Components of Small
Group Communication
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
1. define small group communication,
2. identify and explain the three primary features of small group
communication,
3. identify and explain the three secondary features of small group
communication,
4. differentiate among the eight types of groups, and
5. explain the role ethical responsibility plays in the small group.
Case Study It is the second day of COMM 112: Small Group
Communication, and students are assigned to their work groups for the semester.
This group consists of five members—David Cohen, Hassan Dedhia, Julie Miller,
Shanika Bonvillian, and Joseph O’Day—whose first task is to develop a name,
logo, and slogan for their group.
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David: I can’t believe we’re being made to start working in groups already.
I mean, it’s only the second day of class! How are we supposed to
develop a name, logo, and slogan when we don’t even know each
other?
Julie: I think the purpose of the assignment is so we get to know each other.
Remember, the name of the class is Small Group Communication, so
it makes sense we would work in groups.
Hassan: I agree with Dave. It’s only the second day of class! Usually when
I work with people in a group I like to spend some time getting to
know them before we start working together. I can’t tell you how
many groups I’ve been in where people don’t get to know each other
and they end up not doing the best job they could.
Shanika: Why don’t we go around the group then and tell a little about our-
selves? This way we can get to know each other, and that might help
us start thinking about how to complete the assignment. Plus, we’re
all communication studies majors, so we may be more alike than we
think. Joseph, would you like to start?
2 Chapter 1 � Components of Small Group Communication
Photo 1.1 Being assigned to work in a small group is common in college courses.
Source: ©iStockphoto.com/ericsphotography.
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Joseph: Not really. (awkward silence)
David: Fine. I’ll start. My name is Dave, I’m on the swim team, I don’t work,
and I have a girlfriend.
Hassan: I’m Hassan, but my friends call me “Wizard.” I work at Rockin’ Rod’s
on the weekends, and I’m doing an internship with First American
Savings & Loan, so I’ll be really busy this semester. Plus, I’m a dee-
jay at U-101.5, the campus radio station, and I work every night, so
it’s going to be tough for me to meet with you guys.
Julie: Hi everyone. My name is Julie Miller, and I’m a fifth-year senior
double majoring in communication studies and Spanish. I hope to
go to graduate school next year in either comm. or Spanish—I
haven’t made up my mind yet. Eventually I hope to move to
New York City and work for the United Nations as an interpreter,
but that will probably depend on whether I get married to my
boyfriend. He is from Indiana and doesn’t like the thought of living
in New York City, but I’m hoping I can change his mind (giggle).
Anyway, I’m looking forward to this class and working in this group.
I think we can do a great job, and I’m always looking for a challenge,
so hopefully this class will be a great experience.
Shanika: Well, I don’t have much to add. My name is Shanika, and I’m also a
fifth-year senior. I work at Payless ShoeSource at the mall, so if you
ever need shoes, let me know and I can get you a discount.
Joseph: My name is Joseph. Just so you know, I’m not a comm. major. I’m
just taking this class because I needed a class. (another awkward
silence)
Shanika: It sounds like we all have a lot of things going on in our lives, so
maybe we should look at our schedules and figure out a time when
we can all meet and sort out this first assignment.
David: If we meet at night, we could always meet at my house. I don’t live
too far from campus and my roommate is never home, so we’d have
the place to ourselves.
Hassan: If we’re going to meet at night, it’d be easier if we met at the radio
station. Like I said, I work every night. If you want to meet after
10 p.m., that’s fine, but I’m unavailable until then.
Julie: I think I’d be more comfortable meeting at the Student Center
or the library. This way, we won’t interrupt anyone’s home life
or job.
Chapter 1 � Components of Small Group Communication 3
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David: You won’t be interrupting anything at my house. I’m the only one
there most of the time.
Hassan: We won’t be interrupting anything at the radio station either. As
long as I have music playing, I can do what I want.
Shanika: I don’t care where we meet, just as long as we do it soon. This assign-
ment is due next Monday! That’s less than a week away. Joseph, what
do you think?
Joseph: I don’t care, either. The sooner, the better.
Shanika: Why don’t we all write our e-mail addresses and phone numbers on
a piece of paper and then make five copies? This way we won’t have
an excuse not to contact one another.
David: If you want, I can photocopy it. My roommate works at Kinko’s so if
we ever need photocopies, I can do it.
Julie: David, that’s a good idea. You know, I think we’re going to work well
together.
Shanika: Now I think we need to start thinking about some ideas on com-
pleting the assignment.
Hassan: Why don’t we all come up with ideas on our own and then get
together and talk about them?
David: Yeah, everyone should come up with three ideas, and we can choose
the best one. Shanika, give me the paper, and I’ll photocopy it and
bring the copies to the meeting.
Shanika: Okay. So when are we meeting?
Hassan: Let’s meet at the radio station Thursday night around 8 p.m. Does
anyone have a problem with that?
Julie: I guess that’s okay, Wizard. I’ve always wanted to see what a radio
station looks like anyway.
Hassan: Joseph?
Joseph: Whatever.
Hassan: Dave?
