Leadership Summit

Eric, Lauren Leiser, and I all chose exercise for our group facilitation topic. Discovering this was a "duh" moment considering we see each other at the gym every day. My communication with Lauren was very brief and I just briefly touched on my plan for the group, though it was still in its infancy. Eric and I collaborated a bit more, once in class and another time while playing basketball. We talked about the various frames of reference that could fit into a group about exercise; MOHO, PEO, and PEOP seemed to be the most logical. I talked to him about my activity idea at the time and we talked about his plans for the session. It was nice to have an objective party to share my ideas with to check and see if they were any good. Coworkers are your friends.

Life Skills Small Group Reflection

Yesterday, I got the privilege of facilitating a small group on health management and maintenance- more specifically on exercise. Exercise is near and dear to me, so this choice was a natural one for me. As with my last group facilitation experience, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation that transpired during the session. I enjoyed getting to hear the various perspectives each member had on exercise- i.e., what it looks like for them, what makes it difficult and/or easier to do, etc. Though public speaking makes me very nervous, I do think assignments like this one are very beneficial. I need to get more group experience under my belt for when I go to Greenhouse ministries on my level 2 fieldwork, and maybe when/if I decide to work in a mental health setting. Mental health is definitely a setting I could see myself in, but only time, and well, fieldwork, will tell.

Here's my evaluation of my performance.

Introduction: I let the group know what the topic for the session would be, and had the members perform a warm up activity where they drew the biggest barriers to exercise for them. I think I communicated the purpose of the group adequately, but there was room for improvement!

Activity: I did feel adequately prepared for the activity, but I soon found out that I did not do a good job articulating directions for the activity. I should have been more clear and checked to make sure each group member understood before beginning. It's funny (not) that active listening was what my last group experience was over. Maybe I should heed my own advice.

Sharing: Luckily, my group was not one I had to pry words out of; however, I did my part to give structure to the sharing and provide both verbal and non-verbal feedback to each member when they were speaking. So, I did help facilitate this, but my group's conversation was a well oiled machine before I lifted a finger, or lip to speak.

Processing: I think I succeeded in digging deeper to the emotions behind what each member was saying, but the conversation did not get into deep territory by any means. Future sessions certainly could though as the emotional components of exercise, like body image, could certainly come up.

Generalizing: I pointed out the common barriers that the group members had to exercise as well as the common motivators for them to exercise. For example, two members said accountability helped them while Netflix was a hindrance. I think this has the potential to create comfort and cohesion within the group.

Group motivation: There was no shortage of this here, and I don't think that was because of my doing. It's hard to comment on this for that reason; however, I do think that I fanned the flame once it began, but discussion was hot already. Bad joke.

Limit setting: I can't comment on the other groups, but the green group really has great chemistry.  This fostered a really positive environment, but also made side conversations and distractions much more likely and plentiful. I think I could have done more to be directive, but I think it could have possibly done more harm than good.

Application: I had each group member discuss how they can overcome the barriers to exercise they listed earlier in the session. I also talked about how exercises could be modified based on a client's diagnosis. I think I could have made this a larger part of the conversation though.

Summary: I could have done a better job summarizing what we learned and what goals were met at the end of the session. I did so briefly, but there was definitely room for improvement. I think my nerves could have definitely contributed to this.

Professional Development Group Reflection

Today, Macy and I facilitated a professional development group on the topic of active listening. I really enjoyed this assignment and the discussion it stimulated. What I found most memorable about the group is how organic the conversation felt- despite the talking technically being for an assignment. To me, this made this assignment so unique. I wasn't just spitting info back out onto a worksheet or test sheet. I was putting my didactic boots on the ground and actually getting to see my education in action. All of the words I had been seeing on powerpoint slides began to form a cohesive story, and I was the main character. It all felt very natural to me which is saying something because I am a very nervous public speaker. This experience will help me as an ot, and, even sooner, at Greenhouse Ministries during my Level II FW this fall.

Now, onto the evaluation of my performance.

Introduction: I explained the purpose of the group, and did a warm up activity where each group member talked about their strengths and weaknesses, but I definitely could have been more clear in communicating expectations and outlining the structure of the group.

Activity: I did feel adequately prepared for the activity, gave clear directions, and used appropriate timing, environment and materials.

Sharing: I ensured that each member shared, showed engaged non-verbal and verbal communication and empathized with them.

Processing: I feel that I did good job eliciting the feelings on each group member and facilitating conversation between them.

Generalizing: I pointed out difference and similarities between group members, i.e., one group member chose to withdraw when she felt not listened to, while another group member chose to try harder to get the audience's attention.

Group motivation: I felt that Macy and I both did a good job of spurring group interaction and slowing it when the train got off the rails.

Limit setting: Because my leadership style was supposed to be more directive in nature, I think I could have been a little more, well, directive! However, I think side conversations were kept to a minimum, and the humor from these conversations fostered comfort in the group.

Application: I had each group member discuss how being a good active listener will help them as future occupational therapists.

Summary: I ended the group on time, but I think I could have done a more thorough job summarizing at the end and commending each group member's performance.