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
A challenge I have definitely experienced more than once is the lurking and people feeling shy to talk. The group chat room will say that there about like 22 people participating not including comm mods on duty and I feel like maybe only 4 or 5 will talk. Some people are shy about talking and will just lurk or are there but won’t say anything at all again lurking. Another issue similar to this I’ve experienced is with new members and sometimes even listeners. Some people have been on here for a good bit and know and have friends on here so new people may feel awkward trying to join in on here. Some things I do to help ease that problem is by including hem in the conversation or making another conversation about random questions. Including people that you know are there but are shy is an amazing thing to do while building a group.
@Supergirl134679
Hello - what awesome things to do! Including people is super important 💓
Tabby
@ASilentObserver
There are two challenges that I face often. Engaging people when they don't want to be and then people who break chat room rules purposefully.
Often times we enter chat rooms and find them to be quiet. With this being a worldwide platform there are bound to be people in the room regardless of the hour in which I am entering. There have been times when I do a regular "Hey all, anyone here" and someone will respond and we start a nice little conversation until more people join the room. Then there are times when I do that same greeting, get a reply, but no matter how I try to engage in conversation there is push back. This happened the other night. Unfortunately we didn't enjoy the same type of things and to the other person they took it as I was trying to get on their nerves and being rude. That is a challenge, especially when you attempt to explain yourself that you just don't like the same things and that, that in itself is okay too.
I also have seen recently multiple users bypass the censorship. Instead of using other like words which could be understood in the same context they use periods or spaces to spell out the vulgar words. These words are typically sexual in nature. It appeared to me that they felt the room was their private chat space so I would enter a "be mindful of other people in the room". Just a little heads up, there are other people here who may not appreciate it. Then they get on the defense, that we are all adults and that they should be able to speak as such. I stop engaging at this point because I know my point will no loner be understood. Again it's a challenge. Everyone coming to this site has unique needs and unique ways of communicating. It is also important to follow the rules that have been set forth to keep this a safe place for all.
@galaxybeyond
First of all, I am so sorry you have had this experience. I have your insights to look to, which I'm grateful for, as I have never experienced this. However, I'm gladly going into my future group chats so that I can look to your experience as a part of the guide on how to deal with this.
@ASilentObserver
Hello Obs!
Share a challenge experienced while building a group in the chatrooms? What did you learn?
When I first started , a big struggle was when the discussion first starts, people tend to be maybe anxious, not sure how to participate or what to say.
Instead of going straight into the discussion I think it's really important to welcome all members, ask how they are. And also do an ice breaker or two!
This can really help members feel more comfortable and start the chat going, and helps people engage in the discussion 💗
Tabby
@TabbyCat97 I really like the idea of welcoming participants with icebreakers. really thoughtful of you :)
- Keeping the members active and engaged can be challenging.
- Getting members to participate in discussions and share their thoughts can be difficult.
- Dealing with disagreements and conflicts between group members can be a challenge.
From these challenges, it's important to have clear communication and leadership within the group, encourage active participation and open discussion, and have processes in place for resolving conflicts. Maintaining a positive and inclusive environment can also help in building a strong and successful group.
@ASilentObserver
@BlueRivercares that's correct blue River sometimes it's Best to have open ended questions because that way it gives them an opportunity to respond. It's hard sometimes but you also have to have empathy for people that have a hard time communicating. Sometimes it says simple as talking about a favorite book or movie or TV show. I hope that helps let me know if you need anything.
@BlueRivercares
Personally, I find the small group chats easier especially if it is your first time hosting or having a group because you can connect with people and understand how it works before having a bigger faster group.
@ASilentObserver
Share a challenge experienced while building a group in the chatrooms? What did you learn?
Conversations can end without a clear transition to a new topic, and people don't know what to do and end up leaving.
What I learned: Try to provide a new conversation topic, or even icebreakers if needed
@TheCrew4887 the crew sometimes you have to be creative in your conversations. Even if there's a topic like today it was checking in in the listener support room. For some people it's easy to talk but for others they need to be confident that they won't be judged or made fun of. It's easy to think that we are immune to that because we're just behind Computer screens but the thing about chatting online it is sitting like this you're putting your world out in front of everyone
@TheCrew4887
Well done on learning!
@TheCrew4887 wow yes I agree
I love your answer, it's very helpful and it shows how you've put thought in it.
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@ASilentObserver
I hosted a positivity pop-up last week and waiting for people to join was difficult. As a person with ADHD, I go into a waiting mode for these moments and must remember to stay calm and focused. The rest of the pop-ups go very well; everyone has been encouraging. I also appreciate the opportunity to go into the support room for an hour here and there to give encouraging words. I found that some of the disorganized flow was navigated by asking the whole group if they also felt the way that the individual who just shared their experience—for example, the pandemic and how it became normal to be homebodies. When I brought the group back to the shared experience, the individual who first shared felt seen, relieved they were not alone and relieved that they had people who were here to support them in coming forward to share their story.
@broadfemmelovelive, I like the idea of posing experiences participants talk about back to the others in the room as questions. I have done that, but I do not think that it was very conscious. I will pay more attention to it! 😊
@ASilentObserver Challenge that I've had in building a group in a group chat room it's just like some of the other people have said. I did a pop-up yesterday to practice for my training this week actually for the next six weeks five weeks now I guess. Doing a pop-up is different than doing a scheduled meeting because pop-up you just do and with a scheduled meeting you're able to get people more involved.
I m sorry to hear that you faced such challenges I hope your next session will be better good luck
@ASilentObserver
Challenged i face in a group support room is the confict which occured in sharing circle the first day i hosted.
The lesson i learned that we can stop the conflict by asking a icebreaker, calling a communityMOD the room where conflict is happening etc
@HealingbeamsI have found this a challange too, i will try to impliment waht you have learned though!
@ASilentObserver
A challenge I have experienced is when I or a person comes in a room and the topic is hot(as in the room is going fast), so people already in the chatroom tend to ignore you, therefore one can struggle to fit in , in that moment and struggle to engage.
I have leant that in such cases, a person should just join the conversation by replying or have an input to the topic already in hand and converse with others and not feel left out
@SoothingHope I definitely agree with you that people can have a hard time feeling like they fit into groups sometimes. Especially if it's their first time in one of the groups and they see the chat is going pretty fast
@SoothingHope
Thanks for these tips!
