In this project, you will evaluate your effectiveness and your team members’ effectiveness at communicating in groups in order to prepare yourself for the group environments you will encounter both in other classes and professionally. Show
Good groups do not just happen. Good groups require the participation of group members who
To help you become such a group member, this assignment will help you to acquire the knowledge and skills required to meet the objectives below:
Contribute to team meetings.In today’s organizational environment, group work is an expectation. However, employers may not teach people how to work in groups; instead, employers may expect incoming employees to possess this skill. Having experience working in groups in college therefore can provide you with real world experience that will give you a leg up professionally. The answers to the following questions will help you make positive contributions to the groups you work with in both academic and career settings.
1. What is a team?A team or a group involves at least three members and up to 15 or 20. Any more then 20 is considered public communication and no longer falls into the team or group category. The ideal group/team is about 5 members. 2. What are the different types of teams?Teams can come together using a variety of mediums such as face-to-face interaction, virtual interactions, or in some cases, a blend of both. No matter how groups come together to hold their meeting, the reason for a group is still the same: groups form because together they can accomplish more than individuals working alone. 3. Why do I need to know how to work in a group?The truth is that in today’s organizational environment, group work is an expectation. It’s unlikely your employer will teach you how to work in a group; this is a skill they expect incoming employees to have. Therefore, having experience working in groups in college provides you with a leg up and offers real world experience. We wish we could say that you will never experience conflict in groups in college or professionally and that everyone in a group will pull his or her own weight. The fact is, however, that people in groups sometimes work at cross-purposes and group members may contribute unequally to the group effort. Spending some time learning about how groups work and about how you yourself can best work within a group may have a big payoff in terms of the success of the group—and by extension your success. 4. What makes a team effective?Google did a huge research study in an effort to pinpoint what would make the “perfect” team. Surprisingly, the researchers found that who was in the team made virtually no difference. It didn’t matter how smart the members were, or whether they were friends outside the group, or if they had any common interests. Instead, what mattered most: 1) Shared conversational contributions. Members spoke in roughly equal amounts during team meetings; no one was silent, and no one dominated the discussion. 2) Ability to read their teammates (also known as “social sensitivity.”) Members could pick up nonverbal cues, such as body language, and made adjustments as necessary, heading off future conflict. 5. How can I contribute to my team?Be present. When you are in a group meeting, give your attention to the other team members. Put your phone away, don’t engage in side conversations, and focus on the task at hand. Be prepared. Your team meetings will usually call upon you to use class content, materials, and notes. Make sure you have completed any course readings, taken careful notes, and bring everything you might need to the meeting. Be engaged. Take part in conversations, encourage others to speak, and push each other to think outside the box. Practice social sensitivity whenever possible. Your instructor may also have your team create a group contract with official norms and sanctions; go to the Appendix to read more. If you are meeting with your team online, read about effective virtual meeting practices in the Appendix. 6. What are the different roles that may need to be performed by group members?Members of a group must be willing and able to play certain roles in order for the group to successfully reach its goal. In fact, group members may have to take on multiple roles, sometimes simultaneously. Below are roles that group members typically play:
7. What are the different behaviors that may be exhibited by group members?The above group roles may be chosen (either consciously or unconsciously) by group members; or they may be assigned by the group. In addition to playing those distinct roles, members may exhibit certain behaviors, perhaps because of their personalities. Some of the most typical are listed below.
