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Chapter 10
Communicating in Groups
CHAPTER OUTCOMES
•
List the characteristics and types of groups and explain how groups develop
•
Describe ways in which group size, social relationships, and communication networks affects
− Common goals
− Interdependent relationships
o Types of Groups:
− Primary groups, or long-lasting groups that form around the relationships that mean the
most to their members
o There are two different research perspectives on the stages of group development.
− The stage model states that as groups develop, they progress through five stages:
• Forming—Members begin to negotiate the roles and goals of the group. This includes
making friends, fitting in, and identifying.
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
• Adjourning—A group’s mission comes to an end, and the group disbands. This does
not occur with all groups.
o Termination ritual takes place when a group celebrates its achievements with a final get-
together.
− The punctuated equilibrium model states that groups experience a period of inertia or
inactivity until they become aware of time, pressure, and deadlines, which then compel
group members to take action.
• Some groups show patterns of punctuated equilibrium where procrastination and inactivity
are followed by a burst of inactivity and change.
• Complexity of Group Communication explores how group communication grows more
this makes the group interaction awkward for those who are not affiliated with a
subgroup.
• Stay in contact.
o Group Networks
− Networks are patterns of interaction that governs who speaks with whom in a group and
about what.
• Two main positions within a network are centrality and isolation, with the team leader
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© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
• Understanding Group Roles examines three types of roles a person might assume within a
group:
o Task Roles are concerned with accomplishing the group’s goals.
toward ideas presented or by joking or changing the subject.
• Distractors go off on tangents or tell irrelevant stories.
o Role Conflict occurs when expectations for a member’s behavior are incompatible.
ideas, and cooperating rather than competing with members. May lead to group- think.
o Norms are determined and imposed by the group.
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
• People may experience communication apprehension in groups due to lack of self-
esteem, status differences, or unbalanced participation.
− Assertiveness is the use of communication messages to demonstrate confidence,
dominance, and forcefulness in order to achieve personal goals.
• Argumentativeness is a specific type of assertiveness in which a person tends to
express positions on controversial issues and verbally attack the positions of others.
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1.
Think of a group you are currently in and have been in for a length of time. How have some
of the different group development stages such as forming, storming, and norming happened
within that group?
2.
What kinds of things stifle productive conflict in groups?
3.
How do online groups affect the dynamics of group communication?
4.
If we think of the classroom as a group, what are some norms that have formed in this class?
How are these norms different compared to other classroom norms?
5.
What are some role conflicts you might encounter in your family, with other students, in your
workplace, or in your social groups? What are some ways you might resolve a role conflict?
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PERSONAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
1. Identify Your Network
Looking at the different types of networks, when you are part of a group, which type of network
Write a two- to three-page paper reflecting on these questions.
2. Communication Apprehension
hints will help.
3. That’s Not What I Meant
Review the And You? on p. 000 of the text. Have you ever been involved in a misunderstanding
in a group because of cultural differences? Be sure to think broadly about cultural differences—
1.
Do You “Do” Groups?
1.
Ask students to share their opinions on group projects in classes. (Note: Most will say they
2.
Ask students to design a group project that meets the following learning objective:
3.
Give students ten minutes to design their projects individually, and then five minutes to
share their ideas in pairs. Ask for volunteers to describe their projects to the rest of the
class.
outlook.
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2.
Forming a Web
Goal: To have students understand how different types of networks form in groups
1.
Have students stand and form a large circle in the classroom.
3.
Ask all the men to step forward and form a smaller circle inside the larger circle. Then ask
all the men to step back and ask all the women to step forward to create a smaller circle.
4.
Repeat this same process by calling on the following groups, or choose other group
names based on the makeup of your class:
•
Communication majors
•
Those who love cats
Continue with more groups if you wish.
Debriefing: Once you have created several different group configurations, ask students to stand
next to the two people they were in the same group with the most. Discuss what kinds of
networks you see forming. Chain? Wheel? All channel? What causes these formations?
3.
Measuring Goals
2.
Projector for the computer
Directions:
2.
Ask students to choose three goals from the home page of this site and evaluate them based
on the communication strategies for setting group goals as described on pp. 000–00 of the
text. Strategies include the following:
3.
Have students form pairs and share their evaluations. Have each pair rewrite the goals to
make them fit the standards laid out in the text.
4.
Be a Clown
1.
“Group Role Information” handout (provided at the end of this chapter)
3.
Survival exercise that you create or choose from the website
wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/SurvivalScenarios.html (Note: You can also bring in
1. Break students into groups of five to six.
3. Explain to students that they have been assigned the roles listed on their cards, and that
they are to follow those roles as much as possible.
4. Give students a group survival exercise and have them carry it out within the classroom.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
REVIEW QUESTIONS
2.
What is social loafing? If we consider it to be a negative behavior, why does it happen so
often? Why do we allow it? How can it be prevented?
3.
Describe various types of networks in groups and explain how one goes about changing the
shape of a network.
4.
What are some of the issues that arise when groups become larger? How is communication
affected?
5.
What are cohesion and interdependence? How can groups develop these characteristics?
153
6.
Give several examples of group norms. Consider whether your classroom groups have norms.
If so, what are they?
7.
How can culture and gender affect group communication?
8.
How can individual differences create challenges in a group?
MEDIA
Band of Brothers
(HBO, 2001)
The Bling Ring
(A24, 2013)
Satirically depicting the exploits of real-life young people who burglarized the Southern
characters communicate through shared experience.
The Breakfast Club (A&M Films, 1985)
In this classic coming-of-age film, a group of teenagers who seem to have nothing in
cohesive group.
The Commitments
(United Artists, 1991)
look for nuances of group behavior as they watch the film. What insights into stages of
group development does the film offer?
High School Musical
(Disney Channel, 2006)
This popular film looks at how two high school students work to break free from the
the rest of the school work through their own group expectations?
Mean Girls
(Paramount Pictures, 2004)
Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence, by
Rosalind Wiseman. Discuss with students how the film examines the ways in which cliques
shape and are shaped by teenage girls.
The Wire (HBO television series, 2002–2008; available on DVD)
within group networks and how these positions affect events and relationships in the story.
Zero Dark Thirty
(Columbia, 2012)
A powerful docudrama about the efforts by the U.S. intelligence community and military that
culminated in the termination of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, this intense movie
to analyze Maya’s effectiveness, and how that effectiveness is both increased and diminished
by single-minded focus. Considering how many people Maya upset and how much friction
she caused at the highest levels of government, did the end justify the means?
