basic concepts of group communication were defined, which can be used during the implementation of the tasks assigned. For example, as DeFleur and DeFleur (2016) note, communication is a specific kind of human activity where all the participants are involved for a specific purpose, and the theme of discussion is the topic that is known to all the members of this group.

It means that one of the fundamental concepts of communication is identified in these words. It is the cumulative awareness of all the features of the actions being performed. In case someone of the communication team had not realized the importance or purpose of the work being done, the speed of implementation of specific interventions would have been slowed down, and it would have been more difficult to achieve significant success.

Another concept of communication that was taken into account in the process of working to change the perception of the Australian capital was an attempt to involve all the members of both groups in the common cause. According to Forsyth (2018), communication is seen as an integral component of any joint venture where participants use verbal skills to find optimal solutions. As communication tools in the process of working to optimize the reputation of Canberra, joint discussions of ideas were used, and the opinions of all members of both groups were taken into account as primary ones. Based on the results achieved during the discussions and conversations, relevant conclusions were drawn, and certain results were obtained due to communication.

Examples of the Group’s Contribution

In the process of collaborative work, the group’s contribution to achieving set goals was quite obvious. For instance, many useful ideas were singled out from a rather large number of ineffective and potentially failed interventions. Based on the discussions at the general level, some proposals were deemed useless, and some were considered to be a priority. Taking into account the previously described concepts, it can be noted that the idea of cumulative awareness of the objectives of work and the desire to achieve the goal had a very large contribution to the final result.

All the team members understood why it was essential to work out all the possible theories and what final data should concern. Also, the concept of Forsyth (2018) regarding the implementation of the set goals through active verbal communication had a significant contribution to the achievement of success. All the members of both groups worked fruitfully, actively exchanging opinions, and it confirms the effectiveness of the used concepts.

Comparison in Group Communication

When comparing the collective work in two groups, it can be noted that the representatives of the first one worked more actively on inventing different methods and searching for ways to reorganize the reputation of the city of Canberra. While speaking of the second group, it cannot be said that its members worked much worse; however, they approached the discussion less actively and relied more on personal work than on collective talks.

Moreover, when it was about practical applications of various approaches to working, the participants in the second group were reluctant to develop strategies for implementing the methods that they had invented. According to some members, it was enough to draw up a list of potentially useful and efficient strategies, and other people were to find practical application. Nevertheless, useful proposals were made in both groups, and certain changes in the city’s management policies and its appearance can be developed through the very effective work of two separate communities.

Critical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Group Communication

In both groups, the level of cohesion was quite high, which helped to make the teamwork as efficient as possible and to avoid misunderstanding and mistrust. According to Brown (2017), unanimity is the position of the group members that is the indicator of the group performance. It can be said that the representatives of both communities shared similar ideas on the general issue, and it was a very useful contribution to the achievement of the goal. Perhaps, the participants in the second group lacked a close interaction. Nevertheless, a certain result was achieved, and some useful developments were evaluated by all the team members of the team.

If it is about the perception of teamwork from according to the convenience of discussion, it is possible to see that it was more comfortable to interact with the members of the first group. Its participants actively encouraged the activities of their colleagues and expressed general joy when some potentially useful approaches were discovered. The participants in the second community were more restrained in the manifestation of emotions that in the first one. However, as Levi (2015) claims, feelings and emotions can pervade teams, but it does not allow saying that everything depends on them. Therefore, the effectiveness of group communication can be justified for both communities.

Group Communication Strengths and Areas for Improvement

The main strength of communication was that due to a large number of people, it was possible to achieve the most competent and accurate ideas. According to Rink and Ellemers (2015), group membership enables all members to express their opinions without fear of being criticized. Both communities demonstrated a sufficiently high interest in solving the issue posed. One of the merits of work was the possibility of maximally quickly inventing new ideas and proving that some of the proposed theories were ineffective. Therefore, the strengths of group communication are quite obvious.

Conclusion

Thus, work conducted to change the reputation of the city of Canberra was held jointly, and its effectiveness was proved in practice. The contribution that was made to succeed in realizing a common idea is evident, and the strengths of such a type of cooperation were achieved through the interest of the two communities. The work of the first group was cohesive, and individual activities were typical for the second one.

References

Brown, A. (2017). Groupwork (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

DeFleur, M. L., & DeFleur, M. H. (2016). Mass communication theories: Explaining origins, processes, and effects. New York, NY: Routledge.

Forsyth, D. R. (2018). Group dynamics (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Levi, D. (2015). Group dynamics for teams (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Rink, F., & Ellemers, N. (2015). The pernicious effects of unstable workgroup membership: How workgroup changes undermine unique task contributions and newcomer acceptance. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 18(1), 6-23.

Zhang, Y., & Huai, M. Y. (2016). Diverse work groups and employee performance: The role of communication ties. Small-Group Research, 47(1), 28-57.