Group Communication Theory

This resource will help you group your audience based on their common characteristics. It also introduces a group's roles, status, power, and hierarchy. The purposes of different groups in the workplace are explored.

Group Life Cycles and Member Roles

Learning Objectives

  1. Identify the typical stages in the life cycle of a group.
  2. Describe different types of group members and group member roles.

Groups are dynamic systems, in constant change. Groups grow together and eventually come apart. People join groups and others leave. This dynamic changes and transforms the very nature of the group. Group socialization involves how the group members interact with one another and form relationships. Just as you were once born, and changed your family, they changed you. You came to know a language and culture, a value system and set of beliefs that influences you to this day. You came to be socialized, to experience the process of learning to associate, communicate, or interact within a group. A group you belong to this year - perhaps a soccer team or the cast of a play - may not be part of your life next year. And those who are in leadership positions may ascend or descend the leadership hierarchy as the needs of the group, and other circumstances, change over time.