Communication 2zero7 Take Home Final Fall 2002

Communication 207

"Take-Home"

Final Exam

Due Final Exam Period  EMAIL TO INSTRUCTOR PRIOR TO FINAL EXAM

Purpose of Final Exam

The three-part purpose of the final exam  is:

1.     To write a Teamwork Case Story of  your 2zero7 project team

2.     To systematically analyze the experience of  your 2zero7 project team with the assistance     of a conceptual framework furnished by Cragan and Wright, to learn effective group communication practices.

3.     To take a TRIP (Theory and Research Into Practice)  to translate theory and research into practice by analyzing the  group and communication dynamics of your 2zero7 project team during the course of this semester.

  Outline of Process and Content

The following points of guidance are intended to provide  you with an understanding of the expectations for preparation of the final exam/case study.

  Part 1:  The Story

 Write up a thorough description of the story narrative of what happened in your 2zero7 project team experience.  It is easiest to write the story along a simple step-by-step timeline from beginning, to middle, and to end.  Storytelling is natural for all of us - just imagine that you are telling a colleague the story over a long lunch or coffee.  The story should integrate the following story elements:

1.       Include the main characters, which are the team members and other
  persons relevant to the case.

2.       Include information that gives background and context to the team and
   the assignment of the team.

3.       Describe the forces acting on the team and the problem the team is addressing. .

4.       Describe the factual, emotional, and communication events that matter the story.

5.     Key events of a teamwork story are typically: The emergence of the problem or opportunity the team is addressing; the appointment of team members; the definition of the mission of the team; significant actions and reports produced by the team; relevant events occurring inside and outside of the team; conflicts or difficulties the team encounters; surprising events that few, if anyone, could have expected; and the outcomes of the teamwork.

6.     Give special attention to the group communication dynamics of the teamwork process  Highlight your TBC’s (textbook connections) using the Word highlight function.

Part II.  The Analysis

Analysis of Teamwork Case Story -- After the Teamwork Case Story is written in narrative format, you will analyze the teamwork in the context of effective group communication theory  The outline of topics to be addressed in your analysis of the Teamwork Case Story includes the following: Highlight your TBC’s (textbook connections) using the Word highlight function. Your final exam should have many quotations from the textbook to demonstrate your ability to apply small group concepts and processes to you own group experience.

Communication Skills - Analyze how and how well, members of you team applied the skills of group communication:  trust-building, team-building, problem-sovling, and role-playing.  Discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly conflict in your group?  Discuss the nature and processes of leadership exerted by various team members.  In other the purpose of the case study is for you to demonstrate your understanding of group communication concepts and processes by applying them to your experiences in your 2zero7 project team.

Group Ethical Standards – To doing your bestt, to the group good, to rationality, to fair play, to good listening, to preparation toideational conflictt, toobjectivity, to tolerance, to social maturity.  Evaluate the group ethical standards of the team using the group ethical standards identified in the text (see pages 109-113 of the texbook. Then focus evaluation on a few ethical issues and events that were of most significance in the story of the team, giving specific examples. The ten group ethical standards for a problem-solving group are identified in the text as responsibilities:

Output of Teamwork - Evaluate the output of the team.  What did they accomplish?  Should or could the team have done better?  Evaluate the team's performance for at least the major group outcomes  which are: 1) Productivity; 2)Quality of Work; 3) Consensus; and 4) Member Satisfaction (see Cragan, Wright, and Kasch).

Moral of the Story - Think about the Teamwork Case Story and make up your own mind about what you think the moral of the story is.  What are the primary lessons you derive out of your group experience in 2zero7?

The competent group is like a mountaineering team.  The student as mountaineer learns to connect.  The guide rope links mountain climbers together so that they may assist one another in the ascent.  To become an effective team requires focus and rapt attention, slackness, misjudgment or laziness can abort the venture.  Group success (measured by the heights that are scaled) depends upon close cooperation and the active participation of each member of the team. Did your group become a group?  Did you group experience groupness?  Did your group function as an effective mountaineering team? I won't believe you, make me believe.   What were the primary obstacles you encountered scaling the mountain?  What was the secret of success?  What strategies and tactics did you employ to overcome obstacles and promote attainment of group goals?  If you became a “Great Group” what was the difference that made the difference, which differentiated your group from the pack, which will immortalize you in the 2zeroy7 Hall of Fleeting Fame.  "Most groups do a decent job, but one time, for one brief   shining moment there was this one group, they were named______. Now that was a group, for all I know they  are still climbing....If you did a good job but not a   transcendent or definitive job what could have been done  to transcend, that is to enter a different time, a   different space, a different dimension, a project so good  it was almost scary"?. As soon to be 2zero7y graduates, what specific behaviors or strategies would you recommend for future group members to adopt in order to become “insanely great”. Give me some pragmatic ideas and strategies that you feel helped your group.