geralt. (n.d.) [Image]. Retrieved from Pixabay. License under no attribution required

OBJECTIVES:

After completing this Module students will be able to:

Identify the typical stages in the life cycle of a group.
Describe different types of group members and group member roles.
Understand the role of interpersonal needs in the communication process.
Interpret social penetration theory, self disclosure, and the principles of self-disclosure.
Describe interpersonal relations.
Demonstrate the concept of group norms.
Assess the role and function of group norms.
Discuss the effect of group norms on a group’s development.

OVERVIEW:

This excerpt from your primary textbook, An Introduction to Group Communication explains the process of group development. As a reminder, Small group communication, refers to interactions among three or more people who are connected through a common purpose, mutual influence, and a shared identity. A group is people doing something together. It can be a large group of thousand and we’ll call them a crowd. It can be a small group of just three members. People might be social, or work together, formal or informal with each other, they might be assigned or self-selected as members—the range is great and varied, and as the group grows so does the complexity.

In this section we explore group development. Groups start out as a zero in our lives. They require no time, no thought, no energy, and no effort. Then we choose to be part of one, or receive an assignment. Now the group is no longer a zero in our lives. It might have a number, like 10%, meaning we spend about 10% of our work time on a project with a group. It could be 100%, as in we work everyday within the group. We could call it a 10 for the ten hours a week we invest in it. Regardless what we call a group in our lives, we have to call it something because it now exists for us, where once it did not.

We can also anticipate conflicts in a group. At work we may see people in terms, or between departments, conflict with each other. Even at home we may observe the friction that occurs between family members even after years of interaction. Where there are groups there will be conflict.

We find norms and expectations within groups. Ever group has a code of conduct, no matter how informal, of who does what when and how. Power, status, and even companionship all play a role in group expectations for its members.

Finally, all groups end. Families end, change, and transform. Work relationships change as well. Groups accept new members, lose former members, and they themselves become new groups, rising out of the ashes of the old.

All groups form, have conflicts, form norms, and dissolve. In this section we’ll explore three related theories on group development, comparing their similarities and differences. We’ll learn more about why we need groups, and why they need us. We will explore how it that we come to know each other, and how important groups are in our lives. (Introduction, 2014).

READ:

Read Chapter 3-3.5 in Introduction to Group Communication

WRITE:

Complete ASSIGNMENT Module Two: Social Penetration Theory.

WATCH or DISCUSS:

Complete DISCUSSION Module Two: Schutz's interpersonal theory.

DO:

References, License, and Attributions for all Modules unless otherwise noted:

This OER textbook is “Introducing Group Communication”, An Introduction to Group Communication (v. 0.0). For details on it (including licensing), click here. The subsequent in-text general references to this text will be: (Introduction, 2014).

This book is licensed under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) license. See the license for more details, but that basically means you can share this book as long as you credit the author (but see below), don't make money from it, and do make it available to everyone else under the same terms. This content was accessible as of December 29, 2012, and it was downloaded then by Andy Schmitz in an effort to preserve the availability of this book.

Normally, the author and publisher would be credited here. However, the publisher has asked for the customary Creative Commons attribution to the original publisher, authors, title, and book URI to be removed. Additionally, per the publisher's request, their name has been removed in some passages. More information is available on this project's attribution page.

For more information on the source of this book, or why it is available for free, please see the project's home page. You can browse or download additional books there. To download a .zip file containing this book to use offline, simply click here.