Lately, Rhythm of Faith has been dealing with teamwork issues. This issue becomes even more sensitive around performance season. The past two weeks, RoF has been preparing to perform at Weekend of Worship. (Weekend of Worship is a 3 night event hosted by Harvest Global Mission Church, one of Penn State's on-campus ministries. It will be at 102 Forum, and the event is open to all! If you're interested, please don't hesitate to join us.) Our tracklist consists of "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper, "Sweetly Broken" by Jeremy Camp, and "Yesterday" by the Boyz II Men.
All three songs require an incredible amount of teamwork and coordination.
During this week's practice, RoF struggled through a long practice of singing over and over again.
One thing we struggled with was constructive criticism. Several groups of students were struggling with their parts during various parts of the rehearsal. The rehearsal was rather difficult to get through because tension began to build as criticisms were given across the room. In the end, the tensions died down as we continued to sing and move past the criticisms.
In any team effort, I think constructive criticism is very important. It's essential for those receiving the constructive criticism to be able to mature enough to accept the suggestions and take heed to the group's advice. It's also essential for those giving the constructive criticism to be able to discern the difference between constructive criticism and plain criticism. After this week's practice, I feel that RoF has taken a step closer to becoming a tighter, more unified group. The phase of dealing with constructive criticism is crucial for a group to improve, and I hope that RoF will continue to learn to work with each other and be able to sing our hearts out together! =]
Your take on constructive criticism reminds me a lot about this month's issue of Psychology Today. the cover article actually talks about the importance of dealing out and receiving criticism. It is so hard to take honest criticism because as people we take it as an attack on our person instead of advice on how we can improve. Also, when is the event taking place? It sounds like a great time!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to hear that everything worked out and you guys got closer. I feel like constructive criticisms can either bring groups together or push them apart, but it really shows how strong your group is if you're able to stay together and work through it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that constructive criticism is necessary in order for a group to improve and become morse successful. So many times we become offended when someone comments on our work, but it is important for us to understand how we must rely on other perspectives in order to get better.
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