[Oabs] Food for thought

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all, 

 

I just recently completed a communications module called "Group Decision
Making."  This 5 week class was all about the nature of groups, and defined
some key aspects of group communication including listening, roles members
play within a group, conflict management, and the decision making process.
One of the things I learned from this class was that in any well-working
group, all members are interdependent upon each other.  It is unfair if
someone does none of the work to contribute to a group's success, therefore
it is important that everyone do something to be an active member of the
group.  Because groups are most efficient when the tasks are divided in this
way, everyone relies upon everyone else in the group to do their part in
order for the larger goal to be achieved.  

 

I noticed that one group got up to give their presentation, and two of their
members were missing.  One of the missing members had taken responsibility
for putting the presentation on a flashdrive, so the group had to scramble
to fix the situation.  Fortunately, another group member had saved
everything that they had before to google drive, but that show was missing
the slides from the two absent members, so part of the group presentation
was not given.  This, and the appearance of unpreparedness to our professor,
unfortunately will have an impact on everyone in that group, even those who
did their work on time and were relying on others to do the same.  The group
impact was explained to everyone on the first day of class, so needless to
say the 4 remaining members were not happy that their colleagues failed to
show up for the presentation and contribute to the group.    

 

In my group, everyone had a job.  One person maintained our google doc we
were required to make, while another typed up our reports.  We had a girl
research, another talk to various people on campus about our project for
interviews, and another guy make sure we were following all assignment
guidelines.  I was responsible for compiling the slides for our presentation
into one powerpoint, and for doing the same with sections of a group paper
that was due.  Without one of these tasks being completed, my entire group
would have suffered.  Our group would have also not have been as cohesive as
it was, since those who did their work would not be happy about having to do
more then their fair share by picking up slack from others.

 

I bring this up because OABS, and any other organization, functions in the
same way.  Each of us has a job to do, and everyone else is relying on all
the jobs to be done faithfully and as well as they can be done.
Furthermore, it is harder for others to do their jobs when even one person
does not.  We need everyone to do their part in order for OABS to be
successful.  

 

This statement is not just intended for officers and committee chairs, but
everyone in the organization.  If you say you're going to do something on a
volunteer basis, do it in a timely manner.  If you know certain tasks need
to be done in a certain time frame, make sure you follow those instructions.
If you know something is overdue or should have been done sooner, don't wait
for an email from someone asking you why the task isn't done.  Just do it
and try to do better in the future.  

 

I am not saying this to harp on anyone, but only to encourage growth and
functionality in OABS.  I know that we're all busy; I feel it myself with 20
credit hours, plus 7 hours of work per week, and leadership responsibilities
in my fraternity which require daily attention.  We're all busy, but it is
important that each of us designates a little bit of time for OABS.  If
nothing else, try setting aside 10 minutes a week to make that phone call
about the fundraiser, or send out emails, etc.  It will make everyone feel
better, and will make what we're doing much more productive.  

    

Kaiti Shelton

University of Dayton---2016

Music Therapy Major, Psychology Minor, Clarinet

Ohio Association of Blind Students, President 

NFB Community Service Group, Service Project Committee Chair

Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma