Small Group Comm Test 1 Review

Small group comm

  • Common purpose

  • Sense of belonging

  • Exert of influence


Don't underestimate the value of proximity 


What's the big difference between a small group and a team? 


Team

  • Coordinated group

  • Organized to work together

  • Specific common goal


Teams clearly define:

  • Goals

  • Roles

  • Rules

  • Methods


Team characteristics


  • Effective teams 

  • clear ,elevating goal

  • Results- driven structure

  • Competent members

  • Unified commitment

  • Collaborative climate

  • Standards of excellence

  • External support 

  • Principled leadership 


Effective team members

  • Experience

  • Problem-solving skills

  • Openness

  • Supportiveness

  • Action-oriented

  • Positive personal style

  • Positive team perception

  • Team learning and adapting 




Why you love it 

  • Group advantages 

  • More information

  • Stimulate creativity 

  • Remember discussions 

  • Decision satisfaction

  • A better understanding of self 


Why you hate it

Group disadvantages 

  • Pressure to conform

  • Individuals dominate 

  • Rely too much on others/ social loafing 

  • Takes long 


Keep in mind you cannot save every soul

(Some people in the group might not give a shit, unfortunately)


Dont drag deadweight figure out how to work around 


We have the ability to vote someone out of our group (that person fails so don't fuck up)


Sometimes, Let's Just Not…


  • When not to collaborate 

  • Limited time 

  • Expert has answers

  • Information readily available 

  • Unmanageable conflict 


  • “Me” vs “We” 

  • Individualistic vs collectivistic 



Various Groups 


Primary Groups 

  • Fulfill social needs

  • Family groups 

  • Social groups


Secondary Groups 

  • Exist to accomplish tasks

  • Problem solving group

  • Decision making group 

  • Study group

  • Therapy group
    Committees 

  • Focus groups (feedback)



Systems theory 


  • Social exchange theory 

  • Symbolic convergence theory

  • Structuration theory

  • Functional theory 

  • Small group model 



Eight tenets 

  • Openness to environment: said everything outside of the groups affect routines  

  • Interdependence: every part affect other group

  • Input variables: anything like resources; like money, materials, food, water 

  • Process variables: also throughout, methods like their mood, norms, rules; morning routine

  • Output variables: what else they put; their sweat and product created

  • Synergy: aum of the part greater than the individuals, apex and managing all the variables

  • Entropy: all the chaos of experience, breakdown and confidence; sickness and fatigue

  • Equifinality: all roads to be turbo from roman empire, group have many ways to solve problems; eat less and exercise






PRESENTATION


Come up with own metaphor for systems theory 


Explain each of the 8 tenets within the metaphor


Will present and DK will actively try to disprove us 


No time limit when presenting but will be done similarly to coffee shop slam poetry 


Topic: Ant hill 

Openness to environment: 


Interdependence: there are many different jobs in the ant colony and every different group relies on another. So say if the worker ants die then none of the soldier ants or the queen can get food. 


Input variables: the ants, soldier ant, queen ant, worker ant, 


Process variables: (process variables relate to procedures that the group follows to reach its goal) ants that go get food, ants to protect hill, queen to have babies building the nest, food storage, 


Output variables: the ant hill lives to see another day and grow 


Synergy: the ant hill itself comes from synergy, one ant can't build the hill by itself but together they can


Entropy: randomness chaos, the tunnel systems may seem random from the outside 


Equifinality: the systems final state is that the ants have a well working oiled machine




Process variables: (process variables relate to procedures that the group follows to reach its goal) The main goal of an ant colony is too grow the colony and keep it thriving. Ants are very organized and have specific jobs that allow the ant hill to run smoothly. There are the worker ants that go get food and repair the hill, soldier ants to protect hill and the queen, and the queen’s job is to have babies. These combined efforts allow the ants to complete this goal.


"The main goal of an ant colony is to grow and sustain itself. Ants are highly organized, with each member assigned specific roles that help the colony function efficiently. Worker ants gather food and repair the hill, soldier ants defend the colony and protect the queen, and the queen’s primary role is to reproduce. Through these combined efforts, the colony thrives and continues to grow."