8. What is deviant behavior?Not all roles and behaviors are helpful to the group. A group member may behave in a way that is self-centered. A person who does so is said to have taken on a deviant role. For example, an individual may dominate conversation and not allow others to add their input. Or someone may repeatedly declare his lack of skill and seek help from other members, rather than learning what he needs to do in order to pull his own weight. 9. What are examples of deviant behavior?Deviant roles or behaviors are actions that do not assist the group in reaching its goals and should therefore be avoided. Below are typical deviant roles:
10. How can deviant behaviors be avoided or addressed by the group?Deviant behavior can be a drag on a group’s success. For that reason, do not ignore deviant behavior. Keep in mind that it is unlikely to improve or disappear on its own. Your group needs to decide how it will address the deviant behavior. It needs to create a mechanism for discussing such behavior and determining how to respond. To some extent, the group can head off deviant behavior by carefully establishing norms, as described above. If necessary, the group may revisit its list of norms to address behavior that was not anticipated when the list was first drawn up. The sanctions (as described above) that the group has agreed upon also may play a role in keeping deviant behavior in check. Above all, do not ignore deviant behavior. Remember: it is unlikely to improve or disappear on its own. 11. How do I avoid engaging in deviant behaviors?Sometimes deviant behavior is the flip side of actions that may be very helpful to a group when performed carefully but that in extreme cases may result in group dysfunction. Monitor your behavior in the group and modify it if you realize that your actions, even if well-intended, are beginning to hold back the group in some way. At the same time, encourage your fellow group members to monitor their behavior as well. Examples:
12. How do I know what roles to take on?In a group, people often are responsible for taking on more than one role or engaging in more than one type of behavior. Some roles can be assigned, such as a leadership role. Others may depend upon a person’s personality. Most of the time you will know what is expected from you by the way the rest of the group treats you. For example, even if you don’t feel as if you would be adequate as the group’s leader, if everyone turns and makes eye contact with you when a final decision needs to be made, you are clearly the task leader in their minds. Behaviors may be learned, so even though a role may make you uncomfortable or may feel confusing at first, you can learn to adapt and be what your group needs you to be. 13. What is leadership?Leadership is a set of behaviors that influences the group to accomplish its task. Leadership is not power or control over a group but is based on interpersonal relationships and relies upon persuasion and the ability to shape a group’s interactions. 14. What leadership behaviors should everyone in the group exhibit?Since leadership is a set of behaviors, exercising leadership is not necessarily restricted to one individual. All members of a group can exert leadership by engaging in the following actions:
If you would like to read more about Leadership, go to the Appendix. Working with your team mates.Sometimes group members may fail to work together effectively because not everyone makes as significant a contribution as they could. Sometimes the group has not come up with a structure that encourages equitable contributions. Sometimes members do not contribute because they believe it’s easier to let others do the work or because the group’s success simply isn’t important to them. Other times members would like to contribute but don’t feel that their contributions are valued by the rest of the group. In order for everyone to benefit from working in a group, each group member needs to contribute, and everyone in the group has a responsibility to help other members feel comfortable enough to contribute. The answers to the following questions will help you become aware of ways that you can help your fellow group members successfully contribute to the group project.
1. Why should all members be encouraged to contribute to a group?The biggest advantage to working in groups instead of working alone is that a group can draw on the expertise and experiences of each member. Obviously, if some members do not contribute, that advantage is lost. A member may have an idea that no one else in the group has thought of, but if the group member does not voice that idea, the group will never have an opportunity to determine whether that idea could have been a useful element in its work. As your group continues to work together, be as interested in encouraging other group members to state their ideas as you are in stating your own ideas. 2. What are different communication styles?Any time you work in a group it is likely that different members of the group will have different approaches toward communication. Some members of the group may strike other members as passive within communication contexts. Others may seem assertive. Yet others may come across as aggressive. We might say that these are communication styles that are expressed through a mix of verbal and nonverbal behaviors. More specifically, each person’s communication style may reflect traits such as being friendly (kind and caring and expecting others to be the same), relaxed (at ease when interacting with others), contentious (ready to argue and debate), attentive (effective at listening and understanding of others), open (straightforward and honest about one’s feelings and thoughts), and dominant (liable to take charge by talking louder, faster, longer, and more frequently than others). Other traits may be whether or not a speaker is impression-leaving (able to state ideas in a memorable way), animated (able to use eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, body movement, and posture to reinforce messages), dramatic (able to stylistic devices, rhythm, stories, and exaggeration to emphasize ideas), or precise (trying to achieve accuracy through specific proofs and well-defined examples and requiring others to do likewise). (Norton, 1978, pp. 99-101). 3. How does my group deal with different communication styles?Each communication trait offers different advantages and disadvantages, so it’s usually beneficial for a group to have members representing a variety of communication styles. At the same time, the diversity of communication styles may present challenges, especially if some people don’t recognize that their fellow group members have different communication traits. For example, a friendly communicator and a contentious communicator may feel differently over how much conflict is acceptable in a group. The friendly communicator may be a bit too successful in shutting down conflict, preventing the group from adequately talking through all of the alternatives that should be considered. On the other hand, the contentious communicator may be too aggressive in pursuing conflict and may drive other group members toward deferring to her ideas rather than adequately weighing the pros and cons of each alternative. Regardless of which specific communication traits show up in your group, it is important to recognize both the challenges and the opportunities they may present and to help group members use their traits to the group’s advantage. For example, encourage the friendly communicator to use his sociable impulses to help the group quickly build social cohesion. At the same time recognize that he may be uncomfortable with conflict. Respect that fact while at the same time helping him recognize that conflict can be productive. Similarly, welcome the fact that the contentious communicator can motivate the group to keep thinking about an idea or solution until it’s a good one. At the same time, help him to understand that he may come across as belligerent and that this perception can affect how other group members respond to him. Encourage the contentious communicator to find ways to signal that he is not creating conflict out of disrespect toward his fellow group members but out of a desire to help the group weigh all of the alternatives. 4. What are the benefits and challenges represented by each communication trait?When you recognize a communication trait in yourself or in a fellow group member, ask yourself how you can help the group both address the challenges and capitalize on the advantages of that style. Encourage the animated communicator to contribute her vitality when others may be tired, and take advantage of her lively delivery during presentations. On the other hand, when the occasion is appropriate, encourage her to modulate her energy so that she does not come across as pushy.
