Page 53 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

36 Chapter 2

Recap: A Quick Review

he most powerful group members are those who listen well. To listen is to make an
Tactive choice to attend and interpret.
1. Poor listening in a group can have dire consequences for group effectiveness.
2. Many people believe that they are good listeners, but the research shows all sorts
of poor listening behaviors in small groups.
3. People have four general listening preferences: action-oriented, content-oriented,
people-oriented, and time-oriented.
4. Active listening, when a listener paraphrases what a speaker has just said and asks
for confirmation, facilitates mutual understanding.
5. Although there are differences between computer-mediated and face-to-face
communication, members find verbal ways to make up for the lack of nonverbal social
presence and the same principles apply to CMC as to face-to-face communication.

Although CMC uses a medium of communication different from the face-to-face
medium, the communicative processes involved are still symbolic, personal, transactional,
and not always intentional, and they involve content as well as relationship dimensions.
The rules for listening and showing respect apply as well. Instructors who receive polite
e-mails from students report liking them more and show more willingness to help them. 45

Nonverbal Behavior in Small Group Communication

Although discussion is the heart of group interaction, verbal and nonverbal messages
operate together to create meaning; they are indivisible. We have mentioned several
times throughout this chapter the importance of nonverbal behaviors. We artificially
separate them only to help you assess the contribution each makes to create meaning
during small group interaction. At different times and for various reasons we may
attend more to verbal behavior or more to nonverbal behavior but always keep in
mind almost no group communicating is entirely verbal or nonverbal.
Nonverbal Behavior Nonverbal behavior includes all behavior except the actual words themselves. It is
Messages other than vital to small group communication and the meaning negotiated between members.
words to which Group members cannot stop engaging in nonverbal behavior in a small group. In the
listeners react. presence of others, any member’s nonverbal behavior can be received and interpreted
by others, which affects the mood, climate, cohesiveness, and interpersonal relation-
ships among the members—regardless of whether those messages are intended. The
myriad of nonverbal behaviors in a group are highly ambiguous as well, and members
have to be careful how they are interpreted, as we pointed out earlier with respect to
silence. Nonverbal behaviors can contradict verbal behaviors, and often their message
is believed over the message of the verbal behaviors. If Tamika, in our opening case,
had criticized Tyler’s absence in a more laid-back tone, other members might have
thought she was joking rather than upset, giving more credence to the laid-back tone.
In our case, however, her remarks were matched by an agitated tone and thus her non-
verbal behavior supplemented her verbal message of irritation over Tyler’s absence.

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