Social exchange theory 

  • Relationship have two components 

  • Reward

  • Costs


  • Reward - cost = profit/loss

  • Profit makes relationship attractive 

  • How does this apply to Small Groups 


Symbolic Convergence Theory 


  • Communication => Identity & CUlture => Norms, Roles, Decisions

  • Over time, collective consciousness and shared emotion 

  • Fantasies 

  • Shared Interpretation of Group

  • Make Sense of Experience

-   What actually happened

-   Our interpretation of What Happened 


Structuration Theory 


  • Structure Groups Through Rules and Resources 

  • Focuses on Individual Behavior Rather Than Group Dynamics 

  • Rules and Systems Shape Determine Interactions 

  • Group Structure 

  • Based on rules from previous group

  • Based on new rules developed by the group 


Functional Theory 


  • Function Refers to Consequences of Behavior 

  • Effective Group Problem - Solving Occur When Members 

  • Satisfy Task Requirements 

  • Use Communication to Overcome Restraints 

  • Review the Process of Making Choices 


*Reviewing the process of making choices is equally effective when things went well


Small Group Model


  • Constellation 

  • All Consequences Interwoven

  • Human COmmunication

  • Leadership

  • Goals 

  • Norms

  • Roles

  • Cohesiveness

  • Situation 


Why join


Humans are social creatures


Interpersonal needs 


Schutz’s theory 

Human needs as they interact in groups 

  • Inclusion (being apart of things) 

  • Control 

  • Affection 

  • Repeating cycles of group development 


Individual and group goals 


Individual goals determine groups 

  • Goals can be group centric

  • Goals can coincide with Group 


Group goals transcend individual 

  • Paradox of group membership (i joined for me i stayed for you

  - we join groups to accomplish individual goals

  -individual goals then take back seat to group goals



Mutuality of Concern


  • Each has different level of commitment 

  • Individual levels should be clear early on

  • Hidden agendas and social loafing 

  • Four possible outcomes 

  • Individual and group goals too diverse 

  • Group interactions realizes only group goals 

  • One or more members meet individual goals which hinders the group goals 

  • Group and individual goals blend and all is well


Interpersonal attraction 


Interpersonal attraction 

  • Similarity 

  • Complementarity 

  • Proximity contact and interaction

  • Physical 


Group Attraction

  • Group activities 

  • Group goals 

  • Group membership 


Groups experience something known as primary tensions (all of the anxiety that comes with working with your people) 



Groups experience secondary tension 


Group Formation Time 


Tuckman's stages

  • Forming 

  • Storming (experience conflict in the group) 

  • Norming (groups start settling in, sort of have a method for resolving conflict)

  • Performing (operating at its optimum level)


They are cyclical 


Socialization 

  • Anticipation 

  • Encounter 

  • Adjustment 



Chapter 5 


Roles


  • Sets of expectations 

  • Self expectations 

  • Perceptions of positions 

  • Actual behavior 

  • Self-Concept

  • Gender

  • Sexual orientation

  • Culture

  • Role 



Categories of Roles

(Anybody can assume multiple roles simultaneously)


  • Task Roles

  • Initiator- contributor (gets the conversation going)

  • Elaborator (takes complex info and adds more information to it

  • Coordinator (The person who organizes things)

  • Orientor (Takes all info that the team has done and boils it down to something that is more digestible 

  • Maintenance roles (All about managing relationships)

  • Encourager 

  • gatekeeper*** (make sure every member of the group has a shot of equal contribution)


  • Individual roles (NO) 🙂 all individual roles are bad 



Norms 


  • Standards of behaviors that are implicit 

  • Based on prior group experience/ structure

  • Based on what happens early in the group 


  • Conforming to Norms

  • Individual characteristics

  • Clarity of norm and certainty of punishment 

  • Number of people who have already conformed

  • Quality of interpersonal relationship in the group 

  • Sense of identification 


Norms continued 

  • Generalization

  • Operational norms 

  • Tend to evolve from generalized to operational 

  • Norms and culture must be considered 

  • Ground rules

  • Explicit and agreed upon


Status 


  • Individuals relative power

  • Privileges associated with status

  • Effects of status difference

  • Tend of be more instructive 

  • Use of complex and second person (you) language 

  • Predictive power 


Power

  • Power bases

  • Legitimate: the authority that comes with a formal position

  • Reward: something that you can grant me or give

  • Coercive: if i don't do my job you can hurt me or impact me negatively 

  • Expert: you know more than i do 

  • Referent: follow you because they like who you are (***arguably the strongest power base)



Trust

  • Willingness to act on the basis of another

  • Virtual trust through task completion 

  • Development of relationships over time 

  • primary/secondary tension experienced 

  • Conversational style amongst men

  • Time 

– monochronic (one thing at a time)

– polychronic (multitasking)