CHAPTER 19 GROUP COMMUNICATION
MGT 3213 – ORG. COMMUNICATION
Mississippi State UniversityCollege of Business
Benefits of Teams
Creates flat organizational structures Increases efficiency
Allows for synergy Achieve more collectively than individually “Two heads are better than one”
Improves decision-making Improves employee motivation Improves employee acceptance of
change
Characteristics of Effective Teams Members share a common goal Size
Want lots of interaction? Go small Want broad input? Go large 5-7 members best for decision-making Should be an odd number to break ties
Directed by strong leadership Members play a variety of roles
Negative Group Roles Dominator Free rider Detractor Digresser Airhead Socializer
Positive Group Roles Facilitator Harmonizer Record keeper Reporter Leader
Life Cycle of Member Roles
Still an outsider
Knows the “rules” And looked to for leadership
Focuses on differences
No longerinvolved
No longerconsidereda member
Stages of Team Development
Team Behaviors atthe Performing Stage Commitment Cooperation Communication Contribution
Barriers to EffectiveGroup Decision-Making Oversampling
Tendency to focus on shared knowledge of group members
Using discussion to avoid making decisions
Polarization Responses of groups tend to be more
extreme than individual members’ responses Limited interpersonal skills
Examples of Interpersonal Barriers to Decision-Making Poor communication skills Egocentric behavior Nonparticipation Sidetracked Interruptions Negative leader behavior Attitudes and emotions
Groupthink Occurs when:
Group members dominate the discussion Group members are intimidated by others Group members care more about social
acceptability than reaching the best solution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIh4MkcfJA&feature=related
Avoiding Groupthink Encourage voicing objections and critical
thinking Try to avoid ego and emotions to
improve objective thinking Divide into separate groups Get outsider’s feedback Appoint a devil’s advocate Hold a “second chance” meeting
Types of Conflict Personal conflict Task conflict Process conflict
Personal Conflict Dislike of other group members Dissimilar personalities lead to more
dislike and conflict Why more diverse groups tend to have
more conflict
Task Conflict Conflicts about the group goal or
purpose of their work Disagreements about issues that are
relevant to the group’s goals and outcomes
Positive conflict Why groups are used to complete tasks Can turn into personal conflict
Process Conflict Conflict about how the work gets done
(the process) Can be minimized by adopting workplace
procedures and rules But that can hinder creativity and flexibility
Other Sources of Conflict Personality
Competitors vs. cooperators Norm of reciprocity Free riding
Occurs most frequently when individual’s contributions are combined into a single product
Conflict Resolution Styles Competition Collaboration Compromise Avoidance Accommodation
Ineffective CommunicationDuring a Conflict Mind-reading
In a conflict, we often think we know more than we really do about why the other person did something.
You tell them why they did something , or what they were thinking, rather than asking them.
Self-summarizing When you keep repeating what you’ve already
said in the fight. It ignores the response of the other party.
Ineffective CommunicationDuring a Conflict Cross-complaining
Both parties share complaints and fail to listen to the other side.
“You’ve been late to all our meetings this week.” “And you’ve failed to post the minutes to the website.”
Kitchen-sinking The parties bring up more and more past
issues. Escalates the conflict.
Meeting Management Face-to-face vs. electronic When should you schedule face-to-face
meetings? When you need the richest nonverbal cues When the issue is sensitive When the participants don’t know each other When you need to establish group rapport When no other channel or medium of
communication will suffice
Meeting Management Advantages of electronic
Convenient for geographically dispersed teams
Speed up follow-up activities May limit dominator group types
Drawbacks of electronic Don’t effectively build group rapport Make it harder to reach consensus
Tips for Effective Meetings What are two reasons why you should
distribute an agenda in advance?
How does using agendas and minutes minimize the effect of free-riders?