Discussion 02: Building a Group
Please note: In order to successfully complete the program, you must respond to this post. Your comment/response should answer the questions/show that you completed the given activity (if any). Read the post carefully and implement the learning in the chat rooms. If you didn't participate in Discussion 01: Introduction to Group Support, then check here!
Welcome back, crew! In this discussion, we will learn about building a group.
As you have observed and noticed, some chat rooms are the busiest space while some are pretty quiet or slow. That means many factors contribute to a group building. It could be the topic, time of the day, members already there, social anxiety, facilitator, and so on. Each one of them has a critical role to keep the room active and supportive.
The first thing to acknowledge: 7Cups is a global platform. We are available to 189 countries and we have users who speak more than 140+ languages. That is, we have a large group of diversified members and have demographic and cultural differences. But, the challenge is how to connect them?
So, to do that, we structured and created certain rules and policies in order to facilitate group interaction. One of them is to use English as a common language to communicate. As per the research, 20% of the Earth's population speaks English, that is, the highest percentage for a language used for communication followed by the Mandarin language.
Then, we placed the chatroom rules regarding what is acceptable or unacceptable behavior in the chatroom so we are able to ensure the room is well moderated, safe, healthy, and compassionate space to connect and interact to get and provide support to each other.
That means in order to build a group, you need to identify the common grounds, and based on that you can structure a group for group support. Anxiety Support Room, for example, serves the purpose to support the members struggling with anxiety or to share the progress they make and what is working for them. Sharing Circle Room, another example, serves the purpose of the most structured and uninterrupted space to share and vent.
So, how as a group specialist/ facilitator, leader, one sets up the group is crucially important for its success. One needs to have an eye for details, structural features of a group to ensure a good environment for participation. It is important to reduce the unproductive anxiety, foster compassionate interaction among the members, increase the likelihood of good attendance and active participation, therapeutic processes, and discourage any unhealthy cliques to build a healthy group.
Discussion: Share a challenge experienced while building a group in the chatrooms? What did you learn?
Activity: Respond to at least two of your fellow trainees' comments with thoughts on their share.
After fulfilling the requirements of this post, please check out the next discussion here! Ensure to implement the learning from these discussions in the chat rooms to build and support the group. You must take part in the brainstorming/activities given in all of these discussions to successfully complete the program.
@ASilentObserver
Share a challenge experienced while building a group in the chatrooms? What did you learn?
Feeling out of the loop when a lot of expereinced listeners are hanging out in LSR. This hasn't happened very often to me personally but I have seen/felt it happen with other listeners. I understand that those of us who have been here a while have developed good connections with each other and new listeners that might not stick around can take up extra energy from us. So I understand the reluctance to stop a conversation you're enjoying.
By welcoming in everyone who enters personally (if it's not crazy busy!) and then catching them up on what we were talking about I can make people feel included and also highlight to those having a conversation that this is a group chatroom without making them feel attacked. Making that extra effort to draw people together and connect new and old listeners feels really important.
🦊
@gentleFox20 I agree with the challenging part. And good effort trying to have a conversation with people entering the rooms. would be a good initiative
@ASilentObserver Share a challenge experienced while building a group in the chatrooms? What did you learn?
one challenge i experienced while building a group conversation is that i am a newbie here and people in groups are already friends from a long time. sometimes the conversation is already started and it is a bit difficult to fit in the group and participate in the middle of the conversation.
what did you learn? It is important to start a conversation which interests everyone and not certain people because other people might feel a bit left out in the conversation. Or having a topic to discuss upon so that everyone feel welcome
@yourbuddy30
Being a newbie does make it a challenge when there are long standing relations. A welcoming topic that a majority of the room enjoys is a great way to bring in more conversation and engagement.
@yourbuddy30 in such cases you can read up about the conversation and see if its something you would like to join in, and if it is continue conversing
@ASilentObserver
Share a challenge experienced while building a group in the chatrooms?
- Sometimes it can be hard, because most people know eachother very well and i mean very very well, i dont want someone to feel less worth by being in a group.
What did you learn?
- I learned that we should include newbies more, include more games, so we can all discuss it and have fun.
@jasmineishereforu wow, the games part would be a fun idea. we should definitely try and implement it
@yourbuddy30 Games are always fun 😊🤗
@jasmineishereforu
Definitely it can feel awkward to create a welcoming atmosphere in a room where there are some people who seem to enjoy convo in a small group inside a room.
@jasmineishereforu
Including newbies more is such an amazing thing to do, welcoming them to 7cups group chatrooms is super key to giving them an amazing first impression 💓
Tabby
1 hosting in quiet. Room or session
I learned to go with the flow and always be ready if someone comes in.
@ASilentObserver
I found my first session stressful and overwhelming to be honest, obviously it was my first time.
Nobody was in the room and it was only in the final 30 minutes did people start to join so I was getting involved in my own discussion.
I'm not really sure what I learned exactly, what I do know is that communication is key to keep up the momentum
@iCareUK
Communication seems to be a big factor in lots of places! I'm sorry that your first session didn't go super smoothly, but I'm glad people starting to come in at the end. Discussions sure can be stressful, but I promise you that they get easier. I like to read the script over 1-2 times before the session to help me out.
Share a challenge experienced while building a group in the chatrooms? What did you learn?
This discussion really formulated some of the challenges that I notice. Such as cliques, unhealthy disruptive behavior, anxiety between community members, etc. I think a lot of the challenges I've faced would be in relation to different leaders wanting to facilitate in other ways then you had planned, or members not liking the change. Everyone has to come to a common ground for things to work fairly and efficiently. That means, to build a group, you need to work as a group in the first place. It sets in those strong foundations. Funny, right? For listener chatrooms especially, I've noticed that listeners from other countries sometimes have a different cultural or ethical approach to their active listening styles than others may use. This can sometimes lead to a challenge of totally different answers regarding resources and chat support. I learned that, in essence, no answer is fully "right or wrong" and you can use a little bit of everything to come up with a diverse and supportive environment.
@ASilentObserver,
Hi, I'm kind of new to the group chats on 7Cups, but I moderate a big group in WeChat. One challenge that I have is that people like to complain about China a lot (this is where most of us live). I have to balance letting people just talk vs encouraging people to focus on the positive.
@ASilentObserver
Share a challenge experienced while building a group in the chatrooms? What did you learn?
The challenge is when there were only a few people in the room and all of them are new or never chatted with them before. After the usual greeting to each other, it sometimes followed by silence.
But when there was one or more people I know, I could just say something funny to them and it will encourage others in the room to chime in the conversation.
@ASilentObserver
As I read what people wrote here in this forum, something crossed my mind.
I think that being a leader does not mean we have to do all the talking. It definitely takes humility to let others speak and to know when to remind people or to intervene.
@VictoriaLove7
This is an underrated point. Thank you, Victoria for bringing this up. I also have the tendency to message to fill the gap and I understand that can discourage people who may just be waiting for an opportunity to send their share.
Discussion: Share a challenge experienced while building a group in the chatrooms? What did you learn?
- A challenge I've experienced while building a group in the chatroom is keeping the focus on the current discussion. Sometimes in groups there are times where everyone is enjoying themselves so much that the topic of discussion is forgotten or goes in a different direction. I learned that it's ok for the group to be super active and enthusiastic, but the enthusiasm must be directed towards the purpose of the session. Depending on the participants, humor may be a good way to direct the session back to its discussion. I.e., turning an unrelated conversation into a related joke that segues back into the topic
@SirenOfSerenity makes sense siren! sessions should be respected after all even hosst prepare a lot beforehand.