David: That’s fine. If it gets too busy there, we can always go to my house.
Shanika: Then it’s settled. Thursday night at 8 p.m. at the radio station. See
you then.
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A
s this case study demonstrates, working in a small
group can be simultaneously exciting and frustrat-
ing. On one hand, working in a small group can be
exciting when joint efforts are recognized and celebrated,
when relationships with new people are formed, and when
you can identify your contributions to making a small
group endeavor successful. On the other hand, working in a
small group can be frustrating due to the lack of cooperation that may exist
among members, the possibility of the emergence of conflict, and the clash of per-
sonalities of group members. But regardless of the feelings you have about work-
ing (and communicating) in a small group, knowing about the small group
communication process is beneficial.
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce you to small group communica-
tion. In this chapter, you will be provided with the advantages and disadvantages
of working in a small group as well as a definition of small group communication.
We then will identify and explain the three primary features and the three sec-
ondary features associated with small group communication. Once these features
have been explained, we will explore the eight types of groups to which you
may belong. Finally, we will examine the ethics associated with working in a
small group.
Definition of Small
Group Communication
Think back to the communication encounters in which you participated yester-
day. Chances are you engaged in a variety of them: eating breakfast with your
roommate, exchanging pleasantries with the clerk at the Daily Grind when you
purchased your late-morning coffee, stopping by your favorite professor’s office
during her office hours, presenting a speech in your public-speaking class,
spending time with your history study group preparing for an upcoming proj -
ect, calling your dad to discuss your weekend trip home, e-mailing your roman-
tic partner who attends another university, and yelling at the television when
your team won in double overtime. Of these encounters, however, only one can
be considered small group communication. Can you identify which encounter
it is?
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If you chose the encounter with the study group, you are correct. As you reflect
again on these examples, you will note several characteristics that separate the time
spent with the study group from the time spent in the other encounters. Once
you’ve read this chapter, the characteristics will become even more apparent.
Before we offer a definition of small group communication, it is important to
identify the advantages and disadvantages of working in a small group. Four
advantages are associated with working in a small group. The first centers on the
group’s access to resources, which is considered to be the key advantage to work-
ing in groups (Baker & Campbell, 2004). In this sense, resources refer to time;
money; member expertise, talent, or ability; or information. Successful groups
take advantage of their access to resources. The second advantage is that group
work provides members with a better understanding and retention of the con-
cepts being examined by the group (Young & Henquinet, 2000). The third advan-
tage is diversity in terms of group member opinion. The fourth advantage is
creativity, which refers to the process by which group members engage in idea
generation (Sunwolf, 2002).
Four disadvantages are associated with working in a group. The first is group
member task coordination. As the number of group members increases, so does the
ability for group members to coordinate, monitor, and regulate how the group task
is accomplished. When group size increases, so too does the tendency for group
communication to become less efficient as group members encounter more diffi-
culty managing their relationships with each other (Bertcher & Maple, 1996) and
less communication centers on the group task (Wheelan & McKeage, 1993). The
second disadvantage is social loafing, which refers to the process by which individ-
ual member efforts decrease as the number of group members increases (Latane,
Williams, & Harkins, 1979). The larger the group, the greater the likelihood that
individual group members will become more lax in contributing to the group task.
The third disadvantage centers on conflict. Although conflict is inherent in
group work (Fisher, 1970), excessive or destructive fighting and arguing among
group members can occur. Conflict will be explored further in Chapter 11. The
fourth disadvantage is coping with
member misbehaviors. Examples of
misbehaviors include missing group
meetings, failing to meet deadlines,
spending more time on interpersonal
issues than task issues, and failing to
respond to member requests. Although
these misbehaviors may be minor, they
can become problematic because they affect how the group eventually completes
its task. Additionally, not all members will participate in group interaction. Some
may feel their contributions are not welcomed by other members, some may
6 Chapter 1 � Components of Small Group Communication
What are some additional
advantages and disadvantages
associated with working in
your work group? Do the
advantages outweigh the
disadvantages? How?
?
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figure it is easier to let other group members speak for them, some may feel like
they have to fight for the chance to be heard by the group, or some may be appre-
hensive about communicating and therefore their contributions (or lack thereof)
are never acknowledged by the group.
Now that you are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of working in a
small group, let’s turn our attention to the definition of small group communica-
tion. We define small group communication as three or more people working
interdependently for the purpose of accomplishing a task. To further understand
small group communication, we need to examine the three primary features of
small group communication: group size, interdependence, and task.
Primary Features of
Small Group Communication
Group Size
Although small group researchers have disagreed over exactly how many
members equate to a group (Bertcher & Maple, 1996; Shaw, 1981; Simmel, 1902),
the general consensus is that for a small group to exist, it must have a minimum
of 3 members and no more than 15 members (Socha, 1997). John Cragan and
David Wright (1999), two prominent researchers in the field of small group com-
munication, identified the ideal small group size as five to seven members.
Regardless of how many members a group comprises, it is important to consider
that all members have an influence on each other. This leads us to the next
characteristic of a small group, interdependence.
