MEMORANDUM

TO: New Manager

FROM: Promoted Manager

DATE: May 14, 2012

RE: Group Formation and Communication

Welcome New Manager! As you acclimate yourself to your new responsibilities in introducing new employees to their teammates, I felt it would be helpful to provide an outline of the basics on group development and how relationships form in groups. Included are barriers that can exist in group communications and techniques to overcome these barriers. To begin, there are five basic stages that group formation goes through. They are as follows:

In the first stage, forming, members begin as individuals and phase to the next stage at the point when they begin to think of themselves as being part of a group. Forming will include members’ informally gathering information about other members and what type of behavior will make them fit in to the group. It is a time in which social ground rules are loosely laid and each member begins to figure out their social role within the group. Members in this stage are trying to determine what types of behaviors are acceptable.

The second stage, storming, is when the social role of each member is further defined and a working order to the group begins to form. Members accept the existence of the group but resist the constraints it imposes on individuality. There is typically resistance from some members at this point as they convey their individuality as important and attempt to keep that intact as they meld into the group formation. Furthermore, there is conflict over who will control the group. When this stage is complete, there will be a relatively clear chain of command of leadership within the group.

The third stage, norming, involves the formation of a solid group identity and structure. Group behavior is understood by all members and the group moves forward to meet its objectives. This stage is complete when group has assimilated a common set of expectations of what defines correct member behavior.

The fourth stage, performing, is where the activity to meet objectives begins. . The structure at this point is fully functional and accepted. Group has moved from getting to know and understand each other to performing the task at hand.
For groups that are temporary in nature, movement to the final stage begins at the end of the performance stage.

The fifth stage, adjourning, is where temporary groups prepare to adjourn, or break apart after completing the resolution of the objectives being met. Also, it characterized by concern with Wrapping up activities rather than task performance. Some group members are positive in the group’s accomplishments. Others may be depressed over the loss of friendships gained during the work. Permanent groups do not reach the fifth stage, but remain continuously in the performance stage.

By the third stage, norming, new employees will have a sense of expected company norms and culture simply from being introduced to and interacting with established employees. You will facilitate this process with new employees as they exchange feedback with each other as to their observations, thoughts, worries, as well as sharing what excites them about the company and what goals they have coming in. Keep in mind that norms such as dress code (appearance norms), with whom to eat lunch/take breaks (social arrangement norms), and subjects such as pay, computer/phone usage, and job assignments (resource allocation norms) are important topics to facilitate within your group.

Also, do not forget about the importance of group communication in this process because communication within the group is a fundamental method by which members show their satisfaction and frustrations. Communication acts to control member behavior in several ways. Organizations have formal guidelines that employees are required to follow. When employees are required to communicate any job-related complaint to their immediate boss, to follow their job description, or to comply with company policies, communication in these examples are performing a control function. But informal communication also controls behavior. When work groups tease or harass a member who produces too much (and makes the rest of the group look bad), they are informally communicating with, and controlling, the member’s behavior. Communication fosters motivation by clarifying to employees what they must do, how well they are doing, and how to improve performance. Communication provides the information individuals and groups need to make decisions. To perform effectively, you need to maintain some form of control over members, stimulate members to perform, allow emotional expression, and make decision choices.

As with individual communication, there can be several barriers to group communication that the new employees may face when working with their new teammates. I have listed a few and some suggestions on how they can overcome those barriers:

1. Lack of Communication from Group Members: One of the most common barriers I have witnessed in the past among groups of new employees is the reluctance to actually communicate. No one wants to be the first to speak, perhaps afraid to say the wrong thing or sound a certain way. I remember when I was introduced to my team members when I first came on board. I was so afraid to say anything. I didn’t want to be perceived by my team in a negative way by saying something that was so left field and most importantly I didn’t want them to know how nervous I really was. I also wanted to observe my other teammates to see who I could relate most to. The only bad thing was that everyone else was probably doing the same thing. So I would suggest that you make sure you have a short exercise that will help break the ice among the members. For instance, after everyone has introduced themselves, have them to write their name, favorite sports team, and movie or TV showdown on an index card. Then have them put it in a box and have each member, one at a time, pull a card out the box and read the information. Based on the reactions of the group or facial expressions or even first impressions, have the group try and guess who the card describes. This helps get the group lose and perhaps show some similarities among the members.
2. Physical Barriers: Since there will be group members that are placed in other departments or locations, it is important that the employees are able to communicate effectively face-to-face or virtually. Timing and technical problems can be a barrier when communicating via teleconference, web, or email. I think that there some training on our WebEx system is important for the new hires. We use this system heavily to introduce new policies and procedures and training modules. As we are transcending to the new Oracle system, we are using WebEx to host the training sessions with all of the controllers across the country. This system also has a recording feature which allows those who could not take the training session at the allotted time to take it at any time they would like to.
3. Ethics: Ethics is a barrier that can exist in group communications. For example, having an unethical group member would cause dissatisfaction between other group members that are ethical and find out about the unethical dilemmas in the group. A technique to overcome this barrier is to set out rules and processes to follow. That way no one will be tempted to overstep their boundaries into unethical behavior. Another technique to overcome this barrier would be to have background checks on file on all members of the group for past violations to see if they are capable of committing unethical choices. A final technique that will be discussed will be to have all group members attend an ethics class before the meetings. This would minimize the potential of unethical decisions on the group.
4. Tone: Tone can also be a strong barrier in group communication. Group members must be aware of how and in what tone they communicate with the other group members. Raising the tone of voice indicates a strong sense of feeling upset about an issue or feeling upset and angry towards other group members. Having a low tone is also a barrier that can affect group communication because a group member would seem uncaring towards the goals of the meeting. A good technique to overcome this barrier would be to provide the group members a relaxed meeting place where they can talk peacefully with each other. Another technique would be to have group members talk one at a time, this way conflicts would be minimized.
5. Education Levels: Another barrier in group communication is having members with different education levels. Evidence that this may be a barrier within a group is when one member uses words or phrases that other members may not understand or when an expected level of knowledge of a subject is not exhibited by a member. When this barrier is present, resentment among the group can arise.. Group members would start thinking that person thinks he is better than them and would create an atmosphere of uncooperative group members. A technique to overcome this is by putting the higher education members and higher experience members in charge. Another techniques is just to have members of the same level with the same backgrounds together that will allow more productive environments.
In closing, effective group communication is your key to the success of your mission as well as the overall mission of the company. Enhancing group communication can be aided by encouraging employees to come to you with concerns, suggestions, and ideas.
Also remember that rumors are a natural fact of organizational life, so respond to them calmly and respectfully and most importantly always provide information and explain them in clear understandable way.

Wish you great success in your new role.