CHAPTER 8: Communication in Groups and Teams
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying the topics in this chapter, students should be able to:
2. Distinguish between a group and a team, using your personal experience as support.
4. Examine your past experience in small groups by considering each of the five features of
small groups.
6. Apply chapter guidelines to improve your interactions in small groups.
MINDTAP ENGAGEMENT QUESTION
The first student activity in Chapter 8 asks students a polling question where they are presented
with a set of answer choices. One point is awarded regardless of what answer they choose. The
question is designed to reveal beliefs or assumptions about a chapter-specific topic. As an
instructor, you can view your classes’ responses as a pie chart within MindTap and discuss the
results in class, if you choose. This chapter’s question is:
How many groups do you currently belong to?
a. I belong to five or fewer groups.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. A group is three or more individuals who interact over time, depend on each other, and
follow shared rules of conduct to reach a common goal.
A. To be a group, there must be interaction and interdependence between individuals, a
common goal, and shared rules of conduct.
C. A team is a special kind of group.
1. Teams are marked by different and complementary resources of members.
2. Teams have an especially strong sense of collective identity.
D. Groups develop rules that members understand and follow.
E. Groups have shared goals.
II. Groups have both potential limitations and strengths.
A. There are three potential limitations of groups.
2. Groups have the potential to suppress individuals and encourage conformity.
3. Group work can lead to reduced individual responsibility, creating the possibility
of social loafing.
B. There are four important potential strengths of groups in comparison to individuals.
2. Groups tend to be more thorough than individuals, in part because members act as
3. Groups are generally more creative than individuals.
4. Groups can generate commitment to decisions.
III. Five features of groups influence communication in groups and effectiveness of group
interaction.
A. Cohesion is the degree of closeness, or the sense of collective identity.
2. Cohesion tends to increase members’ commitment to group decisions and ideas.
4. Too much cohesion can result in groupthink, which exists when members of a
group cease to think critically and independently.
B. Group size affects interaction among members.
1. Five to seven members seems the ideal size for a small group.
3. More than seven members may restrict participation and, as a result, decrease
satisfaction and commitment to group decisions and ideas.
C. The power structure of a group influences participation.
1. “Power over” is the ability to help or harm others.
3. There are five bases of power.
a. Reward power
4. The power structure of a group refers to the distribution of power among various
members.
5. Members with higher power tend to be centers of communication; they talk more
and others talk more to them than members with less power.
6. Social climbing is the process of attempting to increase personal status in a group
by winning the approval of members with greater power.
D. Interaction patterns in a group affect communication and satisfaction.
2. Decentralized patterns exist when all members occupy positions of equal power.
3. The power of individual members and the power structure of the group often
affect interaction patterns.
E. Groups develop norms, which are standardized guidelines for how members act and
interact with one another.
2. Norms grow out of members’ interaction.
3. By noticing patterns and tendencies, you can exert influence over the rules that
govern conduct in a group.
IV. Digital Media and Group Communication
A. Groups may operate through virtual conferences or through computer networking.
B. To be effective, virtual teams must adapt to the computer-mediated communication
C. The two greatest challenges for virtual teams are limited nonverbal cues and
constraints on building relationships and group climate.
D. Six strategies help to meet the challenges of virtual groups.
2. Establish a rule against multitasking during group meetings.
4. Post information about all members on a group site.
6. Arrange for occasional face-to-face meetings.
V. Guidelines for Communicating in Groups and Teams
A. Task communication focuses on the problems, issues, or information before a group.
B. Procedural communication organizes group discussion and keeps a group on track
and on schedule.
E. Leadership is maintaining a set of communication functions that establishes a good
working climate, organizes group processes, and ensures that discussion is
substantive.
.
You can also search for these terms directly in MindTap to find them in the Reader. Students can
use flashcards in MindTap to study key concepts.
KEY TERMS PAGE IN TEXT
Climate communication 161
Cohesion 155
Egocentric communication 161
Group 150
Groupthink 155
ACTIVITIES
1. Wild Ideas
This exercise demonstrates the power of brainstorming to generate ideas. On the chalkboard,
write one of the following (or another item of your choice): ways to use a paper clip; strategies
for fundraising for the campus library; methods of encouraging safer sex practices among college
students; artifacts that reflect identity.
2. Fishbowl
Select five students to participate in a discussion that the remaining students will observe. Assign
a topic such as one of these: What should be the grading system for this course? How can
undergraduate advising be improved? How can the campus be more environmentally friendly in
its activities?
3. Groups Are News
One week prior to this exercise, ask students to bring a state, local, and campus newspaper to
class on the day of the exercise. Form students into groups of seven members each. Instruct each
4. Twelve Angry Men
Twelve Angry Men is an older, but very good, drama about conformity pressures in small groups.
The film focuses on jury deliberations following trial presentations. Henry Fonda is the lone
5. It’s My Idea
This exercise illustrates the dysfunctional nature of egocentric communication within groups.
Divide the class into groups of six to eight people and give them a task of planning a class party
or get-together. Before the group discussion begins, however, choose one person from each
group as a group leader. Tell the group that you need a moment with each of the leaders to
JOURNAL IDEAS
• Reflect on your participation in groups and teams. Describe your effectiveness in making
task, procedural, and climate contributions to discussions.
• Describe your most and least favorite group experiences. Using the material in Chapter 8
about limitations, strengths, and features of groups, explain why you enjoyed one group and
did not enjoy another.
