Working in Groups

The Overview

Dealing with Difficult Group Members

1. Don’t placate the troublemaker.

2. Refuse to be goaded into a reciprocal pattern.

3. Don’t provide a soapbox for the trouble maker.

4. Try to convert disruption into a constructive contribution.

5. Confront the difficult person directly.

6. Separate yourself from the difficult person if all else fails.

In Preparation for the Meeting:

• Define the purpose of the meeting

• List specific outcomes that should or must be produced from this meeting

• Establish the starting and ending times of the meeting

• Notify members of the purpose and/or agenda, their necessary preparations, and time and place of the meeting

In Preparation for the Meeting:Continued

• If specific resource persons are needed, advise them and prepare them for the meeting

• Make all necessary physical arrangements

• Bring necessary work items (e.g., pencils, charts, data sheets, reports)

During the Meeting:

• Describe the importance and purpose of the meeting

• Make an effort to establish a climate of trust and informality (if appropriate)

• Present information handbooks (if appropriate)

• Stimulate creative thinking (if appropriate)

During the Meeting:Continued

• Promote teamwork and cooperation

• Equalize opportunities to participate and influence

Follow-up the Meeting:

• Remind members who agreed to do post-meeting work

• If minutes are kept, be sure they are written and distributed

• As necessary, notify others of the group’s actions or decisions

• If work is necessary before a future meeting, be sure it is done

How to Run a Good Meeting

• Don’t compete with group members. Give their ideas precedence over yours.

• Listen to everyone. Paraphrase, but don’t judge.

• Don’t put anyone on the defensive. Assume that everyone’s ideas have value.

• Control the dominant people without alienating them.

How to Run a Good MeetingContinued

• Realize that your interest and alertness are contagious.

• Keep all participants informed about where they are and what’s expected of them. Keep notes on flip charts or a board that everyone can see.

How to Run a Good MeetingContinued

• Check with the person who owns the problem and find out if an idea is worth pursuing or if a proposed solution is satisfactory.

• Give others a turn at running the meeting. Those who learn to lead learn how to participate.

Performing Communicator Task Roles

• Initiating Ideas

• Encouraging Diverse Ideas

• Using Reasoned Thought

• Staying Open-Minded

• Being Aware of Hidden Agendas

• Attending to Nonverbal Cues

• Being Cognizant of Time Constraints

Factors in Group Communication

A. Group Goals

B. Longevity of the Group

C. Size

D. Personal Expectations and Perception

E. Status of Participants

F. Group Norms

G. Communication Network

Advantages of Group Communication

• Higher quality decisions are made by groups than by people working alone.

• People who participate in group decision making are more committed to the group’s decisions than to those given by a manager or supervisor.

• Pitfalls and hazards that may be ignored by a person working alone are regularly uncovered by groups through debate and questioning.

Advantages of Group Communication Continued

• Employee morale is higher when people are teamed with co-workers on projects and tasks.

• People who regularly communicate with others in the organization are more satisfied on the job than employees who are isolated from others.

Advantages of Group Communication Continued

• Employees who network with others in organizational groups are more committed to the goals and missions of their organizations than those who do not participate.

• People who are teamed together in work groups take greater responsibility for the task, and the “fixing of blame” for errors is shared by all.

Ten Steps for Improving Relationships with Others

1. Make sure you are not the difficult person.

2. Ensure that you are doing your job.

3. Ascertain the goals of the “difficult” person.

4. Assess perception levels.

Ten Steps for Improving Relationships with Others

5. Accept the difficult person for what he or she is, not for what you want that person to be.

• Forget the past and focus on the future.

• Do not sweat the little things.

Ten Steps for Improving Relationships with Others

6. Confront the person.

• Take the initiative toward good relations.

• Ask questions.

• Ask for input or suggestions.

• Listen carefully.

• Focus on job-related issues.

Ten Steps for Improving Relationships with Others

7. State how you feel.

• Express your goals.

• Do not apologize if you are certain you are right.

• Demonstrate political sensitivity.

Ten Steps for Improving Relationships with Others

8. Give recognition when the other person deserves it.

9. Maintain a professional demeanor during interaction.

10. Seek mediation if all else fails.

Group Roles

• Isolate--one who sits and fails to participate• Facilitator--one who makes sure that

everyone gets to talk• Dominator--one who speaks too often and

too long• Harmonizer--one who keeps tensions low• Free Rider--one who does not do her or his

share of work

Group Roles Continued

• Detractor--one who constantly criticizes and gripes

• Digressor--one who takes the group on wild goose chases

• Airhead--one who is never prepared for group meetings

• Socializer--one who is a member of the group only for social and personal reasons

Suggestions--Agreeing Upon Norms

Meet and discuss your team’s norms. Include the following categories:

1. Meeting Norms

Expectations include when, where, and how often to have meetings. What is expected of members with regard to attendance, timeliness, and preparation? Also, what is the balance between work and fun?

2. Working Norms

Expectations involve standards, deadlines, how equally effort and work should be distributed, how work will be reviewed, and what to do if people do not follow through on commitments.

3. Communication Norms

Expectations center on when communication should take place, who is responsible, how it should be done (phone, e-mail, etc.), and how to discuss feelings about the team or members.

4. Leadership Norms

Expectations include whether a leader is needed, if leadership is rotated, responsibilities, and how to keep the leader from doing all the work.

5. Consideration Norms

Expectations center on being considerate of members’ comfort with things like smoking, swearing, etc., and their ability to change norms if they are uncomfortable with what is going on in the team.