Com 530 - Career Exploration

Group Communication Paper

Alysha Green, Michael Engelhardt, Tim Beggs,  Zanetta Eave

COM/530

Aileen Smith

November 23, 2015

First I would like to say congratulations on your new promotion as manager. Your new responsibility as manager is to introduce new employees in the company to their teammates. Accepting a new position can be hard, so I wanted to help you get started and prepare you for any obstacles you may encounter along the way. In order to manage group formation and communication it is important that you understand the five stages in group development, the barriers that may exist in group communication, and the techniques used to overcome those barriers.

Five Stages of Group Development

Group development can be a very delicate process. It is important to know and understand the five stages to group development. The first stage is categorized as forming. The forming stage centers around group members relying on a safe environment and they rely on their team leader for guidance. In this stage members of the group seek for acceptance, this makes them feel safe.

‘In the midst of forming group members are gathering data on their similarities and differences” (Tuckman, B. Jensen, M. 1977). Communication is essential in this process; without proper communication a group cannot completely form. The second stage is referred to as storming. Storming is categorized as competition. It is inevitable that there will be some type of conflict at some point. There is fear of failure or fear of exposure in groups, when this is the case group members highly rely on their group leader for structure and structure clarification. Group members learn that they have to amend their feelings, attitudes, ideas and beliefs to conform to the group. Storming stage highly rely on communication, there can be a complete meltdown if the group leader does not set the standard for what is expected from all members. The third stage is referred to as norming. Norming refers to interpersonal communication, this calls for cohesion. Group members are engaging at this stage and acknowledge others work, maintenance and solving issues that the group may have. When there is interpersonal communication involved group members are willing to change their mind about certain things when members show them facts countering their idea. Norming allows members to openly ask questions, leadership is shared in this process. As members take time to know one another cohesion is formed. The fourth stage is performing. Not all groups attain the fourth stage. In the event that a group actually reach the fourth stage that means they are highly motivated to reach the group’s goal and can get along well with others. This stage is about interdependence, at this point team members are accustomed to solving problems together. This type of group highly relies on an open line of communication. There is unity at this stage, there is support for any issue that may arise. The fifth and final stage is referred to as adjourning. Adjourning is eliminating task behaviors and removal of relationships. There is usually planned ending to a group and this allows everyone to be recognized for their hard work and efforts. Members say their farewells at this point. Adjourning can also create a small crisis causing apprehension and uncertainty for some members, due to their reliance on guidance. To prevent this from happening groups should follow the disengagement process. Communication is essential in all stages, communication creates cohesion and ensures a good working environment.

Barriers to Communication

A number of actions, conditions, or beliefs can hinder communication in groups.  Collectively, they are known as barriers to communication.  Robbins and Judge (2011) cite the following as some of the more common barriers:

• Filtering
• Selective Perception
• "Politically Correct" Communication
• Information Overload
• Emotions
• Silence
• Communication Apprehension
• Language
• Gender Differences

Filtering is common in an organization when communicating vertically.  Employees feel the need to tell managers what they believe the manager wants to hear.  Filtering is not limited to upward communication, however.  Managers may filter information during downward communication by omitting bad news items from messages.

Selective perception is akin to stereotyping.  It is also similar to filtering in that an individual who believes managers only want to hear good news will stick to good news messages.  Selective perception is broader than filtering in that it affects groups of similar people based on the communicator’s own perceptions.

“Politically correct” communication shares some similarities and ties with both filtering and selective perception.  People generally do not want to be offensive to other members of a group.  To avoid offense, they stick to safe messages, or those that they perceive to be situationally appropriate.  The approach is admirable, but sometimes their efforts in doing so distorts the message to the point it loses its meaning.

People can get overzealous when delivering a message.  Managers can deliver detail that exceeds the scope of the message and employees might report non-relevant data.  This is known as information overload.  Often, critical information overlooked or even ignored is the result of information overload.

People engaged in extreme emotions are not in the best condition for communication.  This is because focus is not on the communication.  Focus is on the source of the emotion.  A person who is angry may certainly hear the message, but he is also processing his emotion during delivery.  Extreme emotions in communication can lead to other barriers like silence and communication apprehension.

Despite the adage that no news is good news, silence is not necessarily a good thing.  Silence could be a product of emotion, say, if an employee is upset over the way he is treated.  Silence in such a situation does not facilitate actions toward a solution.  Silence might be a product of communication apprehension.  Sometimes people simply are worked up in social settings and develop anxiety (Robbins & Judge, 2011).  As mentioned, emotions may play into such anxiety.  Consider how worked up against speaking an employee might be if her manager is visibly angry.  Whatever the reason, silence is not communication and is therefore a barrier.