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grouphate
the feeling of antipathy and hostility many people have about working in a group, fostered by the many ineffective, time-wasting groups that exist
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group
- three or more people with an interdependent goal who interact and influence each other
- “persons who are interacting with one another in such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each other person” (Marvin Shaw)
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interdependent goal
an objective shared by members of a small group in such a way that one member cannot achieve the goal without the other members also achieving it
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small group
a group of at least three but few enough members for each person to perceive all others as individuals, share some identity or common purpose, and share standards for governing their activities as members
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small group discussion
a small group of people communicating with each other to achieve some interdependent goal, such as increased understanding, coordination of activity or solution to a shared problem
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Types of Small Groups
- primary group
- secondary group
- activity group
- personal growth group
- learning group
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primary group
a group whose main purpose is to meet members’ needs for inclusion and affection
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secondary group
a group whose major purpose is to complete a task, such as making a decision, solving a problem, writing a report, or providing recommendation to a parent organization
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activity group
a group formed primarily for members to participate in an activity such as bridge, bowling, hunting, and so forth
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personal growth group
a group of people who come together to develop personal insights, overcome personality problems, and grow personally through feedback and support of others
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learning group
a group discussing for the purpose of learning about and understanding a subject more completely
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problem-solving group
a group whose purpose is finding ways to solve a problem or address a particular condition
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committee
a small group of people given an assigned task or responsibility by a larger group (or parent organization) or person with authority
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ad hoc committee
a group that goes out of existence after its specific task has been completed
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standing committee
a group given an area of responsibility that includes many tasks and continues indefinitely
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quality control circle
a group of employees who meet on company time to investigate work-related problems and to make recommendations for solving these problems
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self-managed work group
a small group of peers who determine within prescribed limits their own work schedules and procedures
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top management team (TMT)
a team composed of top officers of an organization charged with making complex strategic decisions
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social loafer
a person who makes a minimal contribution to the group and assumes the other members will take up the slack
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participant-observer
an active participant in a small group who at the same time observes and evaluates its processes and procedures
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ethics
the rules or standards that a person or group uses to determine whether conduct or behavior is right and appropriate
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contexts
the situations or environments that influence the dynamics of communication
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communication
a process in which messages produced by people are received, interpreted, and responded to by other people
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symbol
- an arbitrary, human creation used to represent something with which it has no inherent relationship;
- all words are symbols
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transactional process
all interactants mutually and simultaneously define both themselves and others during communication
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message
any action, sound, or word used in interaction
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listening
receiving and interpreting oral and other signals from another person or source
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Listening Preferences
- people-oriented listener
- action-oriented listener
- content-organized listener
- time-oriented listener
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people-oriented listener
a listener who is sensitive to others, nonjudgmental, and concerned about how his or her behavior affects others; can become distracted from task by others’ problems
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action-oriented listener
a listener who focuses on the task, remembers details and prefers an organized presentation
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content-organized listener
a listener who enjoys analyzing information and dissecting others’ arguments; can be seen as overly critical
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time-oriented listener
- a listener sensitive to time;
- may be impatient or try to move group prematurely to closure
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Characteristics of a Good Listener
Good listeners...
- 1. Pay attention to the context of what is said.
- 2. Pay close attention to the feelings of the speaker.
- 3. Help facilitate understanding in the group.
- 4. Interpret silence carefully.
