Solution Manual for Communicating in Groups

Applications and Skills 9th Edition by Adams and Galanes

ISBN 0073523860 9780073523866
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Chapter 4 - Using Verbal and Nonverbal Messages in a Group

Summary

This chapter expands on the principles from Chapter 3. The chapter is designed to sensitize students to
verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors in the group and possible reasons for these behaviors. In
addition, it covers the effects of computer-mediated communication on both verbal and nonverbal
messages within groups.

Objectives – These objectives should be met after reading/reviewing this chapter.

1. Define message
2. Explain four ways to use language for maximum effectiveness in small groups.
3. Describe the principles and functions of nonverbal communication.
4. Discuss the significance of the major categories of nonverbal communication to small groups.
5. Discuss how computer-mediated communication compares to face-to-face communication in
groups.

Sample Lecture Notes

I. The Convocation Speaker Committee

a. Potential for misunderstanding messages
b. To function effectively as a team, members must learn to accurately interpret the words
and the context of messages from other team members
c. Message defined: Signals interpreted as a whole by group members
d. Verbal and nonverbal messages operate together to create meaning
II. Verbal Communication in Small Groups – there are many things you can do within your
group to create effective verbal messages
a. Adjust to the symbolic nature of language
i. Bypassing defined: group members think they have the same meaning for a word
but in actuality do not
ii. Give concrete examples of abstract words
iii. Define highly abstract words with synonyms or descriptive terms

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 iv. Quantify whenever possible – instead of saying chances are higher, say 3/5 times
this happens
v. CD: Use the “ethical dilemma” on page 69 to discuss the topic of code-switching
b. Organize remarks – do not move aimlessly from topic to topic
i. Relate your statement to the preceding statement
ii. State on point, not a multipoint speech
iii. State the point as directly and concretely as possible
c. Be sensitive to the feelings of others
i. Avoid emotive words, words that trigger strong emotional responses.
ii. CD: Use the “ethical dilemma” on page 73 to discuss emotive words
d. Follow the rules of the group – every group will have different rules for communicating
i. Some groups are more formal and require Mr./Ms. “so and so” rather than first
name
ii. Some groups allow slang, others do not
iii. Be aware of the rules and follow them
III. Nonverbal Communication in Small Groups
a. Nonverbal behavior defined: Anything in a message that is not the word itself
b. Verbal and nonverbal messages can be considered on a continuum, one extreme are
primarily verbal and the other primarily nonverbal
c. Verbal and nonverbal messages are inseparable
d. Principles of nonverbal communication
i. Nonverbal behaviors are ambiguous – a smile does not necessarily mean
happiness
ii. People cannot stop sending nonverbal behaviors, even when they are not talking
– sitting with your arms crossed and foot tapping suggests something
iii. When verbal and nonverbal behaviors clash, most people believe the nonverbal
behaviors.
e. Functions of nonverbal behaviors
i. We convey emotions through our nonverbal behaviors
ii. Nonverbals convey our perception of our relationship with other people
iii. Nonverbals supplement words by emphasizing them
iv. Nonverbals substitute for spoken or written words
v. Nonverbal behaviors regulate the flow of interaction
vi. Nonverbals can contradict what we verbalize
f. Categories of nonverbal behaviors – these are important to pay attention to when
functioning within a group
i. Appearance – members form impressions before anybody has said anything
ii. Space and Seating – people use space to communicate.
1. For example, in American culture we allow friends only within our social
distance, but in Arab cultures, everybody communicates well within the
4-8 feet Americans prefer. The seating arrangements in a group (group
ecology) can suggest formality and informality within an organization
iii. Facial Expressions and Eye Contact.
1. For Americans, eye contact establishes the lines of communication are
open; but this is not the same in all cultures
2. Facial expressions can set the emotional tone of an interaction. Poker
faces, or emotionless faces, tend to be trusted less than people who are
willing to convey some feelings with their facial expressions.
iv. Movement of hands, arms and the body

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 1. Leaning into somebody can suggest you like them
2. Tension can be revealed by swinging a foot or tapping a pencil
3. High status members tend to appear relaxed – they lean back and look
around
v. Voice includes pitch, speed, fluency, loudness and pauses
1. Tone can help us to interpret one’s mood
2. Backchannel cues indicate that somebody is involved in the
conversation. This is cultural, European backgrounds use these less
frequently than Hispanics or African Americans.
3. Dialect refers to regional and social variations in pronunciation,
vocabulary and grammar.
vi. Timing cues are cultural and relational
1. In some cultures getting started at a meeting right away is considered
rude, while U.S. businesses tend to operate in that manner
2. Excessive talkers during a meeting can be considered rude if the culture
values time as a commodity
IV. Comparing Face-to-Face and Computer Mediated Group Communication
a. In face-to-face meetings you can at least look at the person to help understand the
message, in CMC groups this poses a challenge.
b. Comparing Face-to-Face (FtF) and Computer-Mediated Group Communication (CMC)
i. Computer-Mediated Communication defined: any interaction via computer
technology, such as chat rooms
1. Group members adapt to CMC, one study showed similar language
styles among cohesive groups
2. Nonverbal communication operates differently in CMC environments
ii. In a net-conference (any conference connected by a network of computers) or a
webinar (any computer-mediated presentation or workshop that is interactive)
nonverbal messages might be missing entirely.
1. Turn taking might be awkward
2. Discussion is more choppy
3. For some tasks these complications don’t matter (like brainstorming) but
when a group has to make a decision through consensus this might create
a problem
iii. Compared to FtF communication, CMC has less social presence (the degree to
which a person feels that another is actually present during an interaction)
1. Asynchronous communication (communication with a delay between
messages) promotes less social presence than synchronous
communication (electronic chat rooms)
2. Group members can adapt to this
a. Email names allow people to form an impression of one another
b. Emoticons (typographic symbols used to convey emotions) help
to increase social presence
c. Studies suggest that when previously known ways of
communicating are not available, people will adapt – these have
been some ways in which people have adapted social presence to
CMC.

