Effective teamwork and group communication are essential for your professional and personal success. In this course you will learn to: make better decisions, be more creative and innovative, manage conflict and work with difficult group members, negotiate for preferred outcomes, improve group communication in virtual environments, develop a better overall understanding of human interaction, and work more effectively as a team. Our goal is to help you understand these important dynamics of group communication and learn how to put them into practice to improve your overall teamwork.
1. Socialization, Norms, and Roles
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From the course by University of Colorado Boulder
Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups
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From the lesson
Module 2
Module 2 focuses on group development and decision making. We’ll look at how groups come together through socialization, how they develop norms, and how roles emerge. And we’ll compare and contrast different models that explain these processes. We’ll examine the various decision making traps that groups can fall into, while also developing better practices for making good group decisions. And we’ll explore how groups can be more creative and innovative in their decision making.
Meet the Instructors
Matthew A. Koschmann, PhDAssociate Professor
Department of Communication
Hello again.
Our next three videos here in Module 2 are all about Group Development.
All the stuff related to how groups come together and
form their distinct character.
And this is important because what a group does and
what it accomplishes are directly related to what or even who that group is.
High performing groups and teams seem to develop a distinct personality.
Collective sense of Identity that transcends the individual members.
Conversely, low performing groups or teams never really seem to come together.
Despite, what might be listed formally on paper or an organizational chart.
They never are more than just the sum of their parts.
So let's look at the things involved in groups and
teams coming together to form their distinct character or identity.
We're going to focus on three key concepts.
Socialization, norms, and roles.
First, socialization simply refers to the process of becoming part of a group.
And although the concept of socialization may be straightforward,
the actual practice of socialization can be very complex.
Becoming part of a group often requires you to navigate some pretty difficult and
nuanced social terrain, figuring out how everyone in the group is connected,
and how you fit in.
And of course, all this happens through communication,
how we interact with each other as the group develops.
Now certainly many groups are formed by mere assignment, like when your boss
informs you that you're going to part of a certain project team.
But we're not talking about mere assignment here.
We're talking about truly becoming part of the group in a social sense,
thus socialization.
Surely you've had the experience of technically being part of a group, yet
not really belonging to the group.
You're sort of on the outside socially,
even if on paper you're formally part of the group.
So the key is for groups to interact with each other so that everyone is socialized
into the group and the group develops a distinct character or
identity that transcends the mere some of its parts.
We can't just assume that since people have merely been assigned to the group
that they will automatically become part of the group.
That requires further levels of interaction.
And much of that interaction maybe beyond what we might
consider to be the normal work of the group.
Things like informal conversations before and
after meetings, offsite get togethers for meals and drinks.
Or time spent getting to know each other, talking about personal interests and
experiences.
And the mistake people often make is thinking that
this sort of stuff doesn't really count as real group work,
because you're not directly focused on the task at hand.
Solving the problem, making a decision, all of this stuff is critical
because the quality of that decision you make, or your ability to solve that
problem is directly related to the social dynamics in your group.
If people haven't been fully socializing to the group,
it can have all sorts of negative ramifications.
People won't trust each other.
They won't be willing to engage each other in constructive conflict.
They won't be accountable to the rest of the group.
They won't care as much about the outcomes of the group or
the group's overall success.
Of course you can't just sit around and talk about personal stuff and
pop culture all the time.
You do need to get your work done.
But the quality of that work depends on the character or
the identity of your group.
So, it's critical that you take the time,
especially early in the life of your group,
to make sure that everyone is socialized, that they really become part of the group.
And socialization isn't just a one time thing, something you achieve once at
the beginning of your group, and then don't have to worry about again.
Yes, much of our socialization happens when groups initially form.
But there are also key moments of socialization throughout
the life of the group.
Those interactions outside of meetings where you get to know group members
a little bit better.
Those times where you acknowledge recent accomplishments of group
members before the meeting gets started.
Or take time to celebrate your latest group achievement.
When new people join the group, or previous members leave,
anything you can do to personalize your group more so that you can bond and
have a more cohesive unit, not just a collection of individuals.
And as you might guess, this is especially important for
groups that are physically dispersed, and often meet online rather than in person.
Socialization is a very human process that often works better when you're
in close proximity with other people.
Finally, it's important to remember that socialization never happens in a vacuum.
Groups and teams almost never form from scratch with no previous context.
Instead, groups usually have a history that influences the socialization process.
Members have previous interactions with each other.
Things are known about each other about other people and how they performed on
other projects in the past or people are associated with other groups or events.
Whose reputation perceives them.
