Interpersonal and Group Communication

What is a Groups Communication? Groups help us interacting with each other and making our self-identities. Groups communication is interacti...

What is a Groups Communication?

Groups help us interacting with each other and making our self-identities. Groups communication is interaction and exchange of information between culturally, geographically or linguistically alike people who are a member of a group.

In an organization, it may be defined as the mode by which the employees and employers, team members communicate with each other.

Advertisement report In a market, it can be defined as how a business interacts with its targeted customers.

Members may be identified by their standard set of symbols, a specific language or outer appearance. For example, the server may be used by someone in the information industry as the internet. In contrast, in the food industry, it may refer to somebody responsible for taking orders from the customers.

Interpersonal attraction means the attraction between people. Scholarly documents have shown that there are five major contributing factors to interpersonal attraction.

Interpersonal Attraction.

1.Physical and personality attractiveness

2.Proximity

3.Reinforcement

4.Similarity

5.complementarity

Group Communication

A group is a collection of people with some common features, interests and purpose. Schaefer (2009, p.119) argues,” a group is number of people with similar norms and expectations who interact with one another on a regular basis.”

Group communication denotes the communication situations within a group.

Some important salient feature about group and group communication:

1.Members of a group usually have a common mission and vision. They intend to work together. It can be described as an extension of interpersonal communication where more than two individuals are involved in the process of communication. 

2.Group communication depends on the size, nature and objectives of a group.

3.A small group is generally consisted of 3-15 members sharing a common goal, purpose. Each of the member’s influences one another. 

4.The group dynamics can be different as well as complex. For example, the formation, nature, the role, objective and goal of a study group are different from a Voluntary one.

5.Sometimes, a group can turn into a mob. For example, peaceful demonstration of the students of a university may turn wild due to break down of the communication process with the university authority.

6.A group can be both formal and informal depending on context, purposes and goal. Members in a group communicate each other with common interests and goals. For example, classroom communication is a form of group communication.

7.A family is also a group where communication is a vital point of connecting and understanding each other. 

8.Communication in a small group with members at the same place is generally effective as interpersonal communication.

9.In a small group communication, the members can use both verbal and non-verbal symbols and they can closely observe each other. In a small group communication, feedback can be prompt and there are opportunities to clarify messages. 

10.Group members are of interdependent. When the size of a group increases, there is less scope for understanding and observing closely the performance of each other. 

11.Gesture and posture of a Speaker may not be noticed due to the size of that group. The sender may not follow the responses of individual member of the group who receive message. Due to this, feedback can be limited. 

12.AIl the members of a group may not possess similar quality of speaking, presentation and performance.  Some are shy and some are prompt in nature. 

13.Usually, prompt and extrovert members become more dominant communicators in a group rather than the introverts and shy ones.

Type of group

1.Primary group

2.Secondary group

3.Social group

4.Work group

5.Voluntary group

6.Study group

7.Focus group

Group Formation Process

Group formation is a process involving communication. Regarding formation of a groups, various thoughts exist.  Psychologist Bruce Tuckman (1965) in his article Developmental Sequence in Small Groups mentions five-phases in a group formation process.

The phases include: 

a. Forming 
b. Storming 
c. Norming
 d. Performing 
e. Adjourning

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