I read a lot of interesting concepts in chapter 6; however the one that caught my attention the most was humor. The importance of humor in communication is not commonly discussed, which is why I was happy to see it in this chapter. “Humor uses the power of verbal communication to share messages, relieve stress, support group fantasies, integrate ideas, support common values, convey messages and meaning to people, and help listener acceptance.” (Bolman & Deal, 2003) (Harris/Sherblom 113)
In many of my small group experiences, humor has been successfully used. For example, often times, group members feel uneasy or stressed out in forced group situations. However when the task is addressed and humor is implemented, this almost always relieves stress and reinforces cohesiveness. I remember one instance, I was in a group and our assignment was a five page paper due in four days. Then a guy in our group said, “Well, it could be worse. It could be a 10 page paper due tonight.” Everyone laughed and it reassured us all that we absolutely could get this assignment done.
So in short, I believe humor, when used at the appropriate times, can always help lighten a situation.
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Pocahontas,
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with your comments of humor in a small group. In my last semester, I had a small group with few young students to do our project. The project involved lots of research for different cultures in the United States that brought us so stressful to prepare our presentation with the papers. Speaking and writing English is my second language that completely drives me nervous. Under this issue, I worked very hard together with my classmates but I still could not find any improvement for my practice in presentation. In the last rehearsal of presentation, one of my classmates said, "Kam, you are the champion." that completely broke the uncomfortable moments to me because I understood her words were full of humor that let me feel more relaxed and tried to get rid of my stress. In addition, she also wanted to encourage me when I was down at that moment.
During the presentation, I did very well because I remembered the word "Champion" from my classmates.
Thank you,
Kam
Pocahontas,
ReplyDeleteI agree what you said about how humor can help lighten a situation when used in the appropriate time. Sometimes if a joke is told in the wrong time, it can set off someone really bad and therefore can make the group in a uneasy. I can remember at work, when my manager was having a really great day, he just heard the greatest news, and one of my coworkers who was just a regular employee was having a bad day, my manager was in the mood in telling jokes, he was walking to everyone telling the same joke and just laughing to himself, but when we walked up to my co-worker and told the joke, it set her off and my manager was caught off guard, and it really changed his mood from happy to a little bit upset because of what happen.
You did a great job and keep up the good work.