5. What are some ways for my group to keep a dominant communicator from taking over the conversation and to ensure that quieter members contribute?One of the most challenging communication traits to deal with is a group member who tends to dominate conversations. That person can make it difficult for quieter members to contribute. You have several ways to help ensure that a dominant communicator doesn’t keep other group members from contributing:
For more information about running meetings, including creating agendas and minutes, see the Appendix. Foster a constructive team climate.A group’s climate will fall somewhere on a continuum between the constructive and the defensive. A defensive climate is one marked by a lack of trust and the fear of saying the wrong thing. The climate of a newly formed group frequently will be defensive by default, and one of a group’s goals should be to overcome that defensive climate and replace it with a constructive one in which group members are willing to trust one another and pool ideas and efforts to accomplish a common goal. To help you and your classmates develop the constructive climate necessary for an effective team, the Handbook provides the answer to the following questions:
1. What is a supportive group climate?In a supportive group climate, members should
When groups have developed a supportive climate, the group treats everyone as equals. All members feel that they can contribute and be valued. The group can be flexible and take feedback from each other and people outside the group and integrate it into their work. Groups with supportive climates are marked by treating people with kindness while maintaining assertive discussions and strong relationships between members. 2. What is a defensive group climate?In a defensive group climate, members
Defensive climates are marked by weak or nonexistent group loyalty, hidden agendas, the unequal distribution of power, feelings of superiority on the part of some members, and apathy on the part of others. Members of groups in this situation often report wishing they were not part of the group and report low satisfaction with the group’s final product. Newly formed groups may start with a somewhat defensive climate because members may not know each other well enough to trust one another. As cohesion is built, a group should move towards a less defensive climate. However, groups that find cohesion difficult to build or include members who are not motivated to contribute to the group’s project may find themselves in a defensive climate for the duration of the group’s life. 3. How do you change a defensive climate to a supportive one?You can do several things to turn a defensive climate into a more supportive one.
4. What is cohesion?One feature of a constructive climate is cohesion. A group has achieved cohesion when everyone in the group wants to stay in the group. Members feel comfortable with and supported by their team members. Ideally, the satisfaction members feel in belonging to a group is created by a combination of two types of cohesion: social cohesion and task cohesion. Social cohesion is created by the relationships between members. People often focus on this type of cohesion because it reflects their feelings. The greater the social cohesion in a group, the more people will want to participate and work together on the task. Task cohesion results when group members feel comfortable working together towards a common goal. It is important to foster both forms of cohesion in a group, but one may come more easily for a group than the other. 5. How do groups build social cohesion?Groups with diverse demographics or with members who have differing perspectives often find that social cohesion develops slowly. However, even groups with less diversity and greater consensus shouldn’t forget the importance of building and maintaining social cohesion. The following can help groups build social cohesion.
6. How do groups build task cohesion?Even groups that find social cohesion easy may find it difficult to build task cohesion. In addition, task cohesion is often slower to develop in groups that are more diverse. The following are some ways that groups can build task cohesion.
