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Chapter 11
Small Group Communication
CHAPTER OUTCOMES
In this chapter, students will learn:
• The defining characteristics and various types of small groups
• How effective small groups communicate
CHAPTER OUTLINE
DEFINING
SMALL
GROUPS
Participating in groups can help you accomplish tasks that would be difficult to do on your own. But
working in groups is not always easy. In order to increase the chances for a group’s success, it helps to
know why small groups form and the stages they go through.
• A small group is defined as three or more interdependent persons who share a common identity and
CHARACTERISTICS OF SMALL GROUPS
• A small group has the following four defining characteristics:
1. It is made up of interdependent persons whose behavior influences the entire group. The failure of
one person can compromise the group’s ability to accomplish their shared goals.
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3. Its members share a common identity and see themselves as a group. Over time, small groups
develop rituals, inside jokes, and stories that further strengthen their identity. A common identity
4. Its members communicate to achieve common purposes or goals; if they’re communicating to
pass the time, they’re not a small group.
• A virtual small group is a team of three or more people who rely on mediated communications to
achieve its goals. This type of group has two unique characteristics:
1. Team members are separated by physical distance.
TYPES OF SMALL GROUPS
• Primary groups are the individuals who meet your basic life, psychological, and social needs, such
as family and friends.
oThey protect you from harm and loneliness.
• Secondary groups consist of people with whom you want to achieve specific goals or perform tasks.
oSome secondary groups have a short life, while others work together over long periods of time.
oTypes of secondary groups include the following:
• Support groups that facilitate personal problem solving or help cope with a life event.
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• Problem-solving groups that help identify, analyze, and develop solutions to problems.
DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL GROUPS
• Small groups generally go through five phases.
oYou can tell what phase a group is in by how members communicate with each other, which
changes over time.
• Forming phase
oMembers start to become acquainted with each other, seek to understand the task, and overcome a
high level of uncertainty.
• Storming phase
oThe group becomes familiar with its task and with each other.
oMembers express different ideas about how to approach the task and who will take on leadership
roles.
• Norming phase
oThe group resolves conflicts.
• Performing phase
oMembers actually make the required contributions for completing the task.
oGroup members’ efforts are well coordinated and directed to achieving the goal.
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• Adjourning phase
oThis phase may begin once the group completes its objectives and disbands.
HOW
SMALL
GROUPS
COMMUNICATE
Groups achieve their stated goals when members communicate in a cooperative and productive fashion.
You can help the group build and maintain positive relationships by understanding how group roles work
and by adapting your communication to foster group unity.
• Setting the stage for competent communication can be accomplished in five ways: balancing group
BALANCING GROUP ROLES
• Formal roles are assigned positions that members take on by appointment or election.
• Group roles (informal roles) are unassigned, specific patterns of behavior and communication that
Task Roles
• Task roles are roles that support the group in achieving its goals. Group members exchange
information about a duty or goal important to the group. For example, individuals serving task roles
may be the coordinator, information-giver, researcher, critical thinker, or note taker.
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Maintenance Roles
• Maintenance roles are roles that help strengthen and secure relationships between
group members by building trust and appreciative interpersonal relationships. Teams can achieve high
Group Role Emergence and Flexibility
• Group role emergence and flexibility refers to finding that the roles that members play depend on
their personality.
oExtraverted individuals tend to naturally fall into maintenance roles, and group members who are
conscientious assume task roles with greater ease.
oBy practicing critical self-reflection, you increase your self-awareness of the various roles you
can play in a small group.
Egocentric Roles
• Egocentric roles occur when one team member’s communication disrupts the group’s efforts. Group
members may be an aggressor, dominator, withdrawer, side talker, or joker.
BUILDING COHESIVENESS
• In a cohesive group, members like each other and have a sense of camaraderie; this can fulfill a
human need to belong and is one reason people join groups.
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oIn highly cohesive groups, members feel a strong sense of unity and commitment to the group’s
work.
ESTABLISHING POSITIVE NORMS
• Norms are the expectations about behavior within a group. To have the most impact, norms should be
clearly communicated. Members can establish positive norms by following a few simple steps:
oCreate ground rules (written expectations about behavior) when the group first comes together.
oConfront problem behaviors immediately and use conflict-management skills to confront
behaviors that disrupt the group’s interpersonal relationships or goals.
