SMALL GROUP & ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION Flashcards
types of small groups
primary groups, secondary groups, activity groups, personal growth groups, learning groups, problem solving groups
primary groups
close knit, long term (family, close friends)
secondary groups
task orientated, less intimate (work teams, committees)
activity groups
shared hobbies or interests (sports teams, book clubs)
personal growth groups
self-improvement, emotional support (therapy, AA)
learning groups
acquire knowledge or skills (study groups, workshops)
problem solving groups
specific issues or goals (project teams, community action groups)
Stages in Tuckman’s model of group formation (5)
forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning
characteristics of individual group roles (5)
group leader, compromiser, dominator, devil’s advocate, malcontent
assumptions of adaptive structuration theory
- groups and organizations are produced and reproduced through actions and behaviors
- communication rules service as both the medium for, and the outcome of, interactions
- power structures are present in organizations and guide the decision-making process
rules
general routines that the group has or follows in accomplishing its goals
resources
the power that actors bring to the group
allocative resources
tangible assets; control over material or financial resources
authoritative resources
intangible assets; influence over people, ideas, and decision-making
agency/agent
human activity is the source that creates and recreates the social environment in which we exist
reflexivity
a person’s ability to monitor his or her actions or behaviors
duality of structure
the concept that people create and maintain structures through their behaviors, but those same structures influence how people act within a group or society
social integration
the reciprocity of communication behaviors among persons in interactions and form expectations for future interactions base on previous behavior
discursive consciousness
awareness of actions that can be explained or described in words
practical consciousness
awareness of actions that you perform automatically without thinking
normative influence
occurs when people act or behave in a way due to desire to preserve group harmony and receive positive evaluations from others
normative influences are strongest when…
tasks is ambiguous, decisions are public, decisions must be unanimous, the group leader is powerful and directive
informative influence
occurs when people have the goal of making high quality decisions or task performance
informative influence is strongest when…
decisions are ambiguous, decisions are private, decisions are based on majority rule, there is no powerful leader
conversion
submitting or relenting to an alternate opinion because you now believe that alternate opinion to be true
conformity
submitting or relenting to an alternate opinion even though you believe that alternate opinion to be false
groupthink
a pattern of deliberation that group members use when their desire for unanimity overrides their motivation to assess all available plans of action
characteristics of group think
ignore all dissenting opinions, suppress conflict just to get along, fail to consider all solutions
antecedent conditions of group think
group cohesiveness, group insulation, lack of impartial leadership, lack of decision making procedures, similarity of group members, internal and external stress
symptoms of group think
overestimation of the group, closed-mindedness, pressures toward uniformity
four functions of effective decision making
- require oversight & control
- embrace whistleblowing
- allow for objection
- balance consensus & majority rule
characteristics of organizations
goal directed behavior, coordinated actions, information sharing, decision making, human relationships
three perspectives of organizational communication
functional/traditional, interpretive, critical
functional/traditional perspective
understand organizations through the eyes of an effective manager
interpretive perspective
understand organizations through the eyes of its members
critical perspective
understanding organizations through the eyes of marginalized members
characteristics of organizational culture
- Organizational culture is a system of shared meaning and the essence of organizational life
- Organizational culture is an intricately designed web of associations
- Organizational members must adapt their communication behaviors to fit within the overall organizational culture
assumptions of organizational culture theory
- Members create and maintain a shared sense of organizational reality
- The use and interpretation of symbols are critical to an organization’s culture
- Cultures vary across organizations
symbols of organizational culture
physical (logos), behavioral (traditions), verbal (slogans)
stories of organizational culture
corporate stories, personal stories, collegial stories (social norms/work dynamics)
cultural performances of organizational culture
ritual performance, passion performance, social performance, political performance, enculturation performance
three types of organizational networks
centralized, chained, decentralized
centralized network pros/cons
- Pros: efficient for simple tasks, takes advantage of competent leader, central person is satisfied
- Cons: Non-central members are less satisfied, central person could be overloaded, limits inventiveness
chained network pros/cons
- Pros: extends membership inputs to the group, reduces unnecessary participation of specialized members
- Cons: potential for miscommunication is high, peripheral members are less committed
decentralized network pros/cons
Pros: increased satisfaction, increased inventiveness, better performance on complex tasks
Cons: time-consuming
Assumptions of the communicative constitution of organizations theory
- Communication is what brings organizations into existence
- organizational practices arise from the daily interactions of the organization’s members
- constitution: communication that calls organization into being
equivocality
the extent to which organizational messages are uncertain, ambiguous, or unpredictable
organizational information theory assumptions
- human organizations exist in an informational environment
- the information an organization receives differs in terms of equivocality
- human organizations engage in information processing to reduce equivocality of information
