Memory

The concept of memory is a critical concept when dealing with group activities. Memory comes in two forms: Short-term, and Long-term. According to Harris, “short-term memory can last from “1 to 60 seconds” (Harris 134). Within this time limit, we decide whether a message is important or not. The book gives a good example of this when a group is meeting for the first time. When noise becomes so prevalent, the actual message that we need is missed and let go.
Long-term memory is where relevant information is stored for extended periods of time. I can remember a manager stating that we need to do one thing 24 times before it will go from our short-term memory to our long-term memory. I have yet to test this theory out.
I think the concept of memory is important because it gives us a way to understand the message. If we can learn to store information for longer periods of time, then we can be of greater benefit to our group members.

Henry

Active Listening

When it comes to listening, I find that I have trouble listening to authority figures. Through reading this chapter, I’m finding out that most of my problems come from the evaluating the message content of listening. The lack of listening can come from many barriers, but some of the more common ones with me include Lack of Interest, Distracting Delivery, and Arrogance and Disrespect.
A good example of arrogance and disrespect comes courtesy of the old store manager where I work. This was the first store he had ever managed, and he believed he could act anyway he wanted because of this. He felt that because he was the manager of the store that he was superior, and that his employees were incompetent. He would not listen to anyone who was below him, even if they had valuable information. Because of this, none of his employees respected him. I would try and have civil conversations with him, but his arrogant attitude made it hard for him to effectively communicate back. If you weren’t talking about money or cars, then you might as well not speak.
Unfortunately, I was not able to resolve this problem with him. I felt that I would have to lower my I.Q. to effectively have a business relationship with him. I feel that if he could change his attitude and the way that he treats his employees, then my problem with arrogance and disrespect will be resolved.

Henry

What did you just say...? Selective Hearing

The book describes selective attention as “choosing one message over another” (Harris 131). After thinking carefully, I realized that I have selective hearing on a regular basis. The book gives different reasons as to why we may have selective attention or hearing. Reason five states that difficult material may be ignored. This has happened in a recent group project. One of the members was discussing technical terms, and because I did not understand the terms, I did pay attention to a word he said. I remember trying my hardest to understand the terms, but it was out of my scope.
I knew that I had to some how understand the terms, because I would need them for the presentation. I had the member write down a list of the terms so that I could look them up. By doing this, I could understand not only the discussion, but I was able to not have selective hearing.
I think this type of behavior can also happen with advertisements. There are just some advertisements that I do not pay attention to. One possible reason could be that that particular advertisement does not support my point of view. If someone was to ask me what the theme for the latest Coors Light commercial was, I would not be able to tell them. But ask me about the latest Nike commercial, and I’ll probably have the right answer.

Henry

Proxemics and Chronemics

Proxemics is the study of personal space, and how different conditions can affect interactions among people. Edward Hall coined the term in the 1960’s, and found out that not only does the circumstance matter when dealing with personal space, but it varies from person to person. For example, a C.E.O. may need more personal space, than a factory worker. I found the example in the book by Sommer to be interesting. I never gave much thought to how seating positions can show a pattern.
A good example of this would be at work meetings. The person in charge, whether it is the manager or director, usually sits at the ends of the table. While other less powerful people sit around the table. I never notice until now how much this makes since. I notice that the individuals who sit more towards the center of the table tend to interact less. However, I do believe that the issue of person space does vary from race to race.
I have friends of different races, and reading this chapter has caused me to think about the proxemics of each group. When I’m with my Asian friends, I notice that the level of personal space is low. They tend to interact within close proximity of each other. On the other hand, my African American friends tend to want more personal space. The interaction is not as close.
Chronemics is the study of the use of time (Harris 119). I also believe that the concept of time varies from culture to culture. In the USA, we are expected to be on time. On time means being early, at least 15 minutes. If we are later than 15 minutes, then we are considered late. Over the summer I went to Thailand, and I observed similar behavior. When scheduling a meeting, I noticed that people would arrive early, sometimes 30 minutes early.

Humor

A concept that I feel is important is humor. Humor plays an integral part in group communication. According to Harris, “Humor uses the power of verbal communication to share messages, relieve stress…” For many of us, humor is a way to break the ice. When starting out in a new group venture, humor can help everyone relax and start to act as a cohesive group. Usually, people in the group do not know each other and may feel uncomfortable. By someone telling a joke, the tension can be released. I remember being in a group and not knowing anyone. Suddenly, my cell phone goes off and it plays a funny ring tone. The next things I know, everyone is laughing at the ring tone. I know that the book says that humor is verbal, but I think it can be nonverbal as well.
Humor can also be nonverbal. The act of someone making a funny face can make someone smile, or even better laugh. If you’re in a group, and it seems that people aren’t cohesive, then implement the fish face. Simply squeeze the middle of your lips together with your fingers to form the face of a fish. This always work. Then have other members in the group try it, and this should ease the tension. Other forms of humor in nonverbal communication include other various funny faces, or perhaps someone stumbling while walking.
Humor is essential because it is easy to implement. Every culture in the world has a form of humor; it’s up to us to figure it out how to use it.

Principals

The book has some very interesting principals when it comes to nonverbal communication. One of the principals that I found interesting was “Cultural norms and expectations guide the group.” I think this is important with dealing with other cultures, as we may interpret situations differently. For example, in the United States women are seen as close to equal to their male counterpart as one would expect. We believe that we can learn valuable information from any women. But in some less off, or third world countries, women are not seen as equal. In visiting Thailand, I observed that men were the ones in charge, and women were more submissive. Men seemed to be the operators of the business, while women ran the back office.

Another equally important principal is “It impacts the quality of relationships.” This principal is important because if we do not understand different cultures, then we can do more harm than good. The book gives a good example of people sitting next to each other. This can be good or bad depending on the cultural background of the person. A good example is that I usually sit by the door in classrooms. I’m not sure why, but I seem to always sit there. There may be another person that chooses to sit in the seat next to me. My decision to sit next to the door does not symbolize my liking for the person sitting next to me. I also will rarely move if the person has a quality that I find annoying or unattractive like bad breath or dirty clothes. Again, it does not symbolize I like the person, I just happen to like the location.

Another example would be a person who constantly comes to class late. I’m going to assume that people from the western hemisphere believe that the person is lazy. We believe that the person thinks they’re better than us, and does not have to show up to class on time. The issue could be that the person has trouble with a babysitter for their son/daughter, or travels from far away and cannot make it on time. The simple action of arriving late to class can be prejudged negatively without saying a word.

Henry