• Your textbook discusses the strengths and limitations of groups. Often, instructors ask
students to complete group projects for class. Think of your experience completing work
individually and in groups. Do you agree with the textbook’s assessment of the strengths and
limitations of groups? Would you rather work alone or in groups to complete coursework?
Why or why not?
TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES
There are additional student resources in MindTap. If you have a networked computer in your
classroom and a projection system for viewing the computer screen, you can easily introduce
your students by walking them through the process for accessing the website. If you don’t have
this projection and computer equipment in your classroom, you can share the resources in this
Web Links
Website Description
URL
This link goes to an article on team cohesion among
athletes.
http://www.sportpsychologytoday.com/tag/team-
cohesion/
This site describes groupthink, its consequences, and
how it can be prevented.
http://www.orst.edu/instruct/theory/grpthink.html
For more information on groupthink, consult this web
page, created by Bikers Rights Online.
http://www.bikersrights.com/general/groupthink.html
Films
Mean Girls (2004) illustrates how groupthink works in a large American high school, where the
“popular girls” have strict rules about how to act and dress.
Television
TEST ITEMS
Multiple Choice Items
1. The two most significant potential disadvantages of group discussion are
a. the time required and excessive cohesion.
b. the time required and lack of leadership.
c. conformity pressures and time required.
d. conformity pressures and lack of leadership.
e. lack of leadership and excessive cohesion.
2. In which of the following ways is a team distinct from a group?
a. Teams have different and complementary resources and a strong sense of collective
identity.
b. Teams consist of individuals who are interdependent yet have degrees of similarity
among members.
c. Teams have greater thoroughness and work faster.
d. Teams have smaller sizes and tend to be more thorough.
e. Teams work faster and do not develop groupthink.
3. Cohesion and participation are related to each other in which of the following ways?
a. Cohesion is promoted by high participation.
b. Participation is promoted by cohesion.
c. Cohesion improves the quality of participation.
d. Cohesion is promoted by high participation and participation is promoted by cohesion.
e. Cohesion decreases the quality of participation.
4. Per Lumsden & Lumsden, the ideal size for a small group seems to be
a. one to three members.
b. three to five members.
c. five to seven members.
d. seven to twelve members.
e. twelve to fifteen members.
5. In describing how she sees her work as a team leader, Janet says that her goal is to help
members reach their goals and accomplish objectives that advance them. Janet is expressing
which orientation to power?
a. power to
b. power over
c. power for
d. derived power
e. earned authority
6. Four students standing in line at the coffee shop are a
a. team.
b. group.
c. committee.
d. collection of individuals.
e. gaggle.
7. Holly says, “Let’s discuss the donors to the benefit concert and then discuss who will be
performing.” Holly made which type of contribution to discussion?
a. task
b. procedural
c. climate
d. egocentric
e. dynamic
8. In response to a suggestion made by Juan, Melanie says, “I agree with Juan’s suggestion
about how we should proceed. Thanks for keeping us on track, Juan.” Melanie made which
type of contribution?
a. task
b. procedural
c. climate
d. egocentric
e. dynamic
9. David is leading his workgroup and he reports on the research he has been doing on his part
of the project. David’s comment is what type of contribution?
a. task
b. procedural
c. climate
d. egocentric
e. dynamic
10. ___________________ power is the ability to influence based on personal charisma and
personality.
a. Coercive
b. Legitimate
c. Expert
d. Reward
e. Referent
11. Deondra is part of a social group on campus. Even though the group sets specific meeting
times, everyone in the group knows that it is acceptable to be 10-15 minutes late without
needing to call and check in. This unspoken expectation is an example of ____.
a. synergy
b. a rule
c. a norm
d. social climbing
e. conformity to pressure
12. For people to be considered a “group,” the members must see themselves experiencing which
of the following?
a. dependence
b. independence
c. co-dependence
d. intradependence
e. interdependence
13. Three or more people who are characterized by different and complimentary resources of
members and a strong sense of collective identity are known as
a. a team.
b. a group.
c. a procedural group.
d. a maintenance group.
e. None of these answers are correct.
14. The attempt to increase personal status in a group by winning the approval of high-status
members is known as
a. power over.
b. status-reward behavior.
c. social climbing.
d. referent behavior.
e. reward behavior.
15. All of the following are potential strengths of groups EXCEPT
a. creativity
b. commitment
c. collectivism
d. resources
e. thoroughness
16. Which term is used to describe members of a group who exert less effort than they would if
they had worked alone?
a. social climbing
b. social digressing
c. social loafing
d. groupthink
e. group hate
17. After listening to an idea given by another group member, Jim says, “Let me elaborate on
that idea.” Jim’s comment is an example of
a. procedural communication.
b. task communication.
c. climate communication.
d. egocentric communication.
e. assertive communication.
True-False Items
18. A small group can exist without interaction among members.
a. True
b. False
19. Groups and teams consist of individuals who have a common goal.
a. True
b. False
20. An individual’s participation in team discussions tends to heighten the individual’s
commitment to team decisions.
a. True
b. False
21. In effective groups, all members conform to the same point of view.
a. True
b. False
22. Norms exist in some, but not all, groups.
a. True
b. False
23. Teams tend to develop greater interdependence and a stronger sense of collective identity
than other groups.
a. True
b. False