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small group 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 fe...

small group
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. 1 1 01-Myers-45476:01-Myers-45476.qxd 12/14/2007 6:43 PM Page 1 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. 01-Myers-45476.qxd 12/14/2007 5:22 PM Page 2 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 01-Myers-45476.qxd 12/14/2007 5:22 PM Page 3 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. 4 Chapter 1 � Components of Small Group Communication 01-Myers-45476.qxd 12/14/2007 5:22 PM Page 4 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? Chapter 1 � Components of Small Group Communication 5 01-Myers-45476:01-Myers-45476.qxd 12/14/2007 6:43 PM Page 5 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? ? 01-Myers-45476.qxd 12/14/2007 5:23 PM Page 6 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 01-Myers-45476.qxd 12/14/2007 5:23 PM Page 7 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 8 Chapter 1 � Components of Small Group Communication 01-Myers-45476.qxd 12/14/2007 5:23 PM Page 8 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, Chapter 1 � Components of Small Group Communication 9 01-Myers-45476.qxd 12/14/2007 5:23 PM Page 9 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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