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Small Groups Communication and the Conflicts that Can Arise NOTE: These examples were taken from an organization I worked at. The names have been changed. People in organizations must have the ability to work in a team environment, such as workplace, community, charity, church, and academic study groups. Small groups are formed to communicate, face-to-face, in order to fulfill a common purpose and achieve a group goal. Over 90 percent of the Fortune 500 companies use decision-making groups in their daily operations. Whatever type of group one is involved in, members interact with each other to gain positive results. Team members must enhance their listening skills to learn, grow, and feel our thoughts expanding and get insights when interacting in group situations. Many individual ideas grow by brainstorming with others and small groups of people relate to one another in ways that make them interdependent to some significant degree. Although working together interdependently is effective, conflicts do arise. Conflict is frequently characterized as a controversy between interrelated individuals who intervene with one another in reaching their objectives. When there is a breakdown in communication, conflicts will arise; however, there are effective ways to resolve them. Improved communication is the key to keeping work teams on course. Because of the rapid change in corporate society of today, this remains true more than ever before. One conflict in work teams is not being able to adapt to changing situations. Change of time, as well as place for meeting places, are facts of life. When team members don’t make themselves available, don’t pay attention, and don’t inform each other on time, these issues can cause problems. For instance, Mark, the marketing manager, was promoting a new product and set a meeting for Tuesday, January 15, at one o’clock. Ten executives were invited two weeks prior to this meeting.
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