Chapter 11-2

Josh, Sydney, Solomon, McKaylie, Kenton, Lena, & Benjamin

1st period - Speech

Objectives:1. Use appropriate verbal strategies to promote group

effectiveness.2. Use effective and describe ineffective nonverbal

behaviors in group meetings.3. Use a variety of listening strategies to contribute to

group effectiveness.4. Identify and analyze the role of the group chairperson5. Analyze the participation and contributions of group

members and evaluate group effectiveness.

Effective Verbal Strategies in Groups

Responsibility as a productive group member is to assume the role of initiator, facilitator, or agitator appropriately as needed. This helps your group take care of task needs.Task Need is a need that relates directly to the business and goals of the group.Maintenance Need relates to the feelings of group member and their relationships to one another.

What you know and think about the group does matter. Building group enthusiasm and support for your ideas can help bring members together, meeting the maintenance needs of the group.In other case, your information and opinions must be stated clearly and persuasively to be effective. As you state your opinions, you will be involved in an information-giving interaction.

State Your Ideas, Opinions, and Positions

Courtesy and Tact can make a great impact on the cohesiveness of a committee, team, or group.Courtesy- By using courteous verbal and nonverbal language you show respect to the other member of the group.Tact- In group interactions, tact is a way of dealing with others so that good relations are maintained in the group. Tact is useful when you must disagree with someone but do not want to hurt that person’s feelings or make them angry.

Use Courtesy and Tact

Effective non-verbal strategies in groupsYour nonverbal behavior is just as important as your comments are to a group discussion. When in a group meeting or discussion, you must pay attention to the following:● Dress in appropriate attire and look nice● You have to be on time, And if hosting set a good time frame for

the meeting.● Be aware of your space and distance with others.● Eye contact shows that you are being serious and are engaged in

the topic.● Keep your volume and tone at a good level.● Gestures and movements are always observed by others.

Effective Listening Strategies in GroupsEffective nonverbal posture and eye contact can help you listen well .Use all the types of listening skills: critical, deliberative, and empathic. When using listening skills, you are not just listening but also evaluating what is being said. Also listen to the speaker’s feelings in their discussion in order to learn how to help them. Ask yourself the following questions when listening to what a speaker is discussing: ● What are the speaker’s main ideas and how are they supported?● Is the group member expressing facts, personal opinions, or

informed/expert opinions?● What does this group member want me to do?● What supporting information are they offering to persuade me to

do this?● How does the speaker seem to feel about information he/she is

sharing?

What to be aware of when hosting a group meeting or discussion

When hosting a meeting you have to dress according to the topic and make sure others are too. The venue of the meeting must be spacious and have enough seats for everyone to be comfortable. And set a good time frame for the meeting, also take note of the people who might be late whether it’s because of work or traffic. just make sure it's at an appropriate time of the day. When presenting your ideas or feedback, gestures and body movements can add emphasis to your verbal message. most people use the common habit of hand gestures to complement their speech and get their verbal message across.

Discussions and Consumer Building in Groups (pg.369)

Chairperson - appointed or elected person who organizes a group or preside over it.Among other responsibilities, a chairman must have the ability to plan an effective meeting.Planning the MeetingThe chairman must arrange thetime and place of the meeting, and create and agenda to organizegroup discussion.

Arranging Time and Place● Meeting times should take into consideration all

members’ schedules.● It may be impossible to accommodate all

members’ schedule, but you should ask them for suggestions.

● The chairperson or an appointee is responsible for determining a meeting place and setting up the room appropriately.

Ex/ A professional business meeting should not be held at a loud and crowded restaurant.

Setting AgendasThe agendas should be made for meetings to transition between topics. For informal meetings, it can just be a list of goals. For formal meetings the chair should distribute a written agenda.

Meetings Agendas include…● announcements● any topics not discussed or resolved in a● previous meeting● topics to be discussed at the meeting● any special announcements by members

Sample Agendas

Chairing the Discussion Chairperson as InitiatorInitiators should call upon members to share information and ideas. They should also encourage members to comment on those ideas. The initiator’s goal is to allow a full discussion.Chairperson as FacilitatorFacilitators should encourage all members to participate. They should also maintain order in the meeting. Chairperson as AgitatorOccasionally a chairperson must challenge some speakers’ assumption or ask other members to critique the information.

Chairing the Discussion Nonverbal Responsibilities and SkillsHaving nonverbal communication, such as eye contact and nodding, is important for a chairperson to maintain during a meeting. By doing so you are showing members that you are listening and appreciate their contribution.Listening Responsibilities and SkillsA chairperson must listen to the discussions critically and empathically. When you are critical you can determine the quality of the information discussed. Also when you are empathic, you will not be biased and be easily persuaded, so you can address concerns.

Evaluating Group Effectiveness❏ Competent communicators regularly evaluate their own

effectiveness and the effectiveness of their group.❏ As a group member, are you doing all you can to help the group

complete the task? ❏ Ask yourself these questions:

Is the group operating in a way that will achieve positive results? This will determine your group’s strengths and weaknesses.

❏ Your goal each time you participate on a team, committee, or other group discussion is to use group skills effectively.

Evaluating the group process

❏ The most important evaluation you will make is to determine how effective you were in the group process. The evaluation of your own effectiveness, will lead you to understand both your strengths and challenges as a communicator in group discussions.

The effectiveness of your participation

❏ Once you have looked at your own effectiveness, evaluate other members of your group. Your purpose in this stage isn’t to judge, but to identify characteristics of the participation of others that may have influenced you.

The effectiveness of others participation

❏ The overall effectiveness of a group process does not just depend on how effectively individual group members performed. The quality of the group dynamics also affect how effective a group will be.

Evaluating the group dynamics

❏ To evaluate the effectiveness of a group,team, committee, or any other group, requires that you have information .

❏ You’ll need to be aware of you and others participation in a group and do an honest evaluation of the participation.

Information for evaluating

❏ You can collect data in several ways. Other members could listen to and watch tapes in order to discover the quality of everyone's participation.

❏ Other ways to collect data is to create a table or a graph showing everyone’s participation.

Analyzing group results❏ One way to evaluate a group’s effectiveness is

by determining whether it achieved the desired results.

❏ To evaluate the results of a groups work you may need the following information:

❏ Follow up on if the problem was resolved, Listen to feedback, and note taking of unforeseen consequences.