Small groups are effective for problem solving because they allow for interaction between members and bring together diverse knowledge and perspectives. Effective small groups have 5 or fewer interdependent members working toward a common goal through face-to-face interaction where members take on task and maintenance roles. While group decisions can produce higher quality solutions through greater input and commitment, they also take more time and may result in unclear accountability or undue conformity. Effective communication strategies for teams include regular meetings, transparency, respecting all members, and using online collaboration tools. Challenges that can arise in group work include micromanagement, coordination costs, difficultly getting started, free riding, domineering personalities, conflicts, knowledge gaps, and potential for gender bias.

1. Group Communication

2. Why Work in Small Groups?
“Groups usually produce more and better
solutions to problems than do individuals
working alone.”
Shaw, M. E. Group Dynamics: the Psychology of Small Group Behavior. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-
Hill, 1976

3. Basic Characteristics of Small
Groups
 A common purpose: Decision making, problem solving
 A small number of participants: Groups of five members are
often considered ideal.
 Interdependency among members: Members not only
influence one another, but they also rely on one another for
information and support.
 Face to face interaction: The members meet and exchange
information verbally or nonverbally.
 Roles: The roles that group members assume are a function of
the type of group as well as the characteristics of the
individual group members.
 Task role: Accomplishment of task
 Maintenance role: Emotional and psychological support

4. A small group can therefore be defined as
a collection of a few interdependent
individuals who interact verbally and
nonverbally for a common purpose.

5. Advantages of Group Decisions
 Higher quality of decisions: Groups usually
bring a greater sum of knowledge and
approaches to a given problem
 Acceptance: By getting people together to
discuss an issue or problem you may expect
there to be a greater understanding of others
and their ideas.
 Commitment: Commitment to the effective
implementation of the decision when involved in
problem solving.
 Status: Participants gain a sense of heightened
status and recognition from the responsibility
and interaction in group decision making.

6. Disadvantages of Group
Decisions
 Time
 Unclear individual accountability
 Undue Conformity

7. Team Communication Strategies
 Meet regularly
Hold regular strategy meetings for the entire team. This
gives everyone an opportunity to be present while
project activities and changes are being discussed and
creates a level playing field by giving all team members
a chance to voice ideas concerns and share status
updates.
 Draft an agenda and send it to all team members prior
to the meeting.
 Ask team members to be prepared to discuss the
agenda items.
 Unless urgent, table any non-agenda issues raised,
with the understanding that they will be up for
discussion later.
 Schedule the next meeting in advance, and keep a
record of discussion items to be carried forward.

8. Be inclusive
Make sure you don’t leave anyone out when you
invite people to meetings or send out reports about
recent developments. If you’re not sure whether
certain people need to be involved in a meeting or
kept in the loop about the latest project activities or
updates. It’s always better to gain more input from
more people than limited input from just a few team
members who are regarded as key players.

9. Be transparent, clear and concise
Communication can be time-consuming in any
form. You can avoid wasting other people’s time
(and your own) by being transparent, clear and
concise.
Show some respect
 People are put on project teams for a reason.
Whatever their roles, all members serve an
intended purpose and bring intrinsic value to the
project. Regardless of their background and
competence, all participants should be expected
to show respect for their fellow team members
and should be held accountable for their
behavior.

10. Recognize that being right may be
wrong
On the surface, getting everyone to see that you’re
right might seem like a big win. But such a “victory”
can have far-reaching consequences if it affects the
attitude or morale of other team members. Project
teams are just that — teams — and therefore
there’s little room for any member, regardless of
position, to put a lot of energy into proving that he
or she is usually right. Your need to be right can
end up alienating others to the extent that they stop
communicating altogether. Such a breakdown in
communication causes the team to function at a
less-than-optimal level.