SHARING RESPONSIBILITY
• Shared leadership is created when group members influence one another’s work and they each feel a
sense of ownership about their contributions and the group’s goals.
oTo encourage a sense of shared leadership, the formal leader of a small group should
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MANAGING PHYSICAL SPACE
• The physical environment affects the communication process.
oSemi-fixed features are those that can be easily moved or changed and can influence how group
Highly cohesive group members tend to sit closer together than those in less cohesive groups,
and those who occupy seats at the head of a table or in a center position are more likely to be
perceived as leaders.
oTo manage physical space in ways that support communication, look for spaces that fit the needs
of the group, such as finding a quiet, comfortable environment for meetings or a room with
whiteboards to list ideas generated during brainstorming sessions.
THE
SELF’S
INFLUENCES
ON
SMALL
GROUP
COMMUNICATION
Your self-concept shapes how you communicate in small groups. Everything from your personality to
your gender and cultural background affects your communication choices and other group members’
perceptions of you. By enhancing your self-awareness, you can communicate more competently in small
groups and teams.
• While all members of a small group should work toward a common goal, each person still brings his
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COMMUNICATION TRAITS
• Two traits that are important are in small group communications are communication apprehension
Communication Apprehension
• Communication apprehension is the fear or anxiety about real or anticipated communication.
o Most people experience a small amount of communication apprehension from time to time.
o High communication apprehension is apprehension on a regular basis that becomes a part of how
a person communicates, even in everyday situations, such as chatting with coworkers. High
communication apprehension can cause negative consequences. To reduce communication
apprehension:
• Reduce your fear by asking simple questions to clarify points made during group discussion.
• Argumentativeness is your willingness to take a stance on controversial issues and verbally refute
others who disagree with you.
oWhile argumentativeness carries negative connotations, in small groups it can be a positive form
of communication that fosters the exchange of ideas, which is valuable for group decision
making.
oHighly argumentative individuals separate issues from people, tend to communicate well in
groups, and often emerge as group leaders. Constructive arguing also strengthens bonds in a
group.
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• Such group members are more likely to be satisfied with the group relationship and believe
the group has reached consensus on decisions. Despite the advantages of argumentativeness,
GENDER
• Gender affects small groups because of popular stereotypes about big differences in how men and
women communicate. Members need to be aware of stereotypes when interpreting teammates’
communication behaviors.
oAccording to stereotypes, men are unemotional, dominant, and achievement-oriented, while
women are nurturing, caring, and emotional.
• People have a tendency to negatively judge individuals who defy gender stereotypes.
oIf you think gender-based stereotypes are affecting your perception of team members, use
perception-checking to form more accurate impressions by:
• Reviewing your knowledge about the other person.
CULTURE
• Culture affects all communication, and by knowing how cultural factors influence your own group
behavior, you can be mindful of communicating your ideas in ways that maintain the self-worth or
face of culturally different teammates.
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• Individualistic cultures place greater importance on their individual achievement and
personal happiness.
oPower distance is the degree to which people expect inequality between persons of low and high
power.
• In cultures with high power distance, an individual of low power wouldn’t disagree with a
leader during a discussion.
oUncertainty avoidance is how much tolerance people have for risk.
• In cultures with high uncertainty avoidance, individuals expect structure and rules.
VIRTUAL
GROUPS
AND
TEAMS
Social media and videoconferencing help virtual groups organize their work and communicate. However,
as with all online communication, remember that the three Ps of mediated communication—powerful,
public, and permanent—from Chapter 4 still apply. Your self-presentation matters just as much (if not
more) when you’re working in virtual small groups as it does when you’re communicating online with
close friends and family.
CHALLENGES OF VIRTUAL GROUPS
• Lack of face-to-face interactions presents virtual small groups with several challenges:
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oThe physical distance separating members restricts nonverbal communication, and this lack of
feedback makes it hard to know how the team feels about what is being said.
• Even with videoconferencing and webcams, people can still feel cut off from the group and
can get caught up in other behaviors that disrupt their concentration during a virtual meeting.
oIt’s difficult to communicate complex information and make decisions during online meetings.
Even with lots of different resources to enable interaction, groups can suffer from missed or
delayed messages, misinterpretations, and other issues.
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION IN VIRTUAL SMALL GROUPS
• To help any virtual small group that you’re a part of communicate better, consider these guidelines:
1. Determine the best communication method. For routine matters, electronic messaging—like email
and instant messaging—may be all the group needs. For complex tasks and decisions, phone
2. Provide specific directions before meetings. Take time-zone differences into account when
scheduling a meeting. If group members are from vastly different time zones, schedule meetings
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so that members take turns being inconvenienced. Also identify the purpose, expectations, and
desired outcomes of each meeting.
