The Downside of Communication: Complaining Circles in Group Discussions

The downside of communication: Complaining cycles in group discussions. In S. Schuman (Ed.), The handbook for working with difficult groups: How they are difficult, why they are difficult, what you can do (pp. 33-54). " It is my belief we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain. "-Lily Tomlin Recent research has shown that group mood affects group members' behavior and impacts on social interaction (for an overview, see Kelly & Spoor, 2006). We analyze group interaction on the basis of group discussions (verbal behavior) by means of Advanced Interaction Analysis (Kauffeld, 2006a, b; Kauffeld & Lehmann-Willenbrock, subm.). We have gained some insights concerning positive verbal behavior (e.g., solution-oriented statements) as well as negative verbal behavior (e.g., complaining). In addition, we have found evidence that group mood develops through interaction. More specifically, we identified patterns of complaining behavior. Results by Kauffeld (2006b) demonstrate that negative interaction such as complaining has a negative impact on both team-level outcomes (e.g., satisfaction with the discussion) and organizational-level outcomes (e.g., productivity). Furthermore, our results hint at intervention opportunities for negative communicative behavior such as complaining. This chapter focuses on the detrimental effects of complaining circles as an indicator of negative group mood. A summary of theories and scientific evidence of group mood sets the course for a discussion of our research results concerning negative group mood, which we conceptualize as dysfunctional interaction. Implications of our findings and intervention opportunities, both in the context of group interaction and human resource development are deducted. 2 How the group is difficult: 1. Inefficient group discussions Organizations have increasingly implemented teams or workgroups as a structuring principle over the last decades with the intention of taking advantage of the performance potential inherent in teams 2005). Teams can enable an efficient exchange and an optimal combination of a wide spectrum of individual resources (Brodbeck, Anderson, & West, 2000). While the general notion is that teams improve organizational performance (e.g., Wheelan, 1999), not all teams achieve the performance expected of them (e.g., Sims, Salas, & Burke, 2005). Why do some teams develop and implement innovative ideas, while others fail to peruse the autonomy that is given to them by the organization? There is a consensus among several models of team performance (e. that interaction between team members is crucial for high team performance. In practice, regular team meetings and group discussions have been implemented as a standard …