Communicating in small groups

Communicating in Small Groups is an important skill today's highly group oriented environment. Individuals are expected to be able to work in teams and have the skills to cooperate with team members. As a team member, your success is measured by your ability to communicate with your team members, your boss and your peers. Several communications textbooks take on the topic of communicating in small groups and offer many pieces of advise, techniques and suggestions for dealing with the situations that arise among team members. Among those who have researched and written about the topic, Mary Ellen Guffey, Kathleen Rhodes and Patricia Rogin in their book entitled "Business Communication: Process and Product" offer the following pieces of wisdom:

Why Form Groups and Teams?
In response to their need to continuously beat their own standards, despite often having fewer people and fewer resources, organizations today are forcing employees to work in teams. They feel that having employees work in teams encourages better decisions, faster responses, increases productivity, improves morale, reduces risk, achieves greater “buy-in”, and causes individuals to be less resistant to change.
Four Phases of Team Development
*Forming: when individuals get to know each other and cautiously discuss their role in the team.
*Storming: when members of the group discuss their responsibilities and goals more aggressively, staking out their position within the team. Storming can produce conflict and it is up to the team leader to resolve the conflict.
*Norming: after a period of tension, cooler heads are bound to prevail. Members’ roles are made clear and information can easily flow through the group. The team leader is no longer necessary because everyone takes on their individual goals
*Performing: a common pace and language is shared between the members and can work together without a grudge.
Tuckman’s team growth model explains how some groups never reach the 'performing' stage. Several potential reasons for their failures include; confused goals, mismatched needs, unresolved roles, bad leadership, anti-team culture and poor feedback.
How to Form and Participate in Virtual Teams
*Select team members carefully.
*Invest in beginnings.
*Redefine “we”
*Get the maximum benefit from technology
*Concentrate on building credibility and trust
*Establish responsibilities
*Keep track of information
*Avoid misinterpreting information
Team Conflict
Conflict within a team is not necessarily a bad thing. Conflict can be constructive as it can improve decision-making, clarify values, increase group organization, stimulate creativity, decease tension and limit dissatisfaction.
Six Step Procedure for Dealing with Conflict
#Listen
#Understand the others point of view
#Show concern for the relationship
#Look for common ground
#Invent new problem solving ideas
#Reach an agreement based on what’s fair
How to Reach Group Decisions
When working in groups, there must be an agreed upon method for making the final decision. The following suggested decision making methods:
*Majority: group members take a vote and the majority wins. This method is ideal when time is short and quick decisions are needed.
*Consensus: team members continues to discuss until all members state their opinion and all members agree. Consensus can be time consuming, however it allows the team to come to a joint decision.
*Minority subcommittee: when time is short and the group size is too large, a subcommittee is empowered to investigate and recommend the final decision.
*Averaging: members of the team negotiate to reach a position.
*Authority rule with discussion: the leader of the team listens to the group’s ideas but ultimately the final decision rests with them.
How to Form a Successful Team
The following are considered to be characteristics of successful teams:
#When possible form groups that are smaller in size (ideally 4 to 5 members for a project); if it is impossible created sub committees in a larger group.
#Create teams that have diverse members. Each member should have a unique skill that can contribute to the project.
#Have a general purpose and specific goals.
#Assign goals and tasks to each member and set a deadline.
#If there is a problem, deal with it through direct confrontation which saves time and improves team commitment.
#When speaking to other members, speak clearly to avoid generalities. Encourage feedback from the other members.
#Contribute feedback and ideas productively.
#Rotate leaders to those with specific expertise. During times of a crisis, elect a member who is a strong leader to step up.
#Demonstrate good manners and offer support to members with a heavy workload.
Team-Based Orals and Presentations
*Preparing to work together: select a leader have them record all group decisions and goals. The group should decide how they want to work and make decisions. Comparing schedules with other group members is crucial as well.
*Planning the Documents or Presentations: decide what your purpose is and identify the main issues. The team should choose a final format of the written part and of the presentation. Also discuss your target audience.
*Collecting Information: first brainstorm for ideas and then assign topics.
*Organizing, writing and revising: review the final documents and adjust what is necessary. Appoint one member to coordinate all of the parts and during a presentation, each member should lead into what the next person is about to say.
*Editing, rehearsing and evaluating: one person should be in charge of correcting grammatical and mechanical errors but the entire group should evaluate the final document for the presentation. The group should rehearse five times prior to the final presentation. A final dress rehearsal should be scheduled two days before the presentation.
Productive Meetings
*Discuss how to plan efficient meetings.
*Call meetings when you need help from your group and make an agenda for the meeting and follow it.
*Start the meetings on time and resolve any conflicts before hand.
*Assign someone to take minutes, which must be objective and action oriented.
*At the end of a meeting, summarize what has been said and decided and restate who is doing what.
Using Technology to Facilitate Collaboration
In the 21st century there are several alternatives to face-to-face communication that have been proven to work well in a variety of team communication situations:
*Voice Conferencing: Enables collaborators to discuss with each other by telephone
*Video Conferencing: Combines video, audio, and software to connect collaborators in real time.
*Web Conferencing: Enables collaborators to use their computers in sharing documents, data, and slide shows
*Instant Messaging: Useful for immediate online conversations
*Blogs: interactive online journals with information that team members can see and comment on
*Wikis: easy-to-use collaborative Web sites where people can add, change, or delete information

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