Maintaining social interactions requires empathy and good communication. Poor social relations occur when these two factors are disregarded. In this case, Li and his group members are in conflict due to the poor communication strategy. This essay will assess the group conflict and highlight effective communication and empathy techniques to apply, highlighting whether they were effective or not; therefore, the analysis will be completed using six Gibbs (1988) reflections Theory that focuses on description, feeling, evaluation, then an evaluation, analysis, conclusion and finally an action plan.
Description
Li has been unable to participate in group activities fully, and his teammates are dissatisfied and upset because of it. He is getting harsh remarks from the other team members for not participating fully in the set group activities, and the group members fear they will fail if Li does not engage. The group leader is upset with Li and calls him aside in class to reprimand him, pointing fingers at Li and threatening to expel him from the group.
Feeling
Although the group leader was doing his job, his manner of communicating with Li was scary, forcing Li to withhold revealing his difficulties. Also, the group members lacked empathy; they were quick to criticize Li’s behaviour and condemn it without investigating its source. There are better approaches to the problem.
Evaluation
Examining the escalating incident, the client realized that the group members’ communication strategy toward Li was harsh and not forthcoming. The group members needed to demonstrate empathy and arrive at conclusions about Li’s behavior after reaching out and hearing his perspective. To solve the problem, the client called all group members for a sit-down. The purpose of the gathering was to ease the mounting tension between Li and the other group members. For instance, the group leader reprimanded Li, calling him lazy, which was harsh for a group member. At this moment, the group leader used his leadership position to compel and coerce Li to collaborate by employing the parent ego communication style, but it resulted in conflict.
Analysis
The client employed therapeutic communication techniques and empathy to deal effectively with Li’s situation. According to Sofronieva (2012), empathy is listening intently, comprehending another person’s perspective, and sympathizing with their difficulties. Empathy is the ability to recognize an issue and come up with an effective solution. Calling for a group sit-down would allow Li to speak out and discuss the difficulties that hinder him from participating well in the group. Empathy enables group members to understand better the reasoning underlying Li’s conduct and to be less judgmental of him (Vogel et al., 2018). Furthermore, via empathy, group members would pay attention to and interpret Li’s difficulties as if they were their own. As a result, the group members would be able to empathize with Li’s experience and come up with a realistic solution to his problem. To demonstrate empathy, the group did not rush Li to disclose his situation. Rather, everyone was attentive. Li was slow and took his time when he was allowed to speak. However, after recognizing that the group members were calm and non-hostile, he was able to share with the group that he was working after school to aid his family, work that was inconveniencing him. After hearing about his struggles, the group agreed to create a new group timetable that was convenient for Li.
Empathy is only sufficient if the communication method employed is effective. The client used communication to address Li’s conflict with the group. The communication strategy fosters strong relationships between the persons concerned and allows parties in a dialogue to make responsible decisions (Wachtel, 2011). Therapeutic communication is client-centered, and Li is the client in this situation. To comprehend his concerns, the group had to suppress their negative opinions and facilitate Li to talk freely without feeling judged. According to Wachtel (2011), therapeutic communication is also goal-oriented. This meeting aimed to allow Li to express his feelings freely and unanimously come up with favorable solutions to his problems. Also, for the meeting aim to be met, the client must not be pushed and must be allowed an opportunity to speak freely, which was accomplished, resulting in an inviting conclusion to the group meeting. Finally, therapeutic communication allows for self-disclosure by all people involved. The willingness of the group to give Li room to open up helped him to speak up about his home problems and how they influenced his group work participation. Because of Li’s self-disclosure, the group empathized, recognized his predicament, and modified their schedule to accommodate him.
Conclusion
Working in a team requires effective communication and a breakdown in communication or poor communication among team members can lead to conflict, hurting the group’s long-term goals. However, good communication strategies such as empathy and therapeutic communication can help to resolve group conflicts.
Action plan
The use of empathy and therapeutic dialogue to tackle Li’s problem assisted in resolving the group argument. It aided Li and the group members in improving their relationship and establishing a solid foundation for future group problems mediation. In the future, these are two communication tactics I will borrow to address future group communication issues.
References
Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Educational Unit, Oxford Polytechnic, Oxford. https://thoughtsmostlyaboutlearning.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/learning-by-doing-graham-gibbs.pdf
Sofronieva, E. (2012). Empathy and communication. Rhetoric and Communications E-Journal, 4, 1-9. https://rhetoric.bg/empathy-and-communication
Vogel, D., Meyer, M., & Harendza, S. (2018). Verbal and non-verbal communication skills, including empathy during history taking of undergraduate medical students. BMC medical education, 18(1), 1-7. https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-018-1260-9
Wachtel, P. L. (2011). Therapeutic communication: Knowing what to say when. Guilford Press.
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