Small Group Communication

The Communication Perspective of a Small Group

There are many potential factors that may affect group processes and outcomes, including the nature of the task, members’ abilities and personality traits, environmental factors, and so forth. From a communication perspective, however, communication processes lie at the heart of small groups. Communication is the lifeblood of groups. Scholars from different disciplines have recognized the constitutive and functional nature of communication in groups: communication is the functional means by which groups accomplish their goals, and more importantly, groups are created or constituted in communication.

[Page 1609]If communication is central to a group, a small group may be considered as being composed of a variety of interaction systems defined by patterns of communicative activities. The elements of a system are the communicative activities that take place between and among group members. These activities may be acts such as a question or interactions such as a question and a reply. In groups there are competing and contradictory components of group work, which are defined as group dialectics. Dialectic group tensions include: compatibility of personal goals and group goals, managing cohesion and conflict, conforming to group rules and nonconforming to group norms and rules, balancing task performance and social relationships, valuing member similarities and differences, leadership and followership, the need for structured procedures and the value of creative thinking, engagement and disengagement, and open systems versus closed systems. Balance is the guiding principle of managing group dialectics and tensions. It is encouraged to take a “both/and” rather than an “either/or” approach to resolving dialectic tensions in groups. Communication is significant in helping groups with balancing dialects. Group communication processes are composed of a sequence of interactions. Some important group communication processes include information processing, which is a key to problem-solving and decision-making, communication and leadership, and communication and creativity.

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