Presentation Prepared by:
Nader H. Chaaban, Ph.D.
Montgomery College Rockville,
Maryland
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.
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GROUP CIRCUMSTANCES AND STRUCTURE
Physical Environment
Group Size and Structure
Type of Groups
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PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Environments that promote creativity and
productivity can actually improve group
performance (Semper)
Researchers have found that “personal and
cultural expectations” affect how an individual
interprets and functions in a particular work
space.
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PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Territoriality
In addition to identifying certain places as our
territory, we also move about in a portable
space bubble of about 18 inches in each
direction that we let only certain people violate.
This is referred to as our personal space
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PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Territoriality
Intimate distance extends from touching to
about 18 inches.
Personal distance ranges from 18 inches to
about 4 feet.
Social distance refers to the distance between
4 to 12 feet.
Public distance refers to 12 feet and beyond.
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PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Seating Patterns
Research has shown that even the seating
patterns around rectangular tables have a
major impact on interaction.
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PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Seating Pattern
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PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Seating Patterns at Rectangular Tables:
(a)
Corner-to-Corner, (b) Face-to-Face,
(c)
Distant-Opposite, (d) Corner to End, (e) Sideby-Side, and (f) End-to-End.
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PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Seating Preferences at Round Tables: (a) Side-bySide, (b) Distance-Opposite, and (c) Side-to-End.
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GROUP SIZE AND STRUCTURE
Communication Networks
Centralized networks, such as the chain and
the wheel, are better for solving simple
problems.
When the problem is complex, the
decentralized networks, such as the circle and
the all-channel are faster and more accurate
and result in higher member satisfaction
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Communications Networks: (a) Wheel,
(b) Chain, (c) Y, (d) Circle, and
(e) All-Channel.
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GROUP SIZE AND STRUCTURE
• Communication Networks
– These have definite applications in the virtual
meeting space.
– The emerging internet generation has many
members who prefer small groups to organize
online when distance prevents face-to-face
meetings.
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GROUP SIZE AND STRUCTURE
• Group Size
– As the group’s size increases, the potential
number of interactions increases.
– Social loafing, the decreased effort of each
individual member in the group, occurs more
as the number of people in a group increases.
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GROUP SIZE AND STRUCTURE
• Group Size
– Forsyth (1999) suggest the following guidelines
to minimize social loafing:
1. Increase personal involvement.
2. Minimize free riding.
3. Clarify group goals.
4. Set high standards.
5. Increase collective efficacy.
6. Increase unity.
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TYPES OF GROUPS
•
•
•
•
•
Primary Groups
Casual and Social Groups
Educational Groups
Work Groups
Problem-Solving Groups
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TYPES OF GROUPS
• Primary Groups
– Primary groups usually includes family and
closest friends.
– Primary groups influence self-concept as well
as personality from childhood to adulthood.
– Members of our primary group are sometimes
referred to as significant others.
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TYPES OF GROUPS
• Casual and Social Groups
– Casual and social groups include
neighborhood groups, fraternities, and in
some cases, fellow members of street gangs.
– A study revealed that the emotional distress
caused by being left out of a social group
actually caused blood flow to the portion of
the brain that is stimulated by physical pain
(Paul 2005)
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TYPES OF GROUPS
• Educational Groups
– Also called learning groups or enlightenment
groups.
– Members get together for the primary purpose
of study or instruction.
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TYPES OF GROUPS
• Work Groups
– The level of productivity is set by group norms
– Noneconomic rewards and sanctions significantly
affect the behavior of the workers and largely
limit the effect of economic incentive plans.
– Often workers do not act or react as individuals
but as members of groups.
• A recent innovation in work groups is the self-directed
work team (SDWT).
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TYPES OF GROUPS
• Problem-Solving Groups
– The terms task-oriented, problem-solving, and
decision-making groups have been used
interchangeably to stress the emphasis on the
cognitive end products of group discussion.
– Tiger teams are small groups of high-performing
people who are challenged by a company’s
executive team to take problems and find
workable solutions.
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TYPES OF GROUPS
Problem-Solving Groups
 Types of Discussion Questions
An effective problem-solving discussion begins with
an effectively structured discussion question.
A topic should be limited to one issue.
Questions of fact
Questions of definition
Questions of value
Questions of policy
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TYPES OF GROUPS
• Problem-Solving Groups
– Discussion Group Formats
• Dialogue—a discussion or conversation between two
people.
• Panel—usually involves a small number of people
conducting an informal discussion on a topic that they
have all thought about and possibly researched
beforehand.
• Symposium—includes several participants, each of
whom gives a short formal presentation on a prepared
topic.
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TYPES OF GROUPS
• Problem-Solving Groups
– Discussion Group Formats . . . (continued)
• Forum—a question-and-answer period designed to
allow audience members to interact with the
discussion group.
• Colloquy—involves questioning of experts by the
other experts on the panel, laypersons on a second
panel, or laypersons in the audience.
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TYPES OF GROUPS
• Discussion Group Techniques
– Phillips 66
• A specific technique developed by J. D. Phillips, it
allows all members of an audience to form groups of
about six people to discuss a specific topic for about
six minutes and then report the group’s conclusion
through a spokesperson.
– Case discussion
• An educational discussion centered on a real or
hypothetical event.
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TYPES OF GROUPS
• Discussion Group Techniques (continued)
– Role playing
• Allows participants to adopt a new “role” or set of
behaviors.
– Fishbowl
• One small group attempts to solve a problem for a
specified period of time (e.g., 30 minutes), while a
second group, seated around the outside of the first
group, observes the process.
– Conference
• A series of meetings on topics of common interest
between and among people who represent different
groups.
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TYPES OF GROUPS
• Computer-Assisted Groups
– Through new software, small groups can now
do computer-supported cooperative work by
means of groupware.
• Idea Generation and Anonymity
1. Idea generation/brainstorming
2. Idea grouping/issue analyzing
3. Voting
4. Outlining
5. Annotating
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TYPES OF GROUPS—PRACTICAL TIPS
Here are 10 of the most common “team traps” to
avoid.
1. Leader abdication
2. Successionless planning
3. Downsizing
4. Political suicide
5. Team arrogance
6. Undefined accountability
7. Short-term focus
8. Disruptive team member
9. Poor teamwork habits
10. Decision by default
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TYPES OF GROUPS—PRACTICAL TIPS
Video conferencing works well when:
 You need the benefit of face-to-face contact and want
to save the time and expense associated with traveling
to another location.
 Your goal is to provide information such as briefings or
training classes.
 You are broadcasting presentations to many
employees.
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VIDEO CONFERENCING
Video conferencing does not work as well when:
– The time lag difficulties will be distracting or detrimental
to communication.
– The added social context of face-to-face communication is
needed.
– The success of your meeting relies on short bursts of input
from all participants.
– The group must discuss sensitive issues.
– The group misses out on side discussions that often result
in new ideas during a face-to-face meeting.
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TYPES OF GROUPS
• Leadership
– With computers, leaders must rely on their
groups to process the multitude of data.
– Computer-aided communication can be an
important means of influencing a group’s
methods and capabilities.
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REVIEW OF THE SYSTEMS APPROACH
• In systems theory, the elements that
constitute the internal influences of our
model would be called part of the throughput
of small groups.
• Probably the most important internal
influence in the model is the type of group.
• The all-channel network was best for group
member satisfaction, whereas the wheel
produced the fastest results.
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THE SYSTEMS APPROACH
• As group size increases, the all-channel
network begins to bog down in confusion,
and a more controlled network tends to be
more appropriate.
• The type of group format is related to the
discussion group formats and techniques
and the desired group outcome.
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THE END
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