CHAPTER 27
Communicating in Groups
CHAPTER CONTENT OUTLINE
I. Communicating in groups
A. Most of us will spend a substantial portion of our educational and professional lives
II. Focus on goals.
A. Effective group participants focus on the group’s goals and avoid behavior that
detracts from these goals.
B. Setting an agenda can help participants keep on track.
III. Plan on assuming dual roles.
A. Group members usually assume two types of roles within a group, both a task role
and a social role.
2. Social roles help facilitate effective group interaction.
3. Group members should avoid antigroup roles, in which the focus is on individual
instead of group needs.
IV. Center disagreements around issues.
Chapter 27, p. 553
B. Try to avoid person-based conflict, in which members argue with one another,
wasting time and impairing motivation.
V. Resist groupthink.
A. Avoid groupthink, which is the tendency to accept information and ideas without
subjecting them to critical analysis.
1. Groups prone to groupthink typically exhibit specific behaviors.
a. Participants reach a consensus and shun conflict to avoid hurting others’
feelings, but they do so without genuinely agreeing.
VI. Adopt an effective leadership style.
A. There are four broad styles of leadership.
2. Supportive leaders tend to group members’ emotional needs and stress positive
relationships.
4. Participative leaders view group members as equals and identify problems that
must be solved rather than dictating solutions.
B. Regardless of leadership style, the most effective leaders:
1. Remain focused on group goals.
Chapter 27, p. 554
3. Treat all group members in an ethical manner.
4. Inspire members to contribute their best.
C. Set goals.
1. The group leader should be a catalyst in setting group goals and ensuring that they
D. Encourage active participation.
1. Directly ask members to contribute.
3. Make use of devil’s advocacy and dialectical inquiry.
E. Use reflective thinking.
1. Group decision-making is best accomplished through the six-step process
suggested by educator John Dewey.
a. Identify the problem: Ask what is being decided upon.
b. Conduct research and analysis: Ask what information is needed to solve the
problem.
c. Establish guidelines and criteria by which proposed solutions will be
judged.
Chapter 27, p. 555
KEY TERMS
small group collection of between three and twenty people
task roles types of roles that directly relate to the accomplishment of the objectives and
missions of a group. Examples include “recording secretary” and “moderator.”
CHAPTER STUDY GUIDE
I. SUMMARY QUESTIONS
What makes an effective group participant?
Being an effective group participant requires keeping sight of the group’s goals and avoiding
behavior that detracts from these goals. Conflict should be handled productively, by focusing on
issues-based rather than person-based conflict. To avoid groupthink, participants should
Chapter 27, p. 556
What makes an effective group leader?
Good leaders organize, structure, guide, and facilitate a group’s activities and interactions in
ways that will lead to a desired outcome. One of the primary responsibilities of the leader is to set
How can a group go about reaching a solution to a problem or issue that it has been charged
with solving?
Group decision-making is best accomplished through a six-step process of reflective thinking
based on John Dewey’s work: (1) identify the problem, (2) conduct research and analysis, (3)
establish guidelines and criteria, (4) generate solutions, (5) select the best solution, and (6)
evaluate the solution.
What are the four types of leaders?
The four types of leaders include (1) directive leaders, who control group communication by
conveying specific instructions to members; (2) supportive leaders, who tend to group members’
Chapter 27, p. 557
II. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Explain one of your own experiences as a member of a group (a committee, campus
club, dormitory government, or fraternity or sorority, for example). Describe the purpose of the
group, the setting, and the other members.
When making decisions, what roles did each of the members fulfill? Illustrate these roles
with specific instances of behaviors or interactions.
Assign this activity as a short paper to be handed in during the next class period. Consider
that describing the purpose of the group, the setting, and other members may be something that
2. What are some ways in which individuals who assume antigroup roles in groups
negatively affect the ability of the group to work together and make decisions?
For one thing, antigroup roles serve to frustrate the other members, thus causing the
counterproductive individuals to be ostracized from the rest of the group. In turn, this
eventually prevents many perspectives from being exposed simply because the
Chapter 27, p. 558
3.Why is it important for a group to have a clear set of goals?
Articulating goals requires the group to identify problems or issues that need to be
resolved, which can be beneficial. A set of goals builds cohesion among members, allowing
them to form a common bond. In addition, the process of setting goals may lead to the
CONTENT PRESENTATION IDEAS
I. STUDENT ACTIVITIES
1. Approximately how many times have you had the opportunity to serve as a group
leader? How would you assess your leadership skills in these instances? Were you able to
effectively set goals and encourage active participation among group members? If you have never
served as a group leader, do you look forward to that opportunity? Why or why not?
2. Recall a situation in which a group you were part of was guilty of groupthink. Did
you go along with the group decision even though you didn’t agree with it just to avoid causing
Chapter 27, p. 559
conflict? Or did you pressure others to go along with the decision to keep them from voicing
dissent? Analyzing the decision in retrospect, was it the right decision?