Learning Activities

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 1. Take students outside on a curb, have them line up according to some pattern (height, birth
date, etc.) without talking – only using nonverbal. Use as a discussion of how much we can
communicate nonverbally and also how comfortable/uncomfortable people were invading
social distance, and utilizing touch to line up.

2. Ask students to bring family photographs to class. See whether the class members can
decipher family relationships and dynamics by using the nonverbal cues contained in the
photos. For example, somebody may be sitting apart from the group, what does that mean?
Or, two people may be leaning in toward one another, what might that mean.

3. Ask students to clip advertisements with strong nonverbal messages from newspapers or
magazines and bring them to class. Discuss what advertising message is being sent and what
nonverbal elements contribute to that message.

4. Select a play script. Choose a scene at random and ask students to practice changing the
meaning of the scene by varying the vocal qualities (pitch, rate, expression, tonal quality,
etc.). Next, ask the students to practice reading the scene by keeping their vocal qualities
constant but changing their gestures, distances between characters, facial expressions, and so
forth. Ask the class to discuss what they discovered.

You can alter this activity by coming up with sentences on your own and having the class
read them with different vocal qualities. For example, “How are you?” in a high pitched
sharp voice, versus the same phrase in a low breathy voice.

5. "Group Support Systems." If you are fortunate enough to have access to a "decision room" or
computer facility that uses group support systems software, you are in a position to be able to
demonstrate exactly how support systems software can help a group stay on track. For
example, if you give students a problem in advance and ask them to come to the computer
facility prepared with three suggestions for solving the problem, they will be able to enter
their suggestions immediately, have the software rank-order and rate the various suggestions,
and perform several of the other operations available through group decision support
software. You will, of course, need someone who is experienced to "chauffeur" the software,
and you yourself can help serve as group facilitator. In our experience, it is either proprietary
businesses or colleges of business administration that have such facilities/software available.
At our university, the business college has faculty who are trained and willing to demonstrate
the equipment and software.

6. If you can, arrange to create a network of five or six telephones on campus so that groups of
students can be assigned to participate in a net conference to discuss a particular problem.
Afterward, ask the groups to answer questions such as these:
a. What difficulties did net conferencing present that are not part of face-to-face meetings?
b. Were there any advantages to net conferencing over meeting face-to-face? What were
they? Why do you think this is so?
c. What tentative guidelines can you formulate for future net conferences in which you
might be involved?

As an alternative (or in addition to) this exercise, arrange to conduct the previous exercise via
a computer network if your campus is so equipped. The same questions would apply, with an
additional one regarding the feelings students have about using unfamiliar technology.

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Media-Learning Activity

1. Have the class listen to a tape-recorded group discussion or watch a movie such as Twelve Angry
Men. Ask the students to focus on the suggestions for using language presented in the text (and
listed below) as they look for specific instances of violations, or for examples where the
suggestions were followed well. For the violations, ask students to restate each remark to make it
more effective.
a. Follow the rules of the language
b. Take into account the symbolic nature of language
c. Use emotive words cautiously
d. Organize remarks
e. Make sure the discussion question is clear and appropriate

2. Have students view Secrets of Body Language, a film from the History Channel exploring
nonverbal behaviors of celebrities, politicians, police officers and sales people. Available for
purchase at http://shop.history.com/detail.php?p=73929&v=history. Lead a discussion on the
importance of reading nonverbal behaviors.

Media Resources

1. Verbal Communication: The Power of Words. This training video pulls together information from
the previous chapter and this one to show how cultural factors (including gender) and emotions
affect the communication process. Presents five critical elements of verbal communication,
updated to be more consistent with today’s work environment. (DVD, CRM Learning, 2720
Loker Avenue West, Suite Q., Carlsbad, CA 93010-6606; 1-800-421-0833)
http://www.crmlearning.com/
2. Nonverbal Communication. (DVD – Various Producers); Insight Media, 2162 Broadway, New
York, NY 10024; 1-800-233-9910) http://www.insight-media.com/
3. Dr. Chris Shea Ted Talks on Nonverbal Communication,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pozqDz7B-sw

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 USING LANGUAGE APPROPRIATELY

Adjust to the symbolic nature of language

Organize your remarks

Use emotive words cautiously

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without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 Follow the rules of the group

Katherine Adams and Gloria J. Galanes Communicating in Groups: Applications and Skills, 9th ed. Copyright 1991,
1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2014 by McGraw Hill, Boston, MA. All Rights Reserved.
PRINCIPLES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

1. Nonverbal behaviors are ambiguous

2. People cannot stop sending nonverbal behaviors

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without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 3. Nonverbal behaviors are more believable than verbal
signals when the two are inconsistent

Katherine Adams and Gloria J. Galanes Communicating in Groups: Applications and Skills, 9th ed. Copyright 1991,
1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2014 by McGraw Hill, Boston, MA. All Rights Reserved.

CATEGORIES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Appearance

Space and Seating

Facial Expressions and Eye Contact

Movements
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without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 Voice

Timing

Katherine Adams and Gloria J. Galanes Communicating in Groups: Applications and Skills, 9th ed. Copyright 1991,
1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2014 by McGraw Hill, Boston, MA. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution

without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.