• Small Group Communication
- All of us spend time in groups.
- Some groups are formal and others informal.
- Socially oriented(human need for social
contact) and task oriented (problem solving/
achieving specific outcomes).
 Defining a group
- a group is a collection of individuals who see
themselves belonging, interacting, occupying
certain roles to achieve a certain goal.
- A small group is composed of twelve or fifteen
people
interacting
face-to-face
influencing
others and being influenced by others.
 Advantages of small groups
- Pooling of resources and information to achieve goals
and reach decisions.
- increase in individual motivation and commitment to
the tasks.
- Superior decisions and solutions are often reached
because groups are better equipped than individuals.
- Having one’s ideas confirmed by others provides a
feeling of personal satisfaction.
 Disadvantages of small groups
- the temptation to allow others to do all the
work.
- The temptation for forceful people to take over
and dominate the group.
- Personal goals of the group members sometimes
conflict with group goals to the extent that they
interfere with group objectives.
 Group characteristics
- optimum number of members : small group
consists of three to twelve or fifteen people. Five
to seven people in a group is the most productive
size as it is large enough to share information and
workload it also allows each member maximum
participation. An odd number makes it easy to
vote and will prevent tie votes.
- Good working environment : promotes interaction among
its members. Seating that is too formal or too informal
inhibits free discussion. The ideal arrangement of tables
allows everyone to see each other and everyone has a equal
status, establishing a climate of equal opportunity for all.
The climate concerns the atmosphere in the group and I
dependent on the communication styles of the members.
Group climate affects the cohesiveness and commitment of
the members to the task in hand and to group norms.
- Cohesiveness and commitment to the task :
groups that succeed in achieving their goals are
committed and strive to meet the group's
goals. Effective groups are usually cohesive in
that every member actively work together as a
group and help one another as group members.
- Group norms : norms are the rules of
behaviour expected for a group to operate
effectively and to develop cohesiveness.
- Group interaction and group procedure are
two important areas of norm development.
- Filling role requirements : members of the
group play or fulfill certain prescribed roles.
In effective groups, members understand and
fill
various
roles
such
as
task
and
maintenance roles that enable the group to
function. Problems arise when members
deliberately play self-centered roles and
dominate the discussion.
 Communication networks in small groups
- The structure of the group plays a major role
in the effectiveness of communication in the
group. Communication networks provide a way
of looking at a group structure. Communication
networks are recurring patterns of interaction
(who talks to whom in a group). Draw diagram
from textbook
• Communication Networks in small groups
• The wheel, chain and Y are centralised
networks. In centralised networks the person
with the most channels of communication
tends to become the group leader.
• The circle and all-channel patterns are
decentralised and sometimes leaderless.
 Leadership in groups
- Leadership is defined as any behaviour that
facilitates group task accomplishment. Effective
leaders are able to help a group attain both
task and maintenance functions. Many theories
have
been
developed
about
leadership.
Leadership traits and leadership styles will be
discussed.
- Leadership traits : effective leaders display
consistent traits which relate to ability, sociability,
motivation and communication skills.
- Leadership styles : quality of work produced by
groups depends on the style of leadership of the
group leader. There are three different leadership
styles, namely authoritarian, democratic and
laissez-faire styles.
 Authoritarian leaders are strongly task oriented and
have opinions on how to achieve the groups goals.
They exercise direct control, make decisions without
consulting the group which causes conflict and group
satisfaction is low.
 Democratic leaders are people oriented. They guide
rather than direct by involving all members. Produces
high quality results, opportunities, motivation and
desire to communicate.
 laissez-faire leadership usually does not
direct the group at all. They supply
information but do not actively participate in
group decisions. The group has the final say.
The group can suffer from loss of direction
and the quality of work they produce suffers.