Business Communications
COM/285
August 02, 2010
Learning Team Charter Analysis - Team A There are several key elements involved with establishing and maintaining effective communications in a group environment. Understanding the dynamics of group communication is essential at the outset of any project or endeavor that requires input from multiple team members. A great deal of thought should also be put into the process and ground rules for dispute resolution. As with any solid plan, the effective application of fundamental communications strategies coupled with leveraging available technologies will go a long way toward ensuring project success. Group communication is the communication that takes place while an ensemble of people, working together towards a goal; focus on the informational, procedural, and interpersonal dimensions of achieving that goal. A group may communicate differently throughout the three individual stages; formation, coordination, and formalization, of their task. Effective group communication is the key to a group’s ability to optimally plan, organize, and conquer their goal or task. The dynamics of group communication differ considerably from that of the communication that takes place throughout individual communication. Group communication involves dialogue, verbal or written, that is coming from, and intended for, more than two people, while individual communication is the dialogue which takes place between two people. Communicating effectively involves understanding your audience. In a group, this can pose as more of a challenge than with individual communication as there are likely different levels of understandings, thoughts, and communication styles amongst a group. When communicating in a group there is more opportunity for persons’ thoughts to go unsaid or unheard, while most individual conversations are reciprocal. In a group, it may be more difficult for some
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