1. Communicating in Groups and Teams
Chapter 9
Communicating in Groups and Teams

2. Group or Team?
The mindless to mindful team/group continuum presents four categories of teams/groups:
Group of Individuals
Group in Name Only
Collaborative Group
Team

3. Continuum

4. Strategies for Organizing Teams
Successful teams do the following:
Develop effective leadership strategies
Outline strategies for team participation locally and globally
Develop criteria for the selection of team members
Practice adaptive communication skills, such as behavioral flexibility
Create collaboratively stated goals and objectives for group work

5. Developing Effective Leadership
A successful leader is one who manages the communication within the team and ensures the following:
Choose team members
Clarify individual and team goals
Facilitate communication
Build consensus
Seek and provide information
Make assignments
Evaluate, summarize, and report
Celebrate success
Leadership:
key to developing synergy in team communication

6. Synergy and Jamming Synergy Jamming
the stage on the conscious communication continuum where people are truly collaborating (working together)
Jamming
engaging in a spontaneous, energetic group session
the positive energies that emerge from total group coordination when every individual has a role to play in the team and a chance to demonstrate skills

7. Participating in Teams
Questions to ask oneself:
What does the team expect from me?
How can I best serve the team?
Do I have any promises or commitments to the team I haven’t fulfilled?
Is there any reason I cannot succeed?
What information do I need?
Is there any way that I can help other members of the team?

8. Participating in Teams
Strategies to be an effective team member:
be fully committed to the team
prepare for dialogue
listen carefully, without interruption
provide verbal and nonverbal feedback
ask relevant questions
be adaptive
participate in team rites, rituals, and traditions
stay on task

9. Adaptive Skills
Adaptive skills refer to the ability of team members to adapt their behavior to the needs and expectations of others.
Behavioral flexibility includes:
developing a repertoire of self-presentations
being an example of collaborative communication
accepting the legitimacy and honesty of others’ self-perceptions

10. CCCD and Teams Choose Create Coordinate Deliver Clearly defined goals
Commonly perceived strategies
Create
Agendas
Visioning sessions
Coordinate
Problem solving process
Creativity and constraints
Deliver
Five ways of delivering teamwork

11. Step 1: Choose
Team experiences improve when the members choose productive strategies for organizing team activities.
develop effective leadership strategies
outline strategies for team participation locally and globally
develop criteria for the selection of team members
practice adaptive communication skills, such as behavioral flexibility
create collaboratively stated goals and objectives for group work

12. Step 2: Create Agendas Vision statement
Functional document used to organize meetings and share information.
Agendas should include:
date
time
place of the meeting
speakers and their topics
Vision statement
the overall, far reaching idea of what a team or organization should accomplish.
The vision statement should include the values that will lead the team.

13. Step 3: Coordinate
Cross-team problem solving is most effective when teams balance creativity and constraints.
Creativity
the result of giving people the freedom to explore alternatives beyond the traditional ways of doing things.
Constraints
the restrictions or limits (resources, time, or money) which can hinder problem solving.

14. Scientific Problem Solving
Understanding the charge
Phrasing the question
Fact-finding
Establishing criteria for a solution
Generating alternative solutions
Testing each alternative solution against the criteria
Formulating a solution
Presenting the solution

15. Step 4: Deliver Five ways teamwork can be delivered: Memos and reports
Staff briefings and weekly sessions
Planning and problem-solving meetings
Virtual meetings
Conferences, workshops, and seminars