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Chapter 9
Groups and Teams:
Strategies for Decision Making and Problem Solving
ABOUT CHAPTER 9
This chapter introduces students to the principles of solving problems in groups. They learn that
the group or team is essential in the corporation, and that their careers depend in part on their
ability to function effectively as team members and leaders.
To operate effectively, team members must learn to be supportive, to exercise participative
decision making, to show trust and openness, and to set high performance goals. The healthier
the group climate, the more cohesive the group.
Students consider different methods of making decisions, but they focus primarily on consensus.
They learn to plot and analyze their own behavior on a decision-making grid, which provides a
visual depiction of the relationship between concern that a decision will actually work, and
concern that the group will be committed to it. This chapter also gives students an opportunity to
explore brainstorming as a way of encouraging group members’ potential for creativity.
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT
Objectives and Content Activities and Resources
LO1 Define group, distinguishing a team
as a special type of group. In the text:
Pages 236-237
Review, Reflect, & Apply
Understand
Apply
Evaluate
In the Instructor’s Manual:
9.6 Skill Builder: Evaluating Groups on
Television
Worksheet: Groups Galore
On Line
Video: Small Group Communication
Self-Inventory
LO2 Identify the characteristics and
components of groups. In the text:
Pages 238-241
Review, Reflect, & Apply
Recall
Understand
Apply
In the Instructor’s Manual:
9.3 Skill Builder: The Group versus the
Individual
9.9 Skill Builder: Two Groups
LO3 Describe the advantages and
disadvantages of using a group to make
decisions and solve problems. In the text:
Pages 242-244
Skill Builder: Golden Rules of Decision
Making
Review, Reflect & Apply
Recall
Understand
Evaluate
In the Instructor’s Manual:
9.1 Skill Builder: Group Process Killers I
Have Known
9.10 Skill Builder: Trace
LO4 Distinguish among task, maintenance
and self-serving group roles.. In the Text
Pages 244-246
Ethics and Communication: The Social
Loafer
Review, Reflect & Apply
Recall
Understand
Evaluate
LO5 Compare and contrast cooperative
and competitive goal structures, and
defensive behaviors and supportive
behaviors..
In the text:
Pages 247-250
Review, Reflect & Apply
Understand
Analyze
Apply
In the Instructor’s Manual
9.11 Skill Builder: Group Polarization
Discussion Starters
On the Online Learning Center (OLC):
Video: Defensive/Supportive
Communication
LO6 Describe the means groups use to
achieve their goals, including decision-
making methods reflecting thinking and
brainstorming.
In the text:
Pages 250-257
Review, Reflect & Apply
Recall
Understand
Apply
Media Wise: What Can We Learn from
Online Speak?
In the Instructor’s Manual:
9.4 Skill Builder: Brain Power through
Brainstorming
Ethics and Communication: Avoiding
Problems
LO7 Explain how gender, culture and
technology affect group interaction. In the text:
Pages 257-262
Discussion Starters
In the Instructor’s Manual:
9.2 Skill Builder: Communication Factory
(Tinkertoys)
9.5 Skill Builder: Danger, Danger
On Line Campus : Fishbone Technique
Animation
LO8 Apply techniques for improving
group effectiveness
In the text:
Pages 262-263
Media Wise: What Can We Learn from
Online Speak?
Review, Reflect & Apply
Recall
Understand
Analyze
In the Instructor’s Manual
9.7 Skill Builder: The Cyber Group
9.13 Skill Builder: Reflect and Respond
9.14 Skill Builder: Listen/View
9.15 Skill Builder: Service Learning
Discussion Starters
Thinking Critically: Reflect and Respond
Self-Analysis Scale
Additional Activities On the Online Learning Center (OLC):
Key Term Flashcards
Self-Quizzes
Key Term Crosswords
Self-Quizzes
PowerPoint Files (Teacher Area of OLC)
LESSON OUTLINE FOR CHAPTER 9
I. Groups and You
Note: Incorporate activities from the text and instructor’s manual.
II. Characteristics and Components of Groups
A. Membership
B. Size
C. Group Goals, Structure, and Climate
Note: Incorporate activities from the text and instructor’s manual.
III. Using Groups to Solve Problems
A. Groups as Problem Solvers
1. Advantages of the Small Group
2. Disadvantages of the Small Group
B. When to Use a Group for Problem Solving
C. Decision Making in Groups
1. Strategies: Methods of Decision Making
2. Personal Styles: A Decision-Making Grid
3. Questions for Decision Makers: Facts, Values, and Policies
4. A Framework for Decision Making
5. The Search for Better Ideas: Brainstorming
Note: Incorporate activities from the text and instructor’s manual.
IV. Technology, Gender, Culture, and Groups
Note: Incorporate activities from the text and instructor’s manual.
V. Making Groups Effective
Note: Incorporate activities from the text and instructor’s manual.
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What groups do you belong to now? Are there groups that you would not want to join? If
so, why not?
2. Assume that you have just started your own business. What characteristics would you
want in the team members you hire to help you operate it?
3. What behaviors let some people exert more influence than others in groups?
4. Do you feel that consensus would be an effective method of decision making in your
speech communication class? Why or why not?
5. Suppose that you are a member of a group representing professional athletes in contract
negotiations. The group has decided that one of your clients should sit out the season
rather than sign the contract he or she has been offered. If you feel that this is an error,
how would you react as a 1/1, 1/9, 9/1, 5/5, and 9/9 decision maker?
6. How could you handle a group in which no one other than you had received any training
in group process techniques?
