Mastering Group Communication: From Forming to High-Performing Teams

good morning friends this is binod mishra and ah you are listening to online lectures on soft skills today we are going to talk about group communication skills prior to this you have read about reports you have also read about memos and others in the beginning

of the lecture we had a lecture entitled positive thinking while listening to this lecture you have to keep the ideas of that previous lecture in your mind because today we are going to talk about group communication skills friends all of us are human beings and as

humans we have a tendency to form groups wherever you are whether in an organization in an institution or you are trying to do something at a larger level you will realize that it cant be done alone and that is why we need to have a group now the question is what is a group because

at times people interchangeably talk both about groups and about teams though not much difference between the two terms we will see how groups are different from teams and how can be formulate groups because once you are in organization you will find that you will

be given assignments tasks responsibilities not only in isolation but in groups because there are certain features which makes group more important than individuals we are living in an age where we want to fulfill our responsibilities we want to finish our

tasks in less amount of time and for that we actually require a group work there are several situations where you will realize that groups can perform better than individuals but before coming into the nitty gritty of groups let us try to understand what exactly

is a group all of you when you join an organization you join as an individual but as you happen to be in the organization you are somewhere or the other attached to a group because you have major tasks to perform and as individuals you are not much experienced

you do not have that knowledge you do not have that sort of experience which can help you perform jobs in a limited amount of time now let us see how we can define groups a group is actually an assemblage of persons meaning thereby it is actually a collection

of people who work interact and cooperate with one another in achieving a common goal in a specified time the identity of the group members is taken individually the members share information and resources with other group members

say for example if you are just a student who is either in this third or fourth year of his college he or she may find that there are certain functions in the college the sports meet cultural meet you know there are different categories of such meets but do you think

that one man alone can perform the task of the entire festival you cannot that is why you know you are given two or three days because you cannot get a complete month for such festivals you get two or three months but you have to make it such an exemplary are festival that

people well remember in times to come and that for that you start formulating a group and when you have a group because when you formulate a group you also have to understand which people can perform which are all better initially there may be problems as we will

discuss because initially not everyone is aware of everyones talents everyones sparks everyones capabilities everyones characteristics everyones natures that is why initially you feel a little bit shaky but as you are in a group as you come to know people you will

find that the job the task starts getting momentum and after some amount of time maybe in a very small amount of time because much depends upon the familiarity acquaintance mixing of people in the group so when you work as a group you perform a

task better and you perform it more successfully ah since a times people often you know interchangeably are talk of groups as well as of teams so here we also or to understand the basic differences between groups and teams we have already talked about how group is a collection of people

and how they have a common purpose how they have a common goal but then when we talk about a team a team is a group of people you know when as a group you are going to have a cognizance as a group you are going to have ah some sports festival fine but then when in a group you

also divide the group into certain teams so a group of people who are joined for achieving a common goal within a stipulated period you know if all the group members say for example all the group members simply think that they have to complete this task in just short amount

of time again that is not going to be successful for that in order to make the job easier you have to divide them into certain teams and again when you are going to divide them into certain teams why i am focusing on group communication skills is because its very difficult to mix

with each other and to work and in future the jobs the assignments which you are going to get you are going to get in groups as well as in teams that is why you need to have a sort of communication whose can make your task easier

so a group of people who are joined for achieving a common goal within a stipulated period within a limited time having collective accountability suppose you are going to have a cultural festival and in that cultural festival you have different program isnt it and for each program you need

to find out people who can manage who can handle who can lead who can finally operate and make it successful so for that you have to have a sort of collective accountability which is known as the team and you know the focus the purpose the aim of the team thus

is one for all and all for one as a group you decide to make cognizance a successful event but when you have several teams into it all the teams you know all the teams have one goal and that is to complete the task successfully

but all these team because again group is divided into teams and these teams now they have another specific goal so the ah people involved in organizing the music so will be team of people who are concentrating only on music there people who are given the task

of organizing lectures they will be entitled to organize contact people and finally decide how this event will take place that is why we have to understand the difference between teams and groups now the question is what actually are the

characteristics or the salient features of a group as well as of a team both the groups and the teams they have one common set of goals so the common set of goals is to make the event successful now in order to make the event successful since you have variety

of teams what they will do is they will work jointly they will have a sort of cooperation because it is only the cooperation that will help them and it is not only the cooperation but when you cooperate each other while cooperating what you do is you actually try to find out

who can do what you are also going to identify the skills among the team members so and then every team will have a leader now the question of this leadership is very troublesome who will become the leader we will we will discuss about leader leadership

traits qualities in the ah next lecture but you will find that the team often is not even though team is aware of the goals but at times team team gets confused at times these groups get confused as to how to handle because there are certain situations ah there are certain

