Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Lecture Notes
Chapter 9: Groups and Leaders
I. What Is a Group?
The differences between a group and a random collection of people depend on a number of
specific characteristics and also on the way in which a collection of random people comes to be
formed as a group.
A. Defining a Group
1. A group requires at least three people.
a. A collection of people is not necessarily a group.
b. The number of people does matter.
c. Groups interact because of the types of communication that occurs
between specific people involved.
2. Groups are transacted through communication and relationships.
3. A group comes into being once people recognize and identify themselves and others as
members of the same group.
a. A group must have a common purpose.
b. People in groups are collected together to achieve a particular goal.
B. Types of Groups
1. There are many types of groups commonly classified by their purposes and
features.
2. Groups are differentiated through their communication and the ways in which
members treat one another relationally.
3. Communication and relationships are transacting groups.
(a) Formal groups are task oriented, have general management oversight, and are
outcome focused; they are formally structured and have restricted membership, a
clear power structure, a chair or leader, an agenda, and formal rules for speaking
and voting.
(b) Advisory groups are task specific, usually restricted to gathering evidence or
evaluating something with the intention of producing an outcome or a report
about a specific problem. Membership is specific and restricted; there may be a
chair and structure or an agenda, but discussion is usually open, informal, and
focused on the weighing of evidence.
(c) Creative groups are formed for the purpose of evaluating concepts or creating
new products or ways of approaching complex problems. Membership is usually
invited; there is lack of structure and emphasis on generativity. Individuals are
discouraged from critical comments about ideas generated by other members.
Instructor Resource
Duck/McMahan, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public
Speaking, 2e
SAGE, 2018
(d) Support groups have the intention of providing aid and comfort, sharing
knowledge, and spreading information or raising consciousness about specific
issues. Membership is loosely defined, and members come and go as they need.
(e) Networking groups are specifically for the purpose of obtaining, building, or
sustaining relationships. Membership is not defined, and people come and go as
they desire
2. Established norms generally reflect the values of the group, especially those
concerning communication and relationships.
H. Potential Problem: Violating Norms
1. Sometimes a group member does not want to follow group norms.
2. Most groups have their own group sanctions, or punishments for violating norms.
3. Shunning or excluding people from participation in the group, or not even
acknowledging their presence, is a very powerful social, relational, and
communicative punishment (Nezlek, Wesselmann, Wheeler, & Williams, 2012).
I. Member Roles
1. Group members also take on particular group roles, involving certain positions or
functions within a group.
2. Formal Roles
a. In formal groups, there are formal roles, those to which someone is
assigned and is expected to perform specific functions within that group.
b. Chair, vice-chair, and secretary
c. At times, these roles are about the hierarchy of the group, and they let
you know something about the formal powers that are delegated to each
individual.
3. Informal Roles
a. Both formal and less formal groups may see the enactment of informal
roles, those to which someone is not officially assigned but that serve a
functions with a group.
b. Group members have not been officially assigned to these roles but are
recognized as performing these roles through repeated patterns of
interaction.
4. Task Roles
a. Task roles function to ensure a group achieves its goals and is
productive.
b. A chair is formally responsible for ensuring that a group achieves its
goals.
c. Other group members informally take on task roles.
5. Social Roles
a. Social roles function to encourage group members to develop and
maintain positive communication and relationships among the group
members.
b. Social roles are generally informal.
6. Disruptive Roles
a. Disruptive roles function in opposition to group productivity and
cohesion.
b. Disruptive roles are informal in nature.
J. Group Culture
1. Group culture is shared patterns of interactions both reflecting and guiding beliefs,
values, and attitudes of the group.
Instructor Resource
Duck/McMahan, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public
Speaking, 2e
SAGE, 2018
1. Members have relationships with one another outside as well as inside their
meetings.
2. After formal discussion, members go on with the rest of their lives, which can mean
chatting to other group members in places outside the group.
3. Real-life groups exist continuously both as groups and as relators whose lives may be
connected outside the group.
C. Formal group decision making can be seen theoretically as if it were a rational type of
interaction, where groups sit around and work through decisions smartly and thoughtfully.
D. Relationships influence what happens within the group.
E. At times, people vote for a proposal not because it is compelling but because they like the
person who proposed it or dislike the person who opposed it.
F. Group interaction and decision making are about emotions, feelings, and relationships.
1. Not a battle of ideas
2. A battle between people who have ideas and persisting relationships with one another
V. Leadership
A. We often think of leadership as a formal position in which a specific person has power
over the others in the group.
1. Such people are required to communicate authoritatively, to run the agenda, and to
move the group forward in particular ways that others should follow.
2. There are problems with the notions that leadership involves a formal position and that
leadership activities include the same or similar activities.
a. There are different types of groups, and these groups do not share the
same level of formality.
b. Leadership is not the same across all possible domains.
c. Within a single organization, as people are rising through the system,
they pass through leadership roles of different sorts and scopes.
B. Leadership Styles
1. Task leaders focus on the performance of tasks to ensure the achievement of group
goals.
a. Stress the activity of the group
b. Keep members on topic
c. Follow the agenda
d. Make sure decisions get made
e. Are responsible for defining the group’s intended accomplishment
f. Are charged with directing what happens to fulfill the set tasks of the
group
g. Make sure the group reaches a conclusion at the end of its allotted
meeting time
h. Summarize what got done in a meeting
i. Set the agenda for the next meeting
2. Socioemotional leaders focus on group member satisfaction and well-being.
a. Pay attention to how everyone feels in the group
Instructor Resource
Duck/McMahan, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public
Speaking, 2e
SAGE, 2018
C. Leadership Power
1. Formal power is power that has been formally given or recognized by a system or
group.
a. Just because a person possesses formal power does not mean that this
person will be effective.
b. Another member of the group may be more respected and have more
influence than the chair.
2. Informal power has not been formally granted but has been developed through
the group’s interactions.
a. Informal power is often based on liking, relationships, and
communication competence.
b. Group members generally go along with the wishes and direction of
someone other than the group’s formal leader.
c. If a group does not have a designated leader, someone often rises up
and is able to exert influence on the other members.
d. There may be an informal power base working behind the scenes or in
conjunction with a more formal power arrangement.
e. Power in groups is not always as clear as it seems from group structure.
f. Power is always a transactional concept and related to relationship
dynamics.
g. Power depends on acceptance by followers as well as on its execution
by a leader.
3. More Types of Power
a. Legitimate power is conferred by a person’s office rank or official
status.
Instructor Resource
Duck/McMahan, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public
Speaking, 2e
SAGE, 2018