Interdependence
The concept of interdependence is most closely associated with systems theory,
which states that all parts of a system work together to adapt to its environment.
Because the parts are linked to one another, a change in one part affects, in
some way, the other parts. The process by which a change in one part affects
the other parts is called interdependence. In a small group, interdependence
occurs when members coordinate their efforts to accomplish their task. When
something happens to, or affects, one group member, it will impact the rest of the
group members—that is, interdependence means that any group member’s
behavior influences both group members’ task behaviors and their relational
behaviors (Bertcher, 1994). Additionally, interdependence explains why a group
Chapter 1 � Components of Small Group Communication 7
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can accomplish something collectively that individual members cannot accom-
plish alone (Henman, 2003). For example, suppose that Malik, a member of your
history study group, does not attend the group’s study session. His absence could
affect the task behaviors of the group in numerous ways: If Malik has the only
copy of the group’s paper, your group now has to reconstruct the paper based on
members’ recollection of prior work. If Malik borrowed your class notes, you
might have to borrow the notes from Mei-Len, another group member. If your
group relies on Malik to question its decisions, his absence might cause the group
to not examine its position. Malik’s absence also could affect the relational behav-
iors of the group. For instance, when you ask Mei-Len to lend you her notes, she
might hesitate based on her interpretation of Malik’s behavior. Or if Malik is
known to infuse humor into a tense group moment, his absence might cause con-
flict to escalate whereas his presence would cause conflict to subside. The bottom
line is that regardless of how Malik’s absence affects the rest of the group, his
absence will affect, somehow, the ways in which group members complete the task
and interact with each other.
Interdependence is a vital characteristic of a small group and should not be
confused with independence (i.e., group members can work without ever having
an effect on each other) or dependence (i.e., group members cannot function
without being in the presence of each other). Rather, it is important to consider
that a group’s interdependence ultimately will have an impact on how the group
accomplishes its task (sometimes referred to as an activity or goal), the primary
reason why groups are formed.
Task
Without a task, a group need not exist. Often considered the purpose behind a
group, a task is defined as an activity in which no externally correct decision exists
and whose completion depends on member acceptance (Fisher, 1971). According
to Ira Steiner (1972), small groups face additive tasks and conjunctive tasks. An
additive task calls for group members to work individually on a task or one aspect
of a task. Once all group members have completed their individual tasks, they
then combine their efforts to create a final product. Groups that engage in an
additive task often do not demonstrate interdependence until members combine
their efforts. A conjunctive task requires group members to coordinate their
efforts. Rather than work individually, group members work collectively to create
a final product. This case necessitates interdependence from the moment a task is
assigned to the moment of its accomplishment.
Regardless of whether a task is additive or conjunctive, consider the
following: First, all members should participate in a group task. If a task is divisi-
ble or can be completed independently by group members, the nature of the task
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may need to be reevaluated. Second, group members may not fully comprehend
the task assigned to them. Third, one member may have a vested interest in the
group task, even though all group members should be working toward the same
group goals. Not only should hidden agendas be discouraged; they should not be
allowed. Fourth, after task completion, the group may terminate. Although this
consideration may not apply to all groups, a group generally need not continue its
existence if the purpose of the group centered on task accomplishment and this
accomplishment was reached.
Secondary Features of
Small Group Communication
In addition to group size, interdependence, and task, three secondary features of
small group communication—norms, identity, and talk—need examining.
Norms
A norm is defined as “the limits of allowable behaviors of individual members of
the group” (Bonney, 1974, p. 449). In other words, a norm is a guideline or rule
designed to regulate the behaviors of group members (Fujishin, 2007). Norms can
be one of three types: task, procedural, or social. A task norm enables the group
to work toward task accomplishment. For instance, imagine a volunteer group
engaging in brainstorming to select the best way to raise funds for a local charity.
To accomplish this task—selecting the best way to raise funds for a local charity—
the group may establish task norms such as asking members to hold their criti-
cism until all ideas have been generated or requiring members to provide some
support for the idea they are advocating. A procedural norm indicates the proce-
dures the group will follow. One way the volunteer group can enact a procedural
norm is by putting a time limit on the brainstorming session. A social norm gov-
erns how group members engage in interpersonal communication. Examples of
social norms include having the members of the volunteer group address each
other by their first names and going out for coffee after the group meeting.
Keep in mind three considerations about norms. First, they can be developed
in one of four ways (Feldman, 1984). Primarily developed through an explicit
statement made by a group member, norms often transpire verbally (in either
spoken or written form) and are agreed upon by the rest of the members. Norms
also emerge based on a critical event in the group’s history, the initial behaviors
used by one member that make a lasting impression on the other group members,
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and members’ experiences from previous group encounters. If you refer back to
the case study, what norms has the group begun to develop? Which of the four
ways of norm development explains the
emergence of group norms for David,
Hassan, Julie, Shanika, and Joseph?
Second, a group might choose to
impose a sanction on a group member
if he or she violates a norm (Shaw,
1981). A sanction can be thought of as
a punishment in response to a norm violation. Interestingly, the group also devel
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