How to Study Communication?

I think I want to change my first class.

It's actually an elective, and it's about the dynamics of working in teams. It's a really interesting topic, and it uses different mediums to show you the different ways that people must collaborate - conference calls, webinars, in person, etc.

To that effect, our first class was a conference call. Unfortunately it was pretty underwhelming - some people were late, some hadn't received the instructions email, some had received it but hadn't read it...I know it's only the first class, but I was looking for a little more discipline. I've always been a stickler for discipline - at work, at school, even singing in a chorus.

In this first call, I realized how much I dislike working through certain mediums, like conference calls. I'm a people person - I love working with people face-to-face. I want to use my hands, my face, and my voice to express myself. I realize the importance of using different mediums, but the in-person dynamic will always be the most important. Furthermore, I ask myself what the value is of mastering a medium that I would prefer not to work in.

Listening to our professor explain the format of the course, it still sounded very interesting and extremely useful.

But she said that the outcome of our various team projects didn't matter - just the dynamics of the team itself as we worked on a project - and we had to write papers throughout the course about those group dynamics.

Which made me realize something: what is the best way to study communication?

Can you simply eliminate the importance of the project itself and study the communication that surrounds it? In that case, how do you get inspired to complete the project when it doesn't matter?

Or is communication something that happens when you focus on the project itself? Is communication only realizable in hindsight?

It reminds me of a similar question: Can you teach leadership, or is leadership something that happens when you're doing something else?

During my time at the Center for Public Leadership, I've realized that if you can break down leadership into its numerous characteristics (decision-making, negotiation, interpersonal communication, etc.), you can teach them to varying degrees. And you can be so inspired by other leaders as to take on their charisma and passion. You can also read "case studies" of leadership and learn from how leaders have acted in certain situations.

A colleague of mine recently said that leadership is an activity, not a characteristic - that's why you can fail from time to time and still be a successful leader.

Getting back to the team dynamics class, I am trying to transfer to a required class instead of an elective. I think the required class will give me a more accurate sense of the graduate program itself and help me focus on other skills that I really want to develop.

Stay tuned.