Page 54 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

Human Communication Processes in the Small Group Context 37

Nonverbal behaviors not only may contradict verbal behaviors and supple-
ment them, but they also work to express emotions and regulate our interaction. Emoticon
Both Tamika and Kelli expressed strong emotions with respect to Tyler’s absence Symbol and
by tone of voice, volume, posture, and bodily movement away from the group. In combination of
characters used in
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CMC, social presence is conveyed by emoticons, or typographical emotional. The computer-mediated
most popular emoticon, the smiley face , is nearly 40 years old. While useful in communication to
informal group CMC, emoticons are considered inappropriate for business com- help convey
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munications. In our student group, members pushed back chairs from the table relational messages
and also picked up their belongings, nonverbal behaviors that function to guide and social presence.
how the interaction is to proceed—in this case they were signaling a desire to leave
the meeting. Regulators direct the flow of interaction among group members.
Turn-taking in groups is fast and furious and its mechanisms go unnoticed. How- Regulator
ever, members subtly cue each other as to when conversational turns are ending, Nonverbal behavior
when someone else can take a turn, or when a member is not giving up a turn with used to control who
body motions, eye contact, and audible breaths. Typically, for instance, when a speaks during a
member tries to keep a turn but is being interrupted by others, his or her volume discussion.
rises, as if to hold the turn with loudness. During CMC, turn-taking processes are
more problematic. In net conferences, for instance, the synchronous interaction
between members is delayed even though members are “talking to each other.”
This half second delay between speaking and hearing in less sophisticated audio
systems is enough to affect the humor in net conferences (less humor compared to
face to face) and the sheer amount of interaction (monologues are common in net
conferences). 48
Effective group members are aware of and understand these nuances and func-
tions of nonverbal behavior; they use this understanding to improve the process of
creating shared meaning. For example, one of us observed a normally quiet group
member fold his arms in a closed gesture in response to a statement made by the
group’s chair. The chair, recognizing that this gesture could be interpreted in a num-
ber of different ways, asked the member to share his opinions directly with the group.
It turned out that the member strongly disagreed with the emerging group consensus
for several excellent reasons the others had not considered. The chair’s alertness and
sensitivity helped make this member’s information available to the entire group.

Recap: A Quick Review
N onverbal behaviors are vital to small group communication.

1. Nonverbal behaviors are ever present, ambiguous, and generally more trusted if
there is a conflict between nonverbal and verbal behaviors.
2. Individuals use nonverbal behaviors with verbal behaviors in several ways.
Nonverbal behaviors can supplement, regulate, and contradict words.
3. Nonverbal behaviors also function to express emotions.

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