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active listening
listening with the intent of understanding a speaker the way the speaker wishes to be understood and paraphrasing your understanding so the speaker can confirm or correct the paraphrase
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paraphrase
restatement in one’s own words of what one understood a speaker to mean
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computer-mediated communication (CMC)
group members’ use of computers to communicate with one another
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net conference
a conference that takes place electronically over networked computers
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social presence
the extent to which group members perceive that a particular communication medium is socially and emotionally similar to face-to-face interaction
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asynchronous communication
communication where there is a delay between messages (such as e-mail)
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nonverbal behavior
messages other than words to which listeners react
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emoticons
symbols and combinations of characters used in computer-mediated communication to help convey relational messages and social presence
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regulators
nonverbal behavior used to control who speaks during a discussion
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proxemics
the study of uses of space and territory between and among people
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paraproxemics
the illusion of proximity individuals may have when they are using vieoconferences for group business
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kinesics
study of communication through movements
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paralanguage
nonverbal characteristics of voice and utterance such as pitch, rate, tone of voice, fluency, pauses, and variations in dialect
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backchannel
- nonverbal vocalizations such as mm-hmm and uh-huh that are uttered while another is speaking;
- partly determined by one’s culture, can indicate one’s interest and active listening
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dialect
a regional variation in the pronunciation, vocabulary, and/or grammar of a language
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haptics
the study of perception of and use of touch
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system
an entity made up of components in interdependent relationship to each other, requiring constant adaptation among its parts to maintain organic wholeness and balance
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interdependence
the property of a system such that all parts are interrelated and affect each other as well as the whole system
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nonsummativity
the property of a system that the whole is not the sum of its parts, but may be greater or lesser than the sum
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equifinality
the system’s principle that different systems can reach the same end point
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multifinality
the system’s principle that systems starting out at the same place can reach different end points
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multiple causation
the principle that each change in a system is caused by numerous factors
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variables
observable characteristics or qualities that can vary
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input variables
- the energy, information, and raw material used by an open system that are transformed into output by throughput processes;
- in a small group these include the members; the reasons for the group’s formation; resources such as information, expertise, money, and computer technology; and environmental conditions and forces that influence the group
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throughput variables
- the actual functioning of a system or how the system transforms inputs into outputs
- (e.g. roles, rules, and norms; procedures the group follows; the group’s leadership; communication among members; and all the other things that are part of the process as the group works toward completing its task)
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output variables
- anything that is produced by a system, such as a tangible product or a change in the system;
- in a small group, includes such things as reports, resolutions, changes in cohesiveness, and attitude changes in members
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environment
the context or setting in which a small group system exists; the larger systems of which a small group is a component
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open system
a system with relatively permeable boundaries, producing a high degree of interchange between the system and its environment
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closed system
a system, such as a small group, with relatively impermeable boundaries, resulting in little interchange between the system and its environment
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feedback
- a response to a system’s output;
- it may come in the form of information or tangible resources and helps the system determine whether or not it needs to make adjustments in moving toward its goal
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bona fide group perspective
the perspective that focuses on naturally occurring groups with stable but permeable boundaries and are interdependent with their environment
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collaborating group
a group whose members come from different organizations to form a temporary alliance for a specific purpose
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boundary spanners
a group member who monitors the group’s environment to import and export information relevant to the group’s success
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ethnocentric
- the belief that one’s own culture is inherently superior to all others;
- tendency to view other cultures through the viewpoint of one’s own culture
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culture
the patterns of values, beliefs, symbols, norms, procedures, and behaviors, that have been historically transmitted to and are shared by a given group of persons
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cultural identity
the identification with and acceptance of a particular group’s shared symbols, meanings, norms and rules for conduct
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co-culture
a grouping that sees itself as distinct but is also part of a larger grouping
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intracultural communication
interaction between and among individuals from the same culture or co-culture
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intercultural communication
interaction between and among individuals from different cultures or co-cultures
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worldview
one’s beliefs about the nature of life, the purpose of life, and one’s relation to the cosmos
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individualistic culture
culture in which the needs and wishes of the individual predominate over the needs of the group
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collectivist culture
a culture in which the needs and wishes of the group predominate over the needs of any one individual
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power distance
- the degree to which a culture emphasizes status and power differences among members of the culture;
- status differences are minimized in low power-distance cultures and emphasized in high power-distance cultures
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uncertainty avoidance
- the degree to which members of a culture avoid or embrace uncertainty and ambiguity;
- cultures high in uncertainty avoidance prefer clear rules for interaction whereas cultures low in uncertainty avoidance are comfortable without guidelines
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masculinity
the quality of cultures that value assertiveness and dominance
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femininity
the quality of cultures that value nurturing and caring for others
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low-context communication
communication wherein the primary meaning of a message is carried by the verbal or explicit part of the message
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high-context communication
communication wherein the primary meaning of a message is conveyed by features of the situation or context instead of the verbal, explicit part of the message
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gender
learned and culturally transmitted sex-role behaviors of an individual
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sex
biologically determined characteristics of femaleness and maleness
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builder generation
- individuals born before 1945;
- key experiences include the Great Depression and World War II
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boomer generation
- individuals born from 1946 to 1964;
- key experiences include the Vietnam war, the civil rights movement, and Watergate
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X generation
- individuals born from 1965 to 1976;
- key experience includes divorce on a massive scale
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net generation
- individuals born from 1977 to 1997;
- the first truly “wired” generation, comfortable with technology in all forms
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mindful communication
communication in which the participants are thoughtful, paying careful attention to what the other participants say and also to what they say
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