challenges that that come in an between and we often feel ourselves at a block in order to clear that block you need somebody who can guide you so you have to share a common leadership and if things go right or things go wrong it is actually the responsibility

of the team or responsibility of the group hence the group as well as the team has to hold joint accountability for performance and when you are in a team you know you are an individual of course you are an individual but then as a team when you are working you

see to it that the goal of the team is achieved even though you are an individual you are working towards the goal of the team this lecture which you are already listening to it is not a one man so i am simply here as a person who is delivering talk but behind

that there is so many people helping me out and you know the entire modus operandi will have several teams there will be teams who will be recording there will be teams who will be editing there will be teams who will be giving it a final touch there will be tools

will finally be approving and there will be teams will finally be posting these lectures so in a nutshell all you need to understand is these success of any event any work depends upon the collective effort the cooperative attitude of the team members now when you

are a group or when you are a team you have to perform certain tasks and and since i am calling it group communications so what are these tasks the tasks are you know sometimes there is a problem and this problem you may have a solution but how do

you know that this solution is going to be very feasible how do you know that this solution is going to be effective now the question is in order to solve a problem when you are doing it on your own that may be very difficult but when you are doing it in a team since

team has got so many people and all these people they have got ah energy they have got intelligence they have got charisma they have got ah some ways in means so these people have got different ideas so when you are have two solve the problem

it is actually ah the team that will come forward so there are certain group tasks or team tasks the first among them is to solve a problem second is to investigate an opportunity suppose ah some some organization ah is going either to launch a new product or going to

buy a new product or going to announce a new policy even for that they require a team which actually tries to find out what will be the outcomes how to go ahead what is something goes wrong so you have to investigate an opportunity remember in the in the previous lectures we

have talked about writing reports now at times you might be thinking can this entire report be written by one person you know if it is to be written by one person it will actually take a lot of time and by the time you realize that the solution has

to be provided it might be too late so the one task of team is also to write reports sometimes you may find that you as the manager as the ceo as the in charge have to give an oral presentation of course as a person you are giving in the oral presentation but in

order to understand the real presentation in order to ah provide you with the facts data whatsoever entire events there is a team sometimes it has also been seen ah that you have to give a presentation even as a group group presentation

and when you give a group presentation there also you decide there are some people you know who are ah in some way or the other and export in that area so if he or she gives that particular part he will be in a better position to answer to the queries which are

put forward so one of the tasks of the group members is not only to write a report but also to give a presentation and when you are you know ah most of the organizations nowadays they have got incubation centers do you think that this incubation centre works alone it

also works as a team and this team is busy devising a new product evolving a new product producing a new product there all you require a team and this team will cooperate the team will listen to each other and finally you know most of us actually see the final product

we do not see what goes behind that is why we have to understand that it is actually a team work it is a group work nowadays if you are working alone and thinking that you will move this sky or you will shake the earth it is quite impossible my dear friend

so you have to believe in a team in a group now there can be different types of group formal groups many organizations you will find there are formal groups formal groups now question is if you are working in an organization there are several groups and there several

units also now they are formally divided but do you think that this formal division of groups will ah help you ah have a successful you know successful experience or a successful event sometimes ah it is the informal groups that work better ah in the name of formality

we divide the group but unless and until the members go here with each other informally you know its quite doubtful to say ah that will work so there are formal groups there also are informal groups nowadays everyone knows that

there are virtual groups always know if if you are either on whats the facebook whatsoever all these technological devices there are virtual groups and and they share information they communicate and they in a way they are trying to make the world shorter make the

world becoming a real living entity even virtually now the question is when we talk about the formal group and an informal group the task of the informal group is problem solving sometimes you will find not all group members may be equally efficient and since you ah both of

you belong to one group or so many people belong to one group what we do is we actually share and sometimes we also go an extra mile to help because we have the group goal in our mind and this group goal actually is going to help

us in more ways than one there that keeps people together fine next is do you think people at times raise questions that do groups have advantages of course and what are the advantages and disadvantages people in a group if you work in a group you will find ah that

you have more information ah not every person is capable to have all the tricks in the world no one has the time to read all the books and read all the literature pertaining to a particular product or thought processes of a particular product hence when you are

in a group the group actually has got more information and and you know it is one man may have one idea but in order that this idea can have further developments you actually require some other member in order suppose there is

a problem and you are trying to reach a solution so when there are so many people in the group all of them will have ah and they have the capability ah to think of the problem in their own way and all of them come ah with their own viewpoints and with their own views moreover

ah these people i mean the members of the group they have a sort of diverse views sometimes you are working in a situation at times it so happens that there are some people who already have an experience of working on a similar product and that becomes more advantageous

so you have diversity of opinion from different corners of people who are actually your group members so the views are diverse and then when you reach a solution or when you want to accept the views you know no success of a group is possible unless and until you have

