Introduction

Abstract

Think of your best and worst groups. Similar to many people, your memories of these groups hinge on the relationships you developed in those groups. Relationships with other group members have the capacity to cast our recollections in both positive and negative ways. For this reason, I have been arguing that group scholars, regardless of discipline, need to focus on relational issues in groups to the extent that they focus on group tasks (Keyton, 1999). Beyond the camaraderie of a friendship circle and the conflicting interactions of family members, group relational issues, positive and negative, extend to groups in all contexts-work teams, counseling or therapy groups, sports teams, and performance groups. In articulating these concerns with my more task-oriented group colleagues, I often make reference to Hackman's (1990) collection of case studies. From these analyses, he declared that one dimension of group effectiveness is the "degree to which the process of carrying out the work enhances the capability of members to work together interdependently in the future" (p. 6). Group member relationship development and maintenance are the primary processes that enhance or detract from how group work is carried out. Simply, groups in all contexts engage in some type of communication, interaction, or behavior from which emerge some degree and quality of group member relationships.Elsewhere I have argued that relational communication, the "verbal and nonverbal messages that create the social fabric of the group" (Keyton, 1999, p. 192), plays an essential role in groups. These verbal and nonverbal messages promote or inhibit relation-387

Team Member’s Centrality, Cohesion, Conflict, and Performance in Multi-University Geographically Distributed Project Teams

“…With its emphasis on “relational dependencies and/or interdependencies” within and across group boundaries over time (Keyton, 2000, p. 388), this study includes a dual focus on individuals’ perceptions of team processes and communication by examining the influence of centrality, cohesion, and conflict, on team member performance in distributed teams over a 14-month period, exploring temporal aspects for research development (Arrow, Poole, Henry, Wheelan, & Moreland, 2004). Working in project teams over time seems to offer a substantial benefit in developing one’s network as Strubler and York (2007) found that team members had significantly more contacts that span interdepartmental boundaries than nonteam members.…”

We’re All in This (Game) Together

“…This tradition has a tendency to look at the individual as the unit of analysis. Second, group scholars have a tendency to focus on instrumental and task-oriented communication, seeing relational and socioemotional communication as secondary processes (Keyton, 2000; Rice & Love, 1987). And because the recreational nature of video games makes relational and socioemotional communication the dominant forms of communication during game play, group researchers tend to show little interest in the subject.…”