Download Chapter 2: Your Communication in Groups

Chapter 2
Your Communication in Groups
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Verbal communication
Words and meanings
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Patterns of language
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Verbal Activity
• Concrete vs. abstract words
• Messages accomplish functions
• Influence relationships among members
• Amount of time a group member talks
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Oxford University Press
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Improving Verbal Skills
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Provide full descriptions for terminology
Watch for cues that signal members
need more information
Choose your words carefully
Link your messages to comments of
others
Monitor your talking time
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Nonverbal Communication
How words are said or
how behaviors are
used as substitutes
for words
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Vocalics
Kinesics
Proxemics
Haptics
Chronemics
Artifacts
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Nonverbal Cues
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Multiple nonverbal cues occur
simultaneously
Precise meanings difficult to determine
• No dictionary for nonverbal cues
Group members are often unaware of
the cues they display
Use and interpretation of nonverbal cues
is often culture bound
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Functions of
Nonverbal Communication
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Helps structure and manage group
interaction
Facilitates group member identity
Conveys relationship information
Regulates who talks
Reveal quality of group’s interaction
Reveal status of group members
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Verbal and Nonverbal
Communication
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Verbal and nonverbal communication are
intertwined
Verbal and nonverbal messages are not
always in agreement
• Generally
the nonverbal message is more
believable
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Improving Nonverbal Skills
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Identify the nonverbal messages you
send
• Ask another group member to observe you
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Pay attention to how others respond to
you
Observe and analyze the effectiveness
of the nonverbal communication of other
group members
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The Listening Process
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In groups, you spend more time
listening than speaking
Listening errors often go undetected
Extraneous conversations affect
listening
More listeners = more possible
interpretations
Listening is difficult
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The Listening Process
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Listeners, not speakers, control whether
they will listen
Listening is a process
• Excellent hearing does not ensure listening
• Listening requires interpretation
• Stages of listening occur rapidly
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Listening Pitfalls
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Ineffective listening creates artificial
barriers
• Prejudging the speaker
• Rehearsing a response
• Selective listening
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Group members often unaware of their
contributions to listening pitfalls
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Active Listening
• Paraphrasing what the speaker says
• Asking questions to confirm
• Taking notes
• Avoid cliché phrases as feedback
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Task Communication
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Verbal and nonverbal messages
instrumental to accomplishing group
tasks and activities
• Offer or request direction
• Advance or ask about a belief or value
• Report or request facts, observations, or
experiences
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Relational Communication
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Verbal and nonverbal messages that
create social fabric of a group—essential
to creating relationships among group
members
• Demonstrate friendliness or unfriendliness
• Show tension or anxiety, or reduce it
• Demonstrate agreement or disagreement
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Task and Relational Messages
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Distinct, but interdependent
Relational messages create context for
group’s task or activity
• Relational problems often reported as primary
reason for work group ineffectiveness
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Group Communication
Outcomes
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Synergy
• Performance of group exceeds capabilities of
individual group members
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Collectivity efficacy
• Individual group member belief that the group
can be effective
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Group potency
• Group members’ collective belief that the
group can be effective
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