Effective Group Communication

Running Head: EFFECTIVE GROUP COMMUNICATION REPORT

Effective Group Communication Report

People can look at working in a group two different ways; it can be either positive or negative. The people who look at it in a negative way may just have had a bad experience working within a team environment, poor communication skills, or just closed minded to other people’s ideas. In contrast, people who love to work in a team are usually team players, have an open mind, and like being around people. In the following paragraphs, Team A will discuss a scenario about power struggles and conflicts within a group setting and how effective group communication can resolve almost any issues that arise.

The Scenario

The problem involves the implementation of a new system in a hospital and the meetings that a team has been preparing for. The conflict comes in when the department heads from one area disagree with the other department heads on what the system should have versus what the system should not have. The situation usually becomes a power battle or heated discussion at the oval table and nothing gets resolved. These meetings have been taking place for some time and honestly out of the 20 or 30 issues raised at these meetings that only two or three usually end having a resolution whereas the others linger and get worse. The main issues usually involve tone, power struggle, not listening, no teamwork, "I'm right, you're wrong" attitude, "My entourage is bigger than yours,” etc. Personalities and communication issues conflict and fester with these meetings take place. Therefore, several issues need to be addressed. 1) How do we create a common ground when conflicts arise? 2) How is communication truly independent and constructive? In addition, there are several others. How do you deal with tone and tension as well as power and personality issues? These are the types of communication obstacles we will tackle in the following paragraphs.

The Obstacles

When dealing...