7. How is cohesion related to group climate?Group cohesion is an important factor in developing a supportive team climate. If members think they can trust each other and if they feel valued by the others in the group, they will be more likely to participate fully. When people in the group want to participate fully and allow everyone else in the group the same privilege, the group has a constructive team climate. When groups do not have a sense of cohesion, members may feel that they can’t participate fully or that they have to censor themselves. The absence of trust and respect creates and maintains a defensive group climate. 8. How do I communicate in a way that builds and maintains relationships?To encourage the full participation of your fellow team members, you want to project respect for the contributions of all members of the group. You could probably brainstorm of list of gestures to embrace and actions to avoid. You do want to listen without interrupting. You do want to respond to what a group member says instead of moving on to something new without acknowledging that the group member may have said something of worth. Meanwhile, you do not want to engage in a side conversation while someone else is talking, and you certainly do not want to be texting or checking your email! In order to communicate respectfully with your fellow team members, familiarize yourself with the concepts of discounting and disconfirming messages and learn how to avoid sending messages that devalue your fellow group members and their ideas. 9. What are discounting messages?A discounting message is one that dismisses or minimizes an idea. It is important that a group have open and honest discussions in order to be as creative as possible. It is also important to have open and honest discussions so that the group does not go along with bad ideas in order to avoid disagreements. However, if a person thinks that most of his ideas are being ignored or dismissed, he may start to feel that the group does not value his contributions. He may begin to censor himself so that instead of bringing up ideas only to see them shot down, he may not bring them up in the first place. Even if there are good reasons why an idea may not work for the group, how you deal with that idea will work to create a supportive or defensive climate. It is important for everyone in the group to feel that their ideas are taken seriously and that their contributions help the group in some way. 10. How do I avoid discounting messages without enabling groupthink?Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when members of a group go along with a bad idea because they mistakenly believe that the other group members think it’s a good idea. Let’s say your group is trying to pick a topic for its presentation and someone suggests an idea that you don’t think will work. Maybe you think there won’t be enough relevant sources or that the topic is too broad to cover in the time allotted for the presentation. Whatever your specific concerns, it’s likely that at least one other group member shares them, but until one of you speaks up, group members will continue to assume that everyone thinks the idea is a great one and will go along with it. This unwillingness to speak up is perfectly normal and has been shown to occur fairly frequently in business and government. However, such groupthink may have devastating consequences as members of the group may follow each other over the edge of a communication cliff. The secret to avoiding groupthink is to be willing to express dissenting opinions. At the same time, though, the dissent must be worded so it does not take the form of a discounting message that makes a group member feel that you don’t value her ideas. Wording is the key to balancing the need to challenge groupthink with the need to show respect to fellow group members. Be certain to voice dissent in ways that still value the original idea. For example, instead of saying, “I don’t like that idea; let’s do this instead,” it is more effective to say, “That idea could work, but have you thought about what would happen if we tried this instead?” 11. What are disconfirming messages?A disconfirming message is one that devalues the individual, whether intentionally or not. Disconfirming messages may make individuals feel unheard, unimportant, and unwanted. Disconfirming messages should be avoided because they lead to a defensive climate and hamper the group’s ability to complete its task successfully. Individuals may send disconfirming messages in several ways.
12. How do I avoid disconfirming messages?It is important to avoid sending disconfirming messages because they may result in a defensive group climate and low cohesion. You can minimize disconfirming messages in your group in several ways.
13. What is feedback?In the context of group work, feedback refers to evaluations you make of how your fellow group members have performed. Your instructor may ask you to provide formal feedback about your fellow group members at some point, but you also will be providing informal feedback throughout the time that your group is working together. Informal feedback includes positive statements such as “Thanks for getting those sources to me so quickly. You really did a great job with the research!” Other times you may have to provide critical feedback, such as “I’ve noticed that you’ve been late to the last three meetings. The deadline for our project is coming up, so the group really needs everybody to show up on time so that we can use all the time available to us to put the finishing touches on this project.” Notice from the example that critical feedback doesn’t simply mean pointing out a problem; it also provides an opportunity for directing your classmate toward a solution and explaining why the solution is important. Positive and negative feedback share something in common: both are meant to be constructive in the sense that both are meant to lead to a successful outcome to the group’s project. 