Communication Paper
Chapter 7
can define a group as three or more people who interact over time, depend on one another, and follow shared rules of conduct to reach a common goal.
A team is a special kind of group characterized by different, complementary resources of members and by a strong sense of collective identity
When idea generation is the goal, brainstorming groups are appropriate. The goal of brainstorming is to come up with as many ideas as possible.
Focus groups are used to find out what people think about a specific idea, product, issue, or person.
The solitary manager, president, or CEO who relies only on his or her own ideas is not functional in modern life. Instead, most high-level decision makers rely on advisory groups to provide expert briefing on the range of issues relevant to decisions they must make.
Many professions rely on project teams, which consist of people who have expertise related to different facets of a project and who combine their knowledge and skills to accomplish a common goal.
Quality improvement teams (also called continuous quality improvement teams) include three or more people who have distinct skills or knowledge and who work together to improve quality in an organization
Some decision-making groups are ongoing; they meet on a regular basis to make decisions about training and development, public relations, budgets, and other matters.
Another potential disadvantage of group work is the possibility of social loafing, which exists when members of a group exert less effort than they would if they worked alone
Synergy 协同作用 is a special kind of collaborative vitality that enhances the efforts, talents, and strengths of individual members
Have you ever felt really connected to others and excited about working to achieve a common goal? If so, then you know what cohesion is. Cohesion is the degree of closeness among members and the sense of group spirit.
Extreme cohesion sometimes leads to groupthink, in which members cease to think critically and independently.
Power is the ability to influence others. There are two distinct kinds of power.
Power over is the ability to help or harm others. This form of power usually is expressed in ways that emphasize and build the status of the person wielding influence. A team leader might exert positive power over a member by providing mentoring, giving strong performance reviews, and assigning the member high status roles on the team. A leader could also exert negative power by withholding these benefits, assigning unpleasant tasks, and responding negatively to a member’s contributions to meetings.
Power to is the ability to empower others to reach their goals. People who empower others do not emphasize their status. Instead, they act behind the scenes to enlarge others’ influence and visibility and help others succeed. Power to creates opportunities for others, recognizes achievements, and helps others accomplish their goals.
How is power related to participation? First, members with high power tend to be the centers of group communication; they talk more, and others talk more to them.
Social climbing is the attempt to increase personal status in a group by winning the approval of high-status members. If social climbing doesn’t increase the status of those doing it, they often become marginal participants in groups.
Interaction pattern
In centralized patterns, one or two people hold central positions, and most or all communication goes directly to them or is funneled through them.
Decentralized patterns promote more balanced communication. As you might suspect, the power of individual members often affects interaction patterns. If one or two members have greater power, a centralized pattern of interaction is likely to emerge. Decentralized patterns are more typical when members have roughly equal power.
A final feature of small groups is the presence of norms—guidelines that regulate how members act as well as how they interact with each other.
Standard agenda
1: define a problem
2: gather and analysis evidence and problem
3: establish criteria for a solution
4: generate and evaluate solution
5: select and implement the best solution or decision
6: monitor the decision
the nominal group technique
1: introduction and explanation
2: silent generation of ideas
3: sharing ideas
4: group discussion
5: voting and ranking
task communication One of three constructive forms of participation in group decision making; focuses on giving and analyzing information and ideas, clarifies members’ understanding, and critically evaluates ideas.
procedural communication One of three constructive ways of participating in group decision making; orders ideas and coordinates contributions of members. It helps a group get organized and stay on track. Procedural contributions establish agendas, coordinate members’ comments, and record group progress.
climate communication One of three constructive forms of participation in group decision making; the creating and sustaining of an open, engaged and constructive climate for discussion.
Egocentric communication, or dysfunctional communication, blocks others and productive discussion and sabotages a healthy climate.
Leadership is the process of establishing and maintaining a good working climate, organizing group processes, and ensuring that discussion is substantive.
Typically, disruptive conflict is marked by egocentric communication that is competitive as members vie with each other to wield influence and get their way.