Real Communication An Introduction

256 Part 3  Group and Organizational Communication

c Stay in contact. If a miscommunication occurs between members, be sure to

discuss it right away. Ambiguity and confusion will only encourage members

to become less connected with the group and more likely to engage in social

loafing.

Group Networks

Just as a group’s size and social relationships influence the complexity of commu-

nication within the group, so do networks. Networks are patterns of interaction

governing who speaks with whom in a group and about what. To understand

the nature of networks, you must first consider two main positions within them.

The first is centrality, or the degree to which an individual sends and receives

messages from others in the group. The most central person in the group receives

and sends the highest number of messages in a given time period. At the other

end of the spectrum is isolation—a position from which a group member sends

and receives fewer messages than other members.

A team leader or manager typically has the highest level of centrality in a for-

mal group, but centrality is not necessarily related to status or power. The CEO

of a company, for example, may be the end recipient of all information generated

by teams below her, but in fact only a limited number of individuals within the

organization are able to communicate directly with her. Her assistant, in fact,

may have a higher degree of centrality in the network, because she must interact

with so many people in the organization. As you might imagine, networks play

a powerful role in any group’s communication, whether the group is a family, a

sports team, a civic organization, or a large corporation.

In some groups, all members speak with all others regularly about a wide range

of topics. In others, perhaps only a few members are “allowed” to speak directly

with the group’s leader or longest-standing member about serious issues. In still

other groups, some members may work alongside one another without commu-

nicating at all. There are several types of networks, including chain networks, all-

channel networks, and wheel networks (see Figure 9.2) (Bavelous, 1950).

Chain Networks

In a chain network, information is passed from one member to the next in a

sequential pattern. Such networks can be practical for sharing written information:

an e-mail, forwarded from person to person along a chain, for example, allows

each person to read the original information from other prior recipients. But this

form of group communication can lead to frustration and miscommunication

Wheel

B

E

C

A D

AC

B

B

CDEED

A

Chain All-Channel

FIGURE 9.2
GROUP
COMMUNICATION
NETWORKS
Source: Adapted with permis-
sion from Scott (1981, p. 8).

What group are you

spending most of your time

in these days? What type

of communication network

exists in the group? Is that

network helping the group

achieve its goals? If not,

what changes might the

group make to operate more

effectively?

AND YOU?