14. Why is it important to give feedback?Without feedback, your teammates wouldn’t know what they are doing well and what they need to improve. Positive feedback lets teammates know what you value about their contributions and helps build group cohesion. Critical feedback may present a challenge to group cohesion but often is essential for making certain that group members are aware of behaviors that are keeping the group from working as effectively as it could. Additionally, more formal types of feedback help hold group members accountable. The finished product the group puts together should reflect individual members’ contributions. Unfortunately, though, if some members are highly motivated to work hard, other members may decide to slack off because they assume they will reap the benefits of their teammates’ efforts. By providing accurate feedback, you let your instructor know what each member has contributed and alert your instructor to any problems that a teammate might have caused. 15. How do I give constructive feedback?Providing feedback is not always easy. Many of us have been told from the time we were young that “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all,” but sometimes the feedback you need to provide, because it must be critical, may not be “nice.” However, even if you cannot be “nice,” you can be constructive. Below are several rules of thumb to maximize how useful your feedback will be to your teammates:
16. How do I respond constructively to feedback?Just as it is important to give feedback effectively, it is important to accept feedback constructively. It is sometimes difficult not to take critical feedback as an attack, but your teammates probably are simply concerned with making the group work as effectively as possible. Take so-called negative feedback, then, as an opportunity to work with your group to figure out how to adjust your performance to best contribute to the group. Perhaps, for example, your understanding of what was expected differed from your teammates’ understanding. In that case, the feedback from the group provides an opportunity to have a conversation that will clarify what is expected of each individual and of the group as a whole. Even if you believe that the feedback you received is inaccurate, do not become defensive but instead discuss your feelings with your teammates in a professional manner, modulating your tone and volume so that you do not sound argumentative. If it turns out that the negative feedback is the result of something deeper than a simple misunderstanding, you may wish to explore some of the conflict-resolution strategies that are discussed under Objective IV. Respond effectively to conflict. 17. What are additive tasks?Additive tasks are ones that group members complete individually. Later, the additive tasks are put together to create the whole project. For example, if the group decides that each member will be responsible for preparing an outline for one key idea in a presentation, preparing an individual section of the outline will be an additive task. Although each group member will be responsible for one task, members likely will need to communicate with each other to make certain that each section is not redundant and will not contradict other sections. For the most part, however, group members work independently on additive tasks and after completing their individual tasks, the group combines the parts into the finished product. 18. What are conjunctive tasks?Unlike additive tasks, conjunctive tasks require group members to work together on a project or part of a project. Each group member working separately on a key idea for a speech would be an additive task, but before each member could start working on his or her section, the group as a whole would need to decide what the key ideas of the presentation will be, how they will fit together, and which group member will be responsible for each one. The process of making those decisions as a group is a conjunctive task. Some group projects may require a substantial conjunctive component. Sometimes a task will be conjunctive for logistical reasons. For example, if your project involves going door-to-door in a neighborhood to survey people’s attitudes on an issue, you will probably want at least two group members to stick together to ensure each other’s safety. Since at least two group members will need to work together on this part of the project, the task is conjunctive rather than additive. 19. How do I know whether a task should be additive or conjunctive?You and your team members may be tempted to avoid conjunctive tasks as much as possible. This impulse is understandable because group members have busy schedules that may make it difficult to find times when everyone can get together to work as a team. Focusing on additive tasks that each member can work on independently may seem like a reasonable solution to scheduling obstacles. On the other hand, one of the major advantages of working in groups is the opportunity to benefit from each person’s unique skills and perspective. For that reason, when you need to brainstorm ideas and make decisions, it is better for the group to work together and treat those tasks as conjunctive whenever possible. Virtual groups are usually more effective at performing additive tasks rather than conjunctive ones. If your group is largely functioning as a virtual group with only occasional face-to-face meetings, try to save conjunctive tasks for those in-person meetings. If you are working with a strictly virtual group, you will to rely heavily on additive tasks and be aware of the limitations the group is likely to encounter when it does need to perform conjunctive tasks. Explore the use of social media technology to hold meetings via discussion boards and programs that allow people to see and hear and team members at a distance. Respond effectively to conflict.Whenever people come together, conflict will exist simply because people have different beliefs and values and styles of communicating. However, conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. The information in this section will help you reduce unnecessary conflict while at the same time suggesting ways to make conflict work for your group as a means of generating ideas that never would have occurred to people if they had not had to resolve a conflict. Specifically, this section will answer these questions:
1. What is conflict?People may disagree, but not all disagreements are conflicts. For conflict to exist, all of the following must be true.
