Module 1: Leading Groups and Teams

Most communication texts cover "how" to write and present. This second edition of Leading Groups and Teams goes beyond the "how" and takes you into the "why" of communication in a business setting, teaching you to apply an understanding of that "why" in the case format. This module addresses two of the most important functions a manager performs: putting together effective teams and creating conditions for the team's success. This text describes the major theories of group formation and group functioning and explains how to create, lead, and manage teams. A unique team communication model describes strengths and weaknesses in group and team organization, as well as the resources and strategies needed to achieve group success. This text reviews the latest research on small group and team interaction and offers practical advice on managing projects, handling intrateam conflict, and improving results. It contains group and team worksheets, progress reports, sample reporting instruments, as well as classroom discussion questions and case studies.

Table of Contents:
1. Communication in Groups and Teams. 2. Team Communication Performance Strategies. 3. Strategies for Managing Team Conflict. Case Studies. Appendix A: Team Communication Resources. Appendix B: Selected Bibliography.

About the Author :
James S. O'Rourke teaches management and corporate communication at the University of Notre Dame, where he is Founding Director of the Eugene D. Fanning Center for Business Communication and Concurrent Professor of Management. In a career spanning four decades, he has earned an international reputation in business and corporate communication. BUSINESS WEEK magazine has twice named him one of the "outstanding faculty" in Notre Dame's Mendoza College of business. His publications include MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION: A CASE-ANALYSIS APPROACH from Prentice-Hall, now in second edition, and BUSINESS COMMUNICATION: A FRAMEWORK FOR SUCCESS from Thomson Learning. O'Rourke is also senior editor of an eight-book series on Managerial Communication and is principal author or directing editor of more than 100 management and corporate communication case studies. O'Rourke is a graduate of Notre Dame with advanced degrees from Temple University, the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in Communication from the S. I. Newhouse School of Syracuse University. He has held faculty appointments at the United States Air Force Academy, the Defense Information School, the United States Air War College, and the Communications Institute of Ireland. He was a Gannett Foundation Teaching Fellow at Indiana University in the 1980s, and a graduate student in language and history at Christ's College, Cambridge University, in England during the 1970s. O'Rourke is a member and trustee of The Arthur W. Page Society, a member of the Reputation Institute, and the Management Communication Association. He is also a regular consultant to Fortune 500 and mid-size businesses throughout North America. Bonnie Thames Yarbrough currently teaches Management Communications and Advanced Topics in Communications for the MBA program in the Joseph M. Bryan School of Business and Economics as well as Academic and Professional Communication for the Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Other courses include Business Communications and Diversity in the Workplace in the Department of Business Administration. She has extensive experience in program development, curriculum design, training workshops, negotiation, grant writing, leadership, and consulting throughout her professional and academic career. As Communication Specialist for the Program for Management Development at UNC Greensboro, she trains managers and executives in communication, negotiation, and diversity skills and often works with business and civic organizations.