This means we all come to the table with, some baggage.
People assume they know who we are, what our motivations are and how we will work.
That's just inevitable.
So the key for
us is to work past some of the history as we form our expectations for our groups.
To give others the benefit of the doubt at they socialize into our group.
And to acknowledge the reservations, or
uncertainties, that others have about our history, and what we bring to the group.
And thus, to communicate in ways,
that help overcome some of these negative perceptions.
Sometimes the burden is on us, to work harder, to fit into the group.
Other times, the burden is on the broader group,
to create the conditions that enable individuals, to fit in better.
Whatever the case, It is critical that we pay attention to the socialization
processes of our groups so we can develop the character or
identity necessary to be more successful.
A second key concept of group development is the notion of group norms.
As we socialize into a group with a distinct character or
identity, we will inevitably develop various standards,
customs, and expectations that are unique to our group, and how we operate.
These are called norms, things that become normal for our group.
Norms are sort of like rules, but
a little more informal, though sometimes more powerful.
Norms are things that are generally understood by everyone in the group.
Even if not recorded in a formal policy or even talked about very often.
Some norms are pretty simple and harmless like
normally starting a meeting with personal updates from your weekend activities or
going out for lunch to celebrate a group member's birthday.
But other norms are much more significant and
greatly effect group performance, both positively or negatively.
Like a norm that we always seek an outside opinion before making a final decision.
Or that no one challenges the boss and his or her ideas.
A norm that people generally don't respond to work emails on evenings or weekends.
Or that people are expected to be available anytime during the week.
These sorts of norms can help our groups be more successful, or
they can be the source of much dysfunctionality.
So it's very important that we pay attention to the norms that are developing
in our groups, that way,
we can foster norms that are helping our groups be more successful.
Like norms of good decision making practices and
challenge norms that drag our groups down or bring out our worst.
Like starting meetings late or
not taking it seriously when group members don't perform their tasks.
When things like this become normal in our groups, we need to intervene and
develop new norms.
And the good news is that we can develop better norms because norms are a function
of our group communication.
How we interact with each other.
They're not inevitable or determined.
Of course it can be difficult to overcome intrenched norms.
But if we change our patterns of interaction,
we can change what is normal in our groups.
And I hope you can see the reciprocal relationship between group norms and
group communication.
Group norms develop from our communication with each other, and
those norms then influence our subsequent group interactions.
So for example, if we continually remain silent to when a group member voices a bad
idea, rather than engaging in constructive critique, then a norm develops that will
make it increasingly difficult to practice constructive critique in the future.
But we can intervene and communicate differently.
Starting a more virtuous cycle that leads to better group norms,
that enhance the overall functionality and success of our groups.
So norms are a key aspect of group development
related to group communication.
Lastly let's talk about roles.
Our final concept of group development.
Roles are the various positions that people have in a group.
Roles involve formal divisions of labor and responsibility like if you're
a project manager, the financial administrator or bring some particular
expertise to the group that is needed for your group to accomplish its work.
But roles also involve more informal expectations about
people's place in the group.
And when we talk about group members we often refer to these sorts of roles.
We don't always just identify people by name,
we often say things like she's the blank of the group.
The leader, the problem solver, the numbers person, the negotiator.
But these sorts of informal roles can also be quite negative,
like being the late person, or the slacker, or the cynic.
Why is this important for group communication?
Well because our roles develop from our interactions with other group members.
They are created, or reinforced, or changed through our ongoing communication.
But, our roles also influence how we communicate with each other in our groups.
There are certain pressures and expectations to communicate in certain
ways, based on your role and the role of the person that you are interacting with.
So, roles are an essential part of a group's overall character, or
identity, and thus a key aspect of group development.
Now conceptually, this is pretty basic stuff.
But in practice, roles are very important.
And something many people mess up or simply take for granted.
We need to have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what.
And also need a keen awareness of who fills what position in your groups.
And the expectations, both formal and informal that go along with these roles.
Doesn't mean roles can't change, but it will require some savvy negotiating and
maneuvering.
And sometimes, that's necessary.
So, if you need to make changes, it will help if you have a better understanding
of how group roles and group communication relate to each other.
So that concludes our overview of Group Development.
And the important concepts of Socialization, Norms, and Roles.
In our next two videos we'll dig a bit deeper and
explore the different Models of Group Development.
To learn about how group development actually happens, we'll begin with
phase models of group development followed by multiple sequence models.
All of this will enhance our understanding of how groups come together or
not and develop into cohesive units that transcend the mere some of their parts.
See you next time.
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