IMPLICIT THEORIES OF SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION

Strategies And Tactics For Promoting Competent Group Communication

Although we are a strongly individualistic and competitive culture we are also a culture of groups. We particularly like to compete against other teams or groups. We organize ourselves into all types of groups, church groups, community groups, professional groups, bicycling groups, and so forth. As a result everyone by the time they have reached the hallowed halls of the university have developed some tacit small group knowledge. They be unaware that they possess this knowledge, and it is not formalized or written down anywhere, but individuals usually possess an implicit theory about what you need to do to work in groups effectively. Below are some strategies and tactics which former 207 students recommend which reflect their evolving implicit theory of competent small group functioning. Just like any theory, anyone's implicit theory can be pragmatic and useful, or simple, elegant, and wrong.

I think that each group should pick a leader and have the leader tell each member what to do.(Dumb Idea)Divide people into groups based on grades, current achievement within the class, and personality. Bryan Franzen (Dumb Idea-You pick your friends, your stuck with your team at work)

My group became a group within the first week. We met at least twice a week and three to four times a week as the multi-media extravaganza in Neumiller got closer".

"Be creative so the audience won't get bored watching your video."

"I would suggest meeting at least twice a week, and not adjourning a meeting until the groups goals are completed for that meeting, goals are set for the next meeting, and tasks are delegated to individual members for work to be done between meetings."

"Make sacrifices for your group, involve everyone in group decisions, evaluate ideas but implement a "no putdown" policy when someone makes a contribution.

The Kastner Directive "Recognize others opinions and they will recognize yours. Heather Kastner

"Socialize with the whole group, not just the one friend you might have in the group."

"We set up a clearly defined schedule what we would have accomplished by certain dates. If we were not done by the time our meeting was supposed to be over, we would continue working until it was over, no matter how late it was or what game was on TV,, or make another meeting time for the very next day."

"You had better set short term goals and objectives and meet them, We didn't and you can see what happened to us."

"If one person isn't working hard enough, tell them to shape up or ship out. In the army if people don't carry their own weight they are subject to disciplinary action or find Discharge papers on their desk in the morning". Brad Stark, Former MP.

STARK'S LAW " TRY TO AGREE WITH SOME THINGS, EVEN IF YOU THINK YOUR WAY IS BETTER."

"Penalize group members who do not show, make every member in your group perform an equal amount of duties or establish norms about how deviant groups members will be penalized in your group so everyone does not get the same grade." Karen Rigsbee

"Do a lot of ice-breakers to get to know and like one another."

You have to spend a great deal of time working on the project not just talking about it."

BELL'S MAXIM "IT WILL BE HARD IN THE BEGINNING..."- DAN BELL

"If our group had put as much effort into the project initially as we did toward the end I really think we could of created a video that was so good it was almost scary."

"Meet as often as possible as long as possible." Traci Koestner

"There is a time to get to work and there is a time to talk about other things besides the work."

"A good behavior to follow in the future for other small groups is to start early and become comfortable with the other people in your group." You have to be open-minded to other peoples ideas and opinions, it is a group project and involves group participation."

"Our secret for success I think was basically the fact that we became friends and enjoyed spending time together. Because of this we were able to laugh at ourselves and each other." Stephanie Hutson

"We were no longer separate individuals, we were one brain with a system of checks and balances. Just about everyone was in tune with everyone else, like different instruments playing the same song."

I feel people should make occasional sacrifices in working on a group project where the success of one depends on the success of all. I feel that people can take a day off work or even miss a sorority meeting to show that they are committed to the group and achieve a high level of competence.

"Our group video very long and detailed. It forced all of the other group members to know everyone part. A lot of practicing over and over again allowed the presentation to go very smoothly on the days we did the final shot."

"My final word of advice, "allow everyone's thoughts and feelings about the group be heard equally.

"Make sacrifices for your group, like Tim he gave up many fraternity activities to come to the meeting." He wanted to do both, but he didn't lie to us and tell us it was absolutely essential he be at the house meeting."

"Be prepared to compromise, but don't back don't from a good idea just because some obnoxious asshole doesn't like it."

Kasule's dictum - "if you don't like the work, nobody needs to know." Easy Ed Kasule

Terranova's trajectory for failure "talk up a few ideas, show a great deal of enthusiasm, dismiss any idea of doing a more thorough job, end the meeting as soon as possible, promise to return with awesome material, attend the next meeting with no material or just a few lines scribbled on a piece of paper. Repeat."

I would recommend a social function as the first group meeting. By doing this the members not only get to know each other better, but personalities of member are seen, and as personalities emerge it helps guide the member in the roles in the group.

Follow Chris's suggestions of studying your articles like your preparing for a test then hold a marathon meeting early in the project, once everyone has done some reading and is ready to build a preliminary foundation on which the project can be build."

Do not avoid conflict until it is too late to be resolved. Corina Furlong

If someone can't make a meeting have it anyway, even if only two people show. Call the members who couldn't show, explain to them briefly what transpired at the meeting and inform them when the next meeting is and what they can to contribute their share at the next meeting.

I would recommend that each group member put aside 3 hours, two times a week to work on the video script. .

When the going gets tough you had better not dwell on who or who has not done what (save that for the evaluation) you better concentrate on not ending up in the land of F- Dom.

Don't only do work together, party with your group, you'll really get to know them better, it helped our group. Take one night and get together and drink a few beers together and have some CR talk. You will be surprised at how you will get to understand the other members of your group. I believe this really helps"

Get over first impressions. I held on to first impressions of the members for a long time, but after everybody relaxed around each other I found out who they really were.The secret to our success was group cohesion, if people get along well, there is not telling what they can accomplish once they become close.

The secret to our success was the fact that we did not procrastinate. We were always ahead of schedule which was great because we always had time for revision and improvement. video we taped a little each day...which helped because we did not have to get it done all in one night.

It was hard to find a time when we could all meet. Everyone had other commitments that were just as important as our group project. However, we were a flexible group and everyone compromised to try to "make it happen. A little sacrifice can go a long way.

Meet with your instructor on pre-set dates for guidance, inspiration, and to strike fear into the hearts of "saddles".