an acceptance of course at times you may feel that if somebody puts forth of you you are not likely to accept that but then there are other members also and they look at it from different angles they try to evaluate the pros and cons of the situation and you feel

ah that yes we can accept we can come to a sort of tongue senses moreover group has another advantage that is groups perform better as i said in the beginning if i have to do ah one thing i can do it only at one time but if i am in a group

i have only one mission but that mission can be finally be successful only when there are several people and all these people depending upon their capability depending upon their willingness all the members agree to perform so the performance in a group is always better

and moreover if you belong to a group it provides you with a sense of belonging at times you feel very proud ah to say that you belong to a particular ah group you belong to a particular organization you belong to a particular association you know after all all of us are human beings

and we need a sense of belonging so when you are in a group and as you go on ah being in that group you will find that you know more people you actually enlarge your own knowledge also you also come to know about so many things which you might have

heard but you might not have being able to understand so that is actually the benefit of being in a group and having the advantages of group communication but remember anything that has a merit also has a demerit as well you know every coin has got two sides of course

being in a group has got so many advantages but it is not divide of disadvantages as well there are several disadvantages also in every group you will find there are people who in some way or the other who have their rigid idea who have a set pattern and that is why

at times you find if the egos of people class it will appear that being in a group is only wasting time and at times it becomes very unproductive and frustrating moreover some people also suffer from certain delusions and those delusions are as we have

pointed it out while discussing communication that there are people who think that they are know it all meaning thereby they have a sort of ah false impression about themselves that they only know others do not know and in such a situation a group member may not

accept the views may not accept the views which have come to a sort of consensus at times we also find because sometimes you find in a group people some people even there are groups within groups so sometimes some people who by one way or

the other they feel more important and they have more followers in the group it is likely that some individual opinions may be ignored sometimes those individual opinions may have a lot of spark may have a lot of content but yet those individual views are often ignored

under the pressure of other people so individuals views may at times be ignored sometimes you come to a decision i mean the group think we call that group think sometimes you come sometimes the group comes to a decision and this group think may because you know it is

in a group at times it is only because of majority ah that sometimes things may not go right so if the group think or the group members ah come to a sort of acceptance maybe at times we can come across a poor decision also because

every group finally has to take a decision on a particular issue but then if the majority of members of the group support a certain cause and one individual who had his own personal views but then independent is ignored the group may come to a poor decision and do you

know that some of the group members even some of the individuals or some of the group members may at times have a sort of hidden agenda you know if people work with lot of trust and honesty and integrity there is no problem but at times it so happens that the hidden

agenda of some of the people or some individuals may affect the group interaction group ah say work of course group members as i have said earlier that they are diverse people from different backgrounds people from different cultures

people from different tastes so it is very difficult ah to coordinate and here comes the role of a messiah here comes the role of a person who can act who can actually try to bring the group to the right path if we have that of course we can tied over with

this situation otherwise we often feel that there is a lot of difficulty in coordinating with all these people having diverse views but then of course group since it is not only of one individual it is of different people coming for a common goal or purpose and the

group has to perform group has to come to a decision so what actually can help in a group what are actually the group dynamics what are the dynamics that should be followed and these dynamics cannot be followed by one person alone the first in this regard is cooperation

if all the group members decide that they will cooperate in order to reach a solution i think all the major impediments that are there all the major blocks that are there they will be cleared there may be at times roadblock but then what

is communication word for communication actually close that roadblock communication a clears that barrier which arises because of people having diversity of views and at times not agreeing then comes the question of loyalty if i am loyal to a group i feel proud are

to be a part of this system if i have this dedication if i have this feeling that i am loyal to the group so in order to maintain my own loyalty to the group however maybe at times i may have to make some small sacrifices but then as

a member if i think this is actually in the welfare of the group and if i have that sort of loyalty of course the group will go forward so one of the dynamics of our group is loyalty then is cohesiveness you know if there are you know there is a there is an old ah saying

that if there are so many utensils of course there are going to be noises likewise if there are so many people in a group naturally ah there are bound to be disagreements but if we decide that will remain together will be cohesive with each other and and this cohesive

ness can be created can ensue only out of a sort of cooperative attitude and the feeling that we have to remain committed towards our goal if we realize the necessity of being loyal if we realize the necessity of being committed if we understand the reality of

remaining cohesive nothing in the world can separate us and nothing in the world can stop us from taking decisions from coming to an agreement from coming to a consensus of course you will feel that there are different stages when you are going to formulate a group

my dear friend because group formation is very important and in order to formulate a group you know when you join as a new person in an organization or in a group you will find you are a now is you are a new person but then as you are in the organization you

will find after some time that some tasks are given and you are attached to a certain group so but then when you are in a certain group there are actually stages of group formation what are the stages of group formation as

an individual you can also feel that the very first stage when you do not know anyone know this is this is actually called the period of forming there are four ways you know forming storming norming performing and adjourning so the first stage is that of forming when

