Small Group Communication - Personal

In Thursday’s COM 111 session, Dr. Hatfield got us to get into random small groups to complete a special task. The objective was to communicate effectively in a group and between other groups and create something with miscellaneous household materials that would prevent an uncooked egg from breaking upon being dropped three stories high.
I belonged to the Eggz-ecutives group and I felt as if we were a group that worked well with each other. However, I did have a first impression that we may have some dominating personalities but it actually did not necessarily come down to that. I liked that there was an even ratio of boys and girls and we were able to all have a say in improving the product before being satisfied with our final product. Each of us carried our own share of work and encouraged each other that we have the time and materials to do what we need to do.
I noticed that we reached a compromise in utilizing a parachute and creating a highly cushioned container to hold the egg. I did experience voicing my ideas about something but not being heard the first time around until the group realizes that it was a better idea to begin with. Other than that we still managed to have an effective collaboration and succeeded in saving our egg from any damage.
Being given only 15 minutes to complete the task I was somewhat worried as I was unsure about everybody’s work ethics and ideas. I felt the pressure to get things done and time and not waste any time in overly planning the product. In a group of four, we each naturally assumed the position as a group facilitator so that our product was made efficiently. No one really seemed to self-appoint himself or herself as a leader so it felt more democratic as we each made a contribution. Although some group rivalry existed with the other groups, we focused on our goal and achieved it. Had we had groups larger than 4 or 5 members it would have been harder to incorporate everyone’s ideas in such a short period of time and an increased likelihood of clashing personalities.