7. Give examples of the three kinds of key questions used for a discussion.
8. Do you feel that groups can work effectively in cyberspace?
9. Have you attempted to solve problems with a group online? If so, what problems did you
encounter?
MORE DISCUSSION STARTERS
1. Have students consider the “Random Thoughts by Archy” in the Don Marquis poem,
“archy’s life of mehitabel”. How do Archy’s remarks reflect group decision-making?
“I have noticed that when chickens quit quarreling over their food they often find
that there is enough for all of them I wonder if it might not be the same way with
the human race.”
2. Our world contains more than 6 billion people. It also contains hundreds of millions of
formal and informal groups. How do the groups you belong to influence you as an
individual?
3. Compile a list of groups to which you belong, groups to which you aspire to belong, and
groups to which you refuse to belong.
4. Select two groups you have belonged to: one that represent what you consider to be
effective climate and one that represents an ineffective climate.
5. Do you perceive a problem as a game or as work? How does your perception influence
your response?
6. Do you agree with this statement?
“Most of the decisions that affect our lives are not made by individuals, but by small
groups of people in executive boardrooms, faculty meetings, town councils, quality
circles, dorm rooms, kitchens, locker rooms and a host of other meeting places.”
Arthur Jensen
ADDITIONAL SKILL BUILDERS
9.1 SKILL BUILDER: Group Process Killers I Have Known
1. List and describe “killer phrases” and “killer looks” that have discouraged you from
participating in a group.
2. List and describe “killer phrases” and “killer looks” that you yourself have used on other
group members.
3. Identify the specific effects of such “killer” phrases or looks on the problem-solving efforts of
the group.
4. Compare your lists with those of your classmates.
9.2 SKILL BUILDER: Communication Factory (Tinkertoys)
Divide the class into groups. Give each group a can of Tinkertoys. (This investment will last for
years.)
Using Tinkertoys, the job of each team is to design symbols for as many of the following
organizations as possible. After each symbol is completed, the instructor awards points for the
design (on a scale of 1 to 10). Students then disassemble the symbol and move on to the next
design project.
Hughes helicopter
Arrow shirts
Commercial Realty Company
Soft-drink company
US. Army
Continental Airlines
CBS
Republican Party
Democratic Party
The goal of each group is to earn as many points as possible in a 15-minute period. Afterwards,
have group members discuss each group’s performance. They should consider leadership,
cooperation, and participation. Also, ask them to determine how they could have worked on the
project more effectively.
9.3 SKILL BUILDER: The Group versus the Individual
The purpose of this exercise is to explore the differences between individual and group decisions.
1. Complete each of the following tasks—first working alone and then as a member of a
problem-solving group.
2. When the tasks have been completed in both ways, answer these questions: How did the
group’s response differ from your own? Why?
Task A: States
Arrange the following 20 states geographically, from easternmost (number 1) to
westernmost (number 20). Disregard north and south. Do not use maps.
Alabama New Jersey
Arkansas New Mexico
Colorado New York
Delaware North Dakota
Georgia Ohio
Idaho Oklahoma
Illinois Utah
Maine Washington
Minnesota Wisconsin
Mississippi Wyoming
Task B: A Foundation
You operate a foundation that is empowered to grant $1 million to one--and only one--of
the following applicants. The money may not be divided among the candidates. The
person to whom the grant is awarded may not put it to personal use. The following
profiles are the only information you have about the candidates.
Rank the candidates 1 (most deserving) to 10 (least deserving).
ANGELA is a 52-year-old nun who teaches in a depressed area. She says she will use
the money to clothe, feed, house, and educate low-income people in the area.
BILLY is a 7-year-old boy who has had bone cancer for four years. He will die unless
new and expensive life-saving procedures are used. In addition, his family would like to
use the money for some of the joys of childhood he has missed—including a trip to
Disneyland. They say they will donate the remaining money to the Cancer Research
Fund.
CHARLES is the 45-year-old director the School for Human Resources, an organization
that educates youngsters with muscular disorders. He needs the money to improve the
school’s facilities, increase its educational offerings, and hire a full-time psychologist for
the students.
DOUGLAS is a 60-year-old union president and founder of the Needy Children’s
Scholarship Fund. He says he would use the money to send disadvantaged minority
young people to college.
EVELYN is a 40-year-old prosperous real estate developer. She says that she will use
the money to become a partner in real estate deals that will return 10 times the initial
investment in five years. With part of the profit she expects to build a modern housing
project for elderly people.
FELIPE is a 52-year-old paraplegic who received his injuries during the Vietnam War.
Although he is eligible for disability benefits, he refuses to accept them. Felipe would
use the money to help other disabled veterans lead a more normal life.
GREG is an orphaned college student majoring in physics. He supports himself and his
two younger sisters by taking odd jobs. Greg hopes to become a nuclear physicist. He
would use the money to take care of his family and pay for his education.
HANNAH is 24 years old and a promising medical student. She was adopted as a
newborn. Although she loves her adoptive parents, Hannah would like to find her natural
parents. She needs the money to fund her search and help with her medical school
expenses.
INEZ is a 20-year-old struggling artist who refuses to use her family’s money to further
her career. She says she would use the award to lease or build space and purchase the
materials that would give her and a group of other aspiring artists the security they need
to develop and show their work.
JENNY is a mildly retarded 6-month-old whose parents were killed in an automobile
accident. She has been adopted by an aunt and uncle. The money would be placed in a
trust and given to her when she reaches her 21st birthday
