Understanding the Synergistic Effects of Communication in Small Groups

Abstract

This article provides a review of the literature on the relationship between small group process and what Steiner and Collins & Guetzkow have termed, respectively, process loss and the assembly effect bonus. These models make contradictory predictions about the influence of communication variables on group decision-making performance. The extant research on group decision making has supported the validity of both models. The amount of ambiguity present in the decision-making situation is posited as a factor giving rise to instances of process gain and loss. Ambiguity is incorporated into a revised version of the path-goal model of group performance. The model outlines the types of influences that group interaction may have in a group's arriving at a process gain or loss.