11. Use online collaboration tools
 Collaboration tools help streamline project
management and facilitate the process of
collaborating with team members and other
stakeholders. Online project management tools
are great for keeping everyone informed and up
to date on a variety of project types

12. Addressing Challenges of Group
Work
1. Micromanagement
 Micromanagement is a management style characterized
by excessive control and attention to details to the works of
subordinates or employees. It is a state where the
manager closely observes and controls everything a
subordinate or an employee does in the organization.
 Signs Of Micromanagement
Checking that the subordinates and employees are doing the
right thing and making sure that the work is getting done is
an important task of every manager.
 Focusing more on details rather than the end product
 Pushing aside the qualification and experience of others
 Failing to delegate most of the work
 Getting too involved in the work of the subordinates or
employees
 Demotivating the team over petty issues
 Finding it fun to correct others

13. Strategies
 Physically remove yourself from the group. ...
 Only do what only you can do. ...
 Ask employees how they want to be managed. ...
 Trust your team. ...
 Adopt a fail-forward attitude. ...
 Create transparency in project management. ...
 Be a facilitator, not a taskmaster.

14. 2. Coordination costs:
They refer to time and energy that group work
consumes that individual work does not.
 It includes the time it takes to coordinate
schedules, arrange meetings, meet,
correspond, make decisions collectively,
integrate the contributions of group members,
etc.
 If coordination costs are excessive or are not
factored into the structure of group
assignments, groups tend to miss deadlines,
their work is poorly integrated, motivation
suffers, and creativity declines.

15. Strategies: To help reduce or mitigate
coordination costs:
 Keep groups small.
 Select a group leader
 Point students to digital tools that facilitate remote
and/or asynchronous meetings.
 Designate time in the project schedule for the
group to integrate parts.

16. 3. Difficult to get started
 To ensure that your group gets off to a good start it may be
beneficial to:
 Take time for all members to introduce themselves, including
name, background & specific strengths.
 Develop a shared understanding of the task by
brainstorming.
 Ensure each member has an opportunity to speak and make
suggestions.
 Develop an agenda and a timeline.
 Nominate someone to act as the manager or leader, either
for that team meeting or for the term of the project.
 Exchange names and contact details, including email
addresses and phone numbers.

17. 4. Members not contributing
 Free riding occurs when one or more group
members leave most or all of the work to a few,
more diligent, members. Free riding – if not
addressed proactively – tends to erode the long-
term motivation of hard-working students.
 Social loafing describes the tendency of group
members to exert less effort than they can or
should because of the reduced sense of
accountability (think of how many people don’t
bother to vote, figuring that someone else will do
it.) Social loafing lowers group productivity.

18. Strategies:
• Adopt the following philosophy:
“I cannot control their attitude or behavior, but I can control
my response”.
 There are only two useful responses to varying levels of
commitment in a group, and neither of them involve
complaining:
 Approach the member/s in an assertive way and discuss your
feelings openly and respectfully.
 In a discussion based on an assertive approach, you would
mention to the group member/s that you feel they are not
contributing as much time and energy as the other members
and that you feel that is unfair. Then, encourage them in a
supportive manner to explain why they are contributing less
than the other members.

19. 5. Domineering personalities
 To ensure that people do not dominate group
discussions it may be beneficial to:
 Create time limits on individual contributions.
 Ensure that each member has a chance to speak,
without interruption.
 Remind all members that it is important to hear all
opinions in relation to the topic and respect those
opinions.

20. 6. Conflict between team
members
 To ensure that disagreements between members
are dealt with effectively it is important to:
 Respect the ideas of other group members.
 Show that you have heard other member’s ideas
and when disagreeing do so politely and
respectfully.
 Understand that working in a team requires some
negotiation and compromise.
 Take a break to diffuse the situation and recollect
thoughts at a later meeting.

21. 7. Knowledge-Inadequate
Knowledge
 Group functions may suffer setbacks due to
ineffective education or lack of understanding or
other inadequate knowledge foundation.
Strategy:
 Occasionally the use of industry jargon is the
culprit and a simple question and answer "in plain
English" will correct the problem. Extra efforts will
need to be made to guarantee that all persons
know and understand what they are told.

22. 8. Gender Bias
 The battle over which gender makes the best
leader is taking the focus away from the real
issue. Then, sometimes members only want to
relate to people of the same gender.
 Try This: Don’t wait for an invitation to speak.
Speak loudly and make sure your viewpoints are
expressed; establish eye contact, and own your
space. Never engage in demeaning yourself—
and avoid unwarranted apologies.