Week 5: Procedural Democracy

I had no idea that there was any type of procedural democracy, it's interesting to see that it focuses on the different foundations of democracy. As mentioned in the reading, "procedural democracy focuses on the foundations of democracy-voting, a free press, free speech, and freedom of assembly (web lecture-Democracy & Dialogue). I may be headed another direction here, but this reminded me of a paper that I worked on some time ago. My research paper was focused on freedom of speech, and I focused it on rap music. Rap music has had it's dilemmas in the past because of it's explicit lyrics. There were many people, including women, who believe that the lyrics in the music was offensive. In many occasions the artist who made these records, for example Ice T, 2 Live Crew, who got lashed by the media. In there defence, they claimed that this was their music, they also claimed that it was their right to freedom of speech. I do believe that rap music has very explicit lyrics, and in many occasions I have felt offended by what is said about females, but I also think that these artist have the right to freedom of speech. They are artist, and in many occasions they base their music on true events that they have been through in life. The only thing that I mentioned in this is if somebody does not like what they are listening to, then they should turn it off.

Chapter 11: Phatic Communication

I never realized that this type of communication existed (I did not realize that it actually had a name to it). As the authors explain, "phatic communication is a form of small talk that helps us appear social and gives the impression that we are interested in others " (pg. 344). This is also known as "mindless exchange" (pg.344). This kind of exchange happens to me at the office where I work. The office is set-up as follows: my work area (cubicle) is in the middle, and the "more important" people, their offices surround my working area (it's shaped like a rectangle). I work around the quality improvement coordinator, the administrator, my boss, etc. With my boss, phatic communication does not occur, but with everyone else it does. We pass each other by and say "Hi, how are you?" "Good, thank you." It really never gets passed that stage, but hopefully I will get to know them a little bit more. For example, this is the kind of dialogue that I would have with the office secretary, but we have gotten to know each other a bit more. Now when we speak to each other, it goes passed the phatic communication.

Chapter 10: Training and Development

Training and development as stated in the reading, "training and development-formal and informal efforts to develop employee skill-has always been a function of management" (pg. 322). I'm assuming that most people when they start a new job go through training and development. In the job I have now required that I learn a bit of both. I work at a alcohol and drug prevention program, and most of the training that I had, included my co-workers and my participation. What we do at my job is we go to different sites (high schools, juvenile hall, group homes), and we do a program with the youth that teaches them how to learn about communicating with others, how to look for jobs, how to work as a team, etc. My two sites that I run are at the juvenile hall and at an all girls group home. In order for me to learn how to run the program, my supervisors set-up a mini training session for us. We did this as a team, and I think this is what helped me out a lot. As for the training, if I ever need to do anything on the computer (I am not a computer wiz), I usually get help from one of my co-workers. The development part of my job requires the actual interaction that I have with the youth. You either make a connection with the youth or you don't. I have been very lucky with both my sites, the youth trust in me and come to me when they have questions.

Chapter 9: Authentic Communication

I think that authentic communication is something that people either have or don't have it. Many leaders have the natural drive to have this kind of communication, and for those people who are around leaders like this, is something great. Just as mentioned in the reading, " authentic communication, in relating to others in a way that reflects their own deeply held values and beliefs" (pg. 284). I've had the experience to work in many different jobs, all had something positive and negative to offer. A couple of years back I worked in retail, and I had a horrible experience with the new manager. From the very first time he set foot in the store, he thought he was the best of the best. He walk around like he was sooo important, and made everyone feel inferior to him. Even the way he spoke made you want o say "You are so full of it." Luckily, this guy was fired because of some incident that happened at work, but then one of the supervisors became the manager. This guy was awesome, he talked to us like "normal" people, he would even help us work at the register when we needed the help, this guy would even eat lunch with us. We all identified with him one way or another, and best of all, everyone got along with him. It's great to work with people like this because it makes work so much more likable.

Week 4: Technology & Teams

Technology has definitely been a huge impact in the 21st century. As mentioned in the reading, "in less than a decade, cell phones have gone from a search-for-a-signal tech-toy for the wealthy to the most pervasive mobile computing platform on the planet." Its interesting to see that everywhere you look, everyone has cell phones. Even the kids who are still in middle school have cell phones. When I was in high school, I never had a cell phone. At that point in my life, my friends and I thought pagers was the "cool" thing to have (does anyone remember those things?). I do have to admit, that when I got my first cell phone, I felt so important. I remember thinking to myself "Wow, I can really call whoever I want right now." I also have to mention that, to me, my cell phone is a very important device because you never know when you are going to need it. My mom has mentioned to me before that she thought a cell phone bill was to much money, and that I shouldn't use it anymore. I explained to her that it's important to have a cell phone. For example, if your car ever brakes down, you can always call for help. This has happened to me before, and my mom changed her perception on things. Let's see what other new gadgets we will have in the futre.

Chapter 8: Cultural Diversity in Teams

When I reading this, I never realized that there were "phases in the negotiation process"(pg.250). One that I found to be interesting was Developing Relationships with Others. When I began to work at my job that I have now, I began to work in October of 07, I had to get to know all of my co-workers. One other girl and I were the newest people on the team, the two other student workers already knew each other. When I first began working for the Drug and Alcohol Prevention Program for the County of Santa Cruz, it was something completely new to me. The first couple of weeks we had meetings every Friday where we would all do activities together, which helped us get to know each other better. Just as it mentions in the reading, "for the members of a newly formed intercultural team to develop productive work relationships, they need to be given sufficient time to explore long-term goals..." (pg.250). At my job, we all work as a team, and it does help to "develop productive work relationships." It helps me a lot to feel part of a team because I know that if I ever need help with anything, work related , I have my co-workers to help me out.

Chapter 7: Gender Differences at Work

This was completely new to me, I never really new that there was gender differences at work. I have always heard and read about how men and women communicate in interpersonal relationships, but nothing like this. As Deborah Tannen (1994) explains, "men seek status by engaging in report talk...women use conversations to build relationships using rapport talk" (pg. 204). In every job that I've had, except for the one that I have at this moment, I have always worked with women only. My current job that I have now, I only work with one male, he's one of my supervisors. I think this whole concept is interesting because the authors make such a distinguishment between male employees and women employees. For some reason, I get the impression that the authors make the women employees sound "weak, "(I may be wrong), but they when they describe male employees they describe them as not so "needy." Another thing that I thought was interesting was what Linda Babcock and Sara Lashever had to say, they "argue that women need to follow the assertive man's lead and ask for what they deserve." I'm not really understanding what they mean by this.