Muted Group Theory Essay

1774 Words4 Pages

According to Working in Groups, muted group theory is, “the ways that the communication practices of dominant groups suppress, mute, or devaluate the words, ideas, and discourses of subordinate groups” (Engleberg, Wynn, pg. 88). Muted group theory can be problematic within groups due to the fact that, although a group may have several members, they are unable to voice their opinions or ideas; which lead to less creativity and member satisfaction. I believe that this is more likely to happen, when majority of a group belongs to a certain organization, group, or program. For instance, in my cardiopulmonary pharmacology study group, majority of us live on campus so, we tend to mute group members that live off campus when it comes to deciding where …show more content…

The first technique is calling attention to the problem; by doing so, you are to stop the issue and prevent it from growing. The second technique is to identifying the value of differences; knowing how it will affect other people. The following technique is to be assertive, similar to calling attention to the problem; you speak up without denying the rights of others. The final technique is to resist stereotyping. To overcome muting group members who live off campus, I will make sure to stop the issue before it grows and becoming informed on the ways it will affect those group members. Situational and Functional Leadership Theories (compare and contrast) Being a well-rounded leader can benefit a group in various ways. There are two fundamental theories that explain how a leader is matched to their group, the situational leadership theory and the functional leadership theory. The situational leadership theory states that leaders use different styles and strategies depending on the situation. There are two models that support this theory. The Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness states that an “effective leadership occurs only when there is an ideal match between the leader’s style and the group’s work situation” (pg …show more content…

There are six dimensions to team talk. The first dimension is to use plural pronouns when talking to the group as opposed to using singular plural. It is important because it show shared success and when single plurals are used it demonstrates individual needs. For instance, for the class Emergent X-Ray Interpretation we usually get into groups to work on x-ray interpretation assignments and several of us might finish before other members. When this happens we avoid saying, “You should hurry up” because then, members are being singled out and may feel

Open Document