Page 46 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

Human Communication Processes in the Small Group Context 29

Listening and Responding During Discussions

Communication as a transaction places value on both speaking and listening. On
numerous occasions we have noted the significance of listening to effective communi-
cation. Listening involves hearing and interpreting. Hearing is a physiological process Listening
that involves the reception of sound waves by the ear. It is only the first element of Receiving and
listening, which also includes the interpretation of those sound waves (and other mes- interpreting oral and
sages). A person with acute hearing may be a poor listener who does not interpret other signals from
others’ statements accurately or respond appropriately. In contrast, someone with another person or
considerable hearing loss may be a good listener who is motivated to understand oth- source.
ers the way they want to be understood.
In the corporate world, listening is highly valued. 73 percent of business leaders
rated it as an extremely important skill, but also said that only 19 percent of high school
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graduates had good listening skills. Purdy found that good listeners are attentive, don’t
interrupt, ask questions in a nonthreatening way, paraphrase, make eye contact with and
show interest in the speaker, provide constructive feedback, and are willing to listen. 25
It was once estimated that every morning in the United States, 15 million meet-
ings take place. Consider that in a six-person group, every time 5 minutes of informa-
tion is repeated because of poor listening, a total of 30 minutes is wasted. Multiply
that by 15 million meetings and that translates into a lot of wasted time! The cost of
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poor listening is high. Jobs are completed incorrectly, shipments go awry, and people
are hurt or killed because they or someone else didn’t listen well. A good listener is,
sorry to say, a rare commodity of great value to a group. Bechler and Johnson found
that group members who were perceived as being good listeners (e.g., stayed focused
during discussion, maintained eye contact with speakers, and so forth) were also per-
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ceived as being leaders. Unfortunately, listening is often underemphasized in discus-
sions of group communication.

Recap: A Quick Review

ommunication is the lifeblood of group dynamics. It creates and sustains the
Ccharacter of any group.
1. Communication is a complex transactional process of negotiating shared meaning
through the generation, transmission, receipt, and interpretation of verbal and
nonverbal messages.
2. Effective groups share enough meaning to enable members to coordinate their
behaviors in order to reach an independent goal.
3. Communication is an inexact process because it is a complex, symbolic,
transactional, and often unintentional process. Messages always include a content,
or what, and relationship, or how, dimension. Relational dimensions send messages
of responsiveness, liking, and power between members.
4. Learning to be a better communicator involves not taking the process of
communication for granted, not assuming that all group problems are communication
problems, and realizing that the best skill to learn is a desire to want to improve
communication.

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