It is important to remember that conflict is natural because humans do not all think alike. In addition, conflict is neutral. Conflict by itself is neither a positive nor a negative. It is how you deal with conflict that determines how things turn out. Contrary to popular belief, conflict may lead to positive outcomes. When all parties enter into a conflict with the goal of finding a win-win solution, the conflict can enhance trust and encourage people to be open about how they think or feel. Conflict can, in fact, strengthen relationships. 2. Why is some conflict normal and necessary for a group?Conflict indicates that not everyone thinks and feels the exact same way. For a group, conflict is a positive because it provides the group with a greater diversity of ideas to consider and choose from. Ultimately, conflict is necessary for a group to function well because it allows members to express their differences in a healthy way and then allows the group to take advantage of those differences. Conflict is different from verbal abuse or denigration. Instead, conflict allows you to learn from other group members and helps you see issues from someone else’s point of view. You do not have to agree with each group member’s opinions, but when you can see things from another’s perspective, you will be in a better position to understand his or her reasoning. Although conflict should be a positive, groups must allow time for constructive conflict management to address resentments that could a group back. Remember: the only reason for a group is that the group can produce something far greater than an individual ever could, and anything that impedes this process should be discussed. 3. What are the types of conflict?Not all conflict is the same. It is true that conflict is necessary for a group to fulfill its potential, which includes the ability to create something out of contributions from diverse individuals. At the same time, some types of conflict may make a group dysfunctional. Below are the four major types of conflict. Keep in mind that a group may experience more than one type of conflict at a time:
Substantive conflict is an important, healthy type of conflict. Without it, a group will suffer from groupthink.
This type of conflict can be harmful to the group because usually the group is focusing on the behavior of members rather than on task at hand. It is most common in groups where a single person makes the final decisions or people feel that they aren’t valuable to the group’s success.
Substantive or affective conflict often is the underlying cause for procedural conflict.
Initially, only the person or people doing extra work see a problem. The person who is doing less work than expected usually is unaware of the feelings of the others, will report that everything in the group is going well, and may be taken aback when the situation reaches the conflict stage. 4. How do individuals respond to conflict?Group members respond differently to conflict. Some types of conflict are healthier than others; similarly, individual responses to conflict may be more or less helpful.
5. What are some ways to manage conflict?
You may wish to review the following sections under Facilitate the contribution of team members:
6. What can you do when a conflict has arisen?Above all, do not pretend that conflict is not present. When faced with a conflict, address it head on, but in a constructive way. The following are some tips:
7. What are the roles of consensus and compromise in resolving conflicts?The goal when dealing with conflict should be to reach a consensus, a solution that satisfies everyone in the group. Keep in mind that reaching a consensus takes a lot of time, so you need to start dealing with conflicts as soon as they arise and be patient with your teammates as you try to reach a solution that will satisfy everyone. Reaching a consensus also requires creative critical thinking. In order to move past the conflict and find a solution that will make everyone happy, you’ll usually need to find one that none of you had considered at the beginning of the process. Sometimes you won’t be able to reach a consensus, either because there just isn’t a solution that will satisfy everyone or because you have a deadline that prevents you from taking the time you need to finish the process. In those cases, the next best outcome is to reach a compromise. In a compromise, everyone gets some of what they want but no one gets all of what they want. For example, if both you and a teammate want to research and present one aspect of an issue, you might end up deciding to break that aspect into two sub-points so that each of you can present part of it. Neither of you get everything you want, but you also don’t get left out completely. You always should strive for consensus but settle for compromise if necessary. However, there may be times when even reaching a compromise isn’t possible. In such a situation, you need to find an impartial way to reach a decision. Perhaps, for example, group members could vote secretly. Perhaps each member could rate each alternative and the ratings could be averaged to determine a ‘winner’. The above solutions will inevitably result in someone not getting what they want, so they should only be used as a last resort. Even so, solutions like these are better than letting one group member make a decision without giving others the chance to even have their ideas considered. 8. Why does it matter what you do about conflict?There are two main reasons that it is important to resolve conflict in a way that results in either consensus or compromise. The first reason is that working through conflicts can push the group to do better work by incorporating ideas that no member would have come up with individually. On the most practical level, working through conflicts results in better projects, which leads to better grades. The second reason is that you have an ethical responsibility to work through conflict in a way that values your teammates’ worth as human beings. By taking the time to work through a conflict and reach a consensus or compromise, all of the members of the group demonstrate that they value the other members’ contributions and ideas. Demonstrating how much you value your teammates’ contributions will help build cohesiveness, which, again, will ultimately lead the group to produce better work. Reference Norton, R. W. (1978). Foundation of a communicator style construct. Human Communication Research, 4(2), 99-112. |