Students should be able to identify symptoms of groupthink, such as avoiding conflict,
II. GROUP ACTIVITIES
1. Not all tasks, projects, or activities in an organization are best performed by groups or teams;
sometimes individuals working alone are most productive. Form a small group of four or five
people, and list three different situations in which it would be productive for individuals to
work alone. For each, explain why you think greater effectiveness and efficiency would
result from individuals working alone.
Students should be able to brainstorm some situations, but it may help to start the
discussion with a few examples. For instance, individual work may be more productive for
projects that have a rapidly approaching deadline. This is because group work often takes more
Students should be able to add to this list during discussion.
2. Form a group of four or five people. Imagine that you are a group of employees who work for
Nike. You have been given the responsibility of selecting a celebrity to endorse a new line of
“youth turbolight” shoes. This person will be seen on television commercials and in newspaper
and magazine advertisements. Using the group decision-making process, select a celebrity.
Chapter 27, p. 560
While making your decision, consider what kind of image you want the product to portray.
Which celebrity will best help create that image and convey the right message to your
audience?
Group members should recognize that they need to generate the overall goal, which
pertains to the image Nike wants to project. Going through the process, members must conduct
research and analysis by finding out such things as consumer demand or desires as well as
III. ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
QUESTIONS
The following questions may be used by instructors to help illustrate important points in the
chapter and to facilitate students’ learning of this material. These questions can be used as:
• Homework questions
• Quizzes
1. List the four characteristics of groups that are prone to groupthink. Can you think of any
event in history that may have resulted from groupthink? Has groupthink occurred in any
group of which you were a member?
• Participants reach a consensus and shun conflict to avoid hurting others’ feelings, but
they do so without genuinely agreeing.
2. What are task roles? Social roles? Antigroup roles?
Task roles directly relate to the accomplishment of the objectives of a group.
Social roles facilitate group interaction.
3. Making group decisions can be very difficult. The best way to accomplish effective group
decisions is through Dewey’s six-step process. Identify the six steps.
• Identify the problem.
• Conduct research and analysis.
Chapter 27, p. 562
ACTIVITIES
Group Workshop
Purpose: To give students an opportunity to work in a group and to illustrate some of the concepts
of the text while also reviewing general public speaking concepts.
Instructions: Use the following guidelines.
2. Students need to develop instruments and procedures for providing performance
feedback to team members in order to enhance individual growth and group effectiveness.
3. Each team must design and manage a class workshop on specific concepts related to
one of the following three major topic areas.
4. Each workshop should include (a) a one-page synopsis of the major conceptual
issues, (b) a demonstration of key concepts, and (c) activities that involve members of the
class.
Grading Sheet for Workshop
Team Workshop No. _______________
Evaluation Category Points
2. Demonstration of key concepts _________
3. How well the workshop involved members of the class _________
Comments
Strong points:
Weak points:
Evaluating Your Group
Purpose: To gain familiarity with the terms and ideas involved in effective group participation
Instructions: This activity works well as an out-of-class activity, perhaps even as a homework
assignment. It can be conducted in one of two ways.
2. Students pick a group to which they belong.
Note: These groups can be family, friends, classmates, co-workers, or even groups in this class.
Students should consider the terms and explanations for both effective group participants
(issues-based rather than personal-based conflict, groupthink, antigroup roles, task roles, and
social roles) and effective group leaders (the three steps leaders can engage in to help the group
Note: Usually, the students and the instructor come to realize that it is not the highest tower that
wins because the students are so concerned with height that they forget to make sure it is
freestanding.
Once students have completed the task, have each group use John Dewey’s six-step process of
reflective thinking to determine how well the group worked toward accomplishing the goal.
Discussion: Each group can report to the entire class about how well its members worked together,
what each member’s role was, and why the group did or did not succeed in accomplishing its goal.
RECOMMENDED SUPPLEMENTARY RESOURCES
Adler, R., & Elmhorst, J. (2006). Communicating at work: Principles and practices for business
and the professions (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Allesandra, T. (1993). Communicating at work. New York, NY: Fireside.
Chapter 27, p. 565
271.
Johnson, J. R., & Szcupakiewicz, N. (1987, April). The public speaking course: Is it preparing
students with work-related public speaking skills? Communication Education, 36, 131–137.
Lesikar, R. V., Flatley, M. E., & Rentz, K. (2006). Business communication: Making connections
in a digital world (11th ed.). Homewood, IL: Irwin.
Lord, R., Klimoski, R., & Kanfer, R. (2002). Emotions in the workplace: Understanding the
structure and role of emotions in organizational behavior. San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
Moore, C. M. (1994). Group techniques for idea building (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Redmond, K. (2004). Rules of engagement for communicating at work: 5 strategies for decreasing
conflict and increasing collaboration. Toronto, Ontario: Kathleen Redmond.
Rogers, P. S. (1988). Distinguishing public and presentational speaking. Management
Communication Quarterly, 2, 102–115.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Winter, J., Neal, J., & Waner, K. (2001). How male, female, and mixed-gender groups regard
interaction and leadership differences in the business communication course. Business
Communication Quarterly, 64, 43–58.