Your Reference

• A group is a collection of more than two people who have a shared identity, have common goals, and are interdependent (p. 190).
• Primary groups are long-standing and meaningful groups, such as family groups (p. 191).
• Specific-function groups include support groups, social groups, problem-solving groups, and study groups (p. 191).
• A team is a task-oriented group, and a self-directed work team is a group with responsibility for producing high-quality finished work (p. 192).
• Groups develop through five specific stages: forming , storming , norming (norms are recurring patterns of thought or behavior), performing , and adjourning (pp. 192–194).

• The bigger the group, the more the group interaction becomes formal, less intimate, more time-consuming, and complex and the less opportunity members have to contribute (pp. 194–195).
• The bigger the group, the more likely cliques (coalitions)—small subgroups—will emerge, making communication more challenging (pp. 195–196).
• A countercoalition—a subgroup positioned against another subgroup—may leave unaffiliated members in an awkward position (p. 196).
• The larger the group, the more members are prone to social loafing, or giving less effort (pp. 196–197).

• Networks are patterns of interaction governing who speaks with whom in a group (p. 197).
• The member who sends and receives the most messages has the highest degree of centrality; the other end of the spectrum is isolation (p. 197).
• In a chain network, information is passed from one member to the next rather than shared among members (pp. 197–198).
• In an all-channel network, all members are equidistant and all interact with each other (p. 198).
• In a wheel network, one individual is the touchstone for the others (p. 199).

• Task roles involve accomplishment of goals and include information giver, information seeker, elaborator, initiator, administrator, moderator, and elder (p. 199).
• Social roles evolve based on personality traits and members’ interests and include harmonizer, gatekeeper, and sensor (p. 200).
• Antigroup roles put individual needs above group needs and include blocker, avoider, recognition seeker, distractor, and troll (p. 200).
• Role conflict arises when expectations for behavior are incompatible (p. 201).

• Cohesion, how tightly group members have bonded, helps hold the group together in the face of adversity and helps create a positive climate (pp. 201–202).
• Groupthink occurs when members minimize conflict by refusing to critically examine ideas and test solutions (p. 202).
• Norms direct the behavior of the group, sometimes negatively, and may require modification (pp. 203–204).
• Goals should be specific, arrived at by group decision, clearly defined, supported with the necessary resources, and able to be monitored (pp. 204–205).
• Individual differences—including cultural factors and varying levels of communication apprehension—can create communication challenges in groups (pp. 205–207).