the group is formulated you are new you actually have to ah be introduced to other people in the group and and as time ah precedes as time flashes by you will find that slowly you try to develop yourself in the group by befriending people

by trying to understand people so the first stage is that of forming the formation period the formation period all the people are new and all these people they do not know much about each other so they try to have a sort of rapper of course creation of rapper will

ah take time the second stage is that of storming now what will happen in the first stage you are an individual an individual having so many ah qualities so many capabilities so many you know attributes in you and people try to understand you

so every individual feels that she has this quality or he is full of ah these you know capabilities in all but when the second stage when group members they actually start interacting and so when you interact there is a storm like situation because all these people have

their own ideas and all these people think that their ideas are great naturally there is some amount of puzzle where and this storming period is ah very beneficial because so many new things may come out people may decide me with each other there may be at time chances

of classes with each other but so many ideas will come out and after this period will be a norming period now this norming period at during this norming period people will realize after you know after the storm passes off there is peace

both before this storm and after the storm there is peace so this peace because when when there is this norming period people realize each other and they actually may know with their own ideas and they realize that since we have to work for a group we have to accept

the views and they try to find out you know what is important what is unimportant this a just a sort of filtering so during this period after having filtered a sort of normalcy is there and this normalcy will bring people closer in order that all

these people when they realize their goals when they realize the diversity of their views they decide that they have to perform so finally they decide that they will perform you know initially when you had a started forming the group you did not know ah that finally you

may come to perform but after having a lot of interaction with other people other members in the group and realizing their worth realizing the worth of their ideas and your ideas as well when there has been crap fertilization of ideas you have finally come to the stage

of performing and when you come to this stage with full gastro with full energy with full enthusiasm you are now going to perform and finally when you perform you find that you have performed very successfully so this success comes only

after all this stages now the last stage you know this this ah categorization of a group development had been given by a bruce tuckman a well known psychologist who finally after some years earlier there were only four stages who finally added that there can be one more

stage and that is of adjourning so suppose a task force has been made and this task force finally has completed its duty and this task force has completed its duty very successfully now is the time that this group has to be adjourned in certain

cases we find when there is a lot of controversy a lot of storming some people feel that they should not be a part of this group but then unless you know if you simply flee away from that group naturally you do not believe in group dynamics

so finally when the task has been completed successfully you decide or a stage comes where this group is finally adjourned this group is adjourned but at the same time adjourn in the hope that in future when another new task comes ah in the way of the organization

a new team a new group will have to be formulated now there are certain group roles which you also have to understand the group members have three sorts of roles first is a self oriented roles then we have maintenance roles than the task facilitating roles

in these stages we have found that there will be some people some members in the group who are more you know anxious about their self bested interests and such people only believe that their views have to be accepted and they try to control the entire group and if their

views are not accepted if their ideas are not taken well care of sometimes they also try to withdraw from the group so such a person of in a group is often the magic the next role of group members is maintenance roles all the group members should realize that

the group finally has to come to a consensus that is why they have to encourage each other and they have to have a sort of coherence or harmony and at times they may have to compromise with each other because their main target is to complete the task in a given amount

of time and then comes another role of group members that is task facilitating roles any member of the group or every member of the group should realize that somebody has to initiate somebody has to undertake somebody has to

start and then at times somebody you know if if you feel that you have more information you are most welcome to provide your information you may also seek information from other members and that will help keep the group in coordination and finally ah setting a procedure as to how

to move forward in order to realize your groups dear friends whatever you do in a group and when you come to a consensus in order to do something better not that you are having a sort of conflict but you have to come out of the conflict you will find if there is

a leader in the group of there emerges a leader in the group the leader actually sees ah that a sort of coordination is being made in the group and moreover a sort of consensus is there but remember we should always be prepared that there are times when you feel you know

when you feel that because of a lot of controversy a lot of quarrel lot of conflicts in the group at times in order to save the group though the leader will try his level best to save it from ah very untoward situation but then let us look at this observation ah

as a management guru peter drucker says when the ship goes down you dont call a meeting the captain gives an order or everybody drowns as all of us in a globalized world of today where we have to fulfill our tasks in a limited amount of time we should realize that we have

to belong to a group and once you are in a group please understand the ethical considerations of the group the ethical realities of the group and also as an individual realize your own responsibilities in order to make in order to help group come

to a possible solution of the problem because ultimately it is the group which has to take our decision i hope you will formulate better groups if you are in organization and you will try to belong to the group so that not because of you the group comes to a deadlock

but because of you the group comes to an amicable solution or situation i hope you will be realizing the importance of groups and in the next lecture we shall be talking about how it is the leader who comes in and between and makes the group realize their goals and also realize ah their

responsibility in order to come to a better solution thank you very much formulate better groups have a good day