3. Involve all group members. Make sure all participants have a chance to contribute to group
4. Use the cooperative principle. It’s especially important to craft informative, honest, clear, and
relevant messages when you’re taking part in a virtual group interaction. That’s because team
members have few or no nonverbal cues to interpret your communication.
5. Attend to the group’s social needs. If virtual teams are able to meet occasionally face-to-face, this
will promote team identity and foster group cohesion. When costs, time, or distance get in the
way of such gatherings, help your team develop other ways of attending to members’ social
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Discuss why a group decision can lead members to feel a greater commitment to the decision
than a decision made by a leader acting alone. Give an example of a leader’s decision that you
feel could have been improved if it had instead been made by the group.
• Have students present their examples and discuss why they think a committee or group would
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2. Think of a group that you are a member of and determine whether members of the group
perform single roles or multiple roles. What could a group gain by having its members play
multiple roles? How might the members themselves benefit from dual roles?
3. How can the presence of someone in a social loafing role affect a group’s overall productivity?
What can other group members do to overcome the social loafer’s effects on the group?
4. Think of a time when you had a very positive small group encounter. List five factors that
contributed to making this small group encounter positive. Now think of a time when you had a
very negative small group encounter. List five factors that contributed to making this small
group encounter negative.
• Discuss common characteristics of the positive small group experiences and then the common
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Group Challenges: Creative Logos
Goal: To allow students to experience the challenges of the small group decision-making process.
Time: 45 minutes
1. Divide the class into groups of five or six.
2. Explain that each group needs to select a product that they think could use a better logo. Once
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3. Have each group present their product and its new logo, explaining why they selected the logo
and how they feel it will help promote the product more effectively.
4. Once the groups have presented their logos, have each group comment on the following:
a. Did a leader emerge quickly in their group?
b. Were there any disagreements?
c. Were there group members who did little to contribute or engage in social loafing?
2. Let’s Rock-and-Roll Exercise
Goal: To provide students an opportunity to analyze the effectiveness of small groups.
Time: 30 minutes
1. Divide the class into four or five groups.
2. Explain to the groups that some of the best examples of effective and ineffective groups come
from the music arena. Ask groups to brainstorm music groups and identify one that clearly
3. Once each student group has selected their two music groups, ask them to use their electronic
4. Bring the groups back together to discuss their findings. Ask them to speculate about how these
examples of group behavior have affected the careers of each music group’s individual members.
3. Strategies for Group Motivation Exercise
Goal: To explore how individualism and collectivism can affect group motivation.
Time: 30 minutes
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1. Divide students into three groups.
2. Assign each group one of the following characteristics:
a. A group composed of people who have individualistic tendencies.
3. Ask each group to discuss how a group member could best motivate their assigned group. What
types of activities would they suggest to help motive the group? What types of problems might
arise within their assigned group?
4. In-Class Group Best Practice
Goal: To encourage students to take concepts discussed about effective small groups and recognize
how they can be used in everyday settings.
Time: 30 minutes
1. Divide the class into four groups.
2. Explain to students that it is common to hear that in-class group activities are ineffective. With
3. Have each group use its list to develop a set of “best practices” for group assignments.
4. Give students an opportunity to present their best practices to the larger class.
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5. Impromptu TV Group Project
Goal: A fun activity that allows students to use group skills to complete a project in a timely manner.
Time: 60 minutes
2. Divide the class into groups of six.
3. Have each group draw one of the channels from the hat.
4. Explain that each group has 20 minutes to create a “mini” episode from a TV show, real or
5. Have each group present their episode.
6. Discuss the exercise with the class. How well did each group work together on its assignment?
What went well? What required improvement?
MEDIA RESOURCES
1. Build a Tower, Build a Team
In this eight-minute TED Talk, Tom Wujec, a fellow at Autodesk, discusses what the “marshmallow
2. Building a Team—Team Communication
Performer Richard Tyler’s eight-minute video examines team building, focusing on team
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3. Howard Rheingold: The New Power of Collaboration
Writer and artist Howard Rheingold discusses the importance of collaboration, participatory media,
4. Effective Teamwork: Lessons Learned
In this five-minute video, Dr. Farrokh Alemi of George Mason University discusses effective
teamwork and ways to improve group communication. You can find this video on YouTube at: