Document Text Contents
Page 1
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Preface
Knowing how to get along with others, resolve workplace conflict, manage relationships,
communicate well, and make good decisions are all critical emotional intelligence skills students
need to succeed in career and in life. Our Human Relations book will address all of the critical topics
to obtain career success. This book isn‘t an organizational behavior (OB) text, which is too theoretical
for many of our students‘ needs. While this book will focus on some of the theories you might find in
an OB book, the focus is a direct benefit to students in their current and future jobs.
This book also isn‘t a professional communications, business English, or professionalism book, as
the focus is much broader: it focuses on general career success and how to effectively maneuver in
the workplace.
The core concept in the book is emotional intelligence and how these skills carry over into career
success, such as through ethics, communication, diversity, teamwork, conflict, good decision making,
stress management, motivation, and leadership.
This book‘s easy-to-understand language and tone is written to convey practical information in an
engaging way. Plenty of examples are included in each chapter so students understand the concepts
and how the concepts can benefit their career. This book will meet the needs of a course in the
business department or will be offered to professional technical students in any number of career
fields, such as automotive, dental hygiene, culinary, or technology. In addition, this book would be a
great addition to any school offering human relations course for teacher certification.
This book could be used in the following courses:
Human relations
Psychology
Career-focused courses
Professionalism
Business communications
Teacher/education certification
Features
Each chapter opens with a realistic example that introduces a concept to be explained in detail later. Each
chapter contains relevant examples, YouTube videos, figures, learning objectives, key takeaways, Why
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Page 197
Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
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E X E R C I S E S
1. Think of the online groups you participate in. Forums may have hundreds or thousands of members, and
you may have hundreds of friends on MySpace or Facebook, but how many do you regularly communicate
with? Exclude the “all-to-one” messages, such as a general tweet to everyone (but no one person in
particular). Do you find that you gravitate toward the group norm of eight or fewer group members?
Discuss your answer with your classmates.
2. What are some of the primary groups in your life? How do they compare with the secondary groups in
your life? Write a two- to three-paragraph description of these groups and compare it with a classmate’s
description.
3. What group is most important to people? Create a survey with at least two questions, identify a target
sample size, and conduct your survey. Report how you completed the activity and your findings. Compare
the results with those of your classmates.
4. Are there times when it is better to work alone rather than in a group? Why or why not? Discuss your
opinion with a classmate.
Next
[1] Schutz, W. (1966). The interpersonal underworld. Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books.
[2] Harris, T., & Sherblom, J. (1999). Small Group and Team Communication. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
[3] McLean, S. (2003). The basics of speech communication. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
[4] Galanes, G., Adams, K., & Brilhart, J. (2000). Communication in groups: Applications and skills (4th ed.). Boston,
MA: McGraw-Hill.
7.2 Group Life Cycles and Member Roles
L E A R N I N G O B JE C T I V E S
1. Identify the typical stages in the life cycle of a group you have worked with.
2. Describe different types of group members and group member roles.
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Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
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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 influence 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.
Group Life Cycle Patterns
Your life cycle is characterized with several steps, and while it doesn‘t follow a prescribed path, there are
universal stages we can all recognize. You were born. You didn‘t choose your birth, your parents, your
language, or your culture, but you came to know them through communication. You came to know
yourself, learned skills, discovered talents, and met other people. You learned, worked, lived, and loved,
and as you aged, minor injuries took longer to heal. You competed in ever-increasing age groups in your
favorite sport, and while your time for each performance may have increased as you aged, your experience
allowed you to excel in other ways. Where you were once a novice, you have now learned something to
share. You lived to see some of your friends pass before you, and the moment will arrive when you too
must confront death.
In the same way, groups experience similar steps and stages and take on many of the characteristics we
associate with life.
[1]
They grow, overcome illness and dysfunction, and transform across time. No group,
just as no individual, lives forever.
Your first day on the job may be comparable to the first day you went to school. At home, you may have
learned some of the basics, like how to write with a pencil, but knowledge of that skill and its application
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Page 394
Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
394
Many personality characteristics can help someone be successful at work. They include many topics
discussed throughout this book, such as learning how to manage emotions, being ethical, and learning
how to deal with stress.
Other factors to career success might include the ability to set goals, make decisions, and deal with
conflict.
Knowing which of these things you are good at and which need work is an important part to making sure
you continually grow professionally and personally.
Getting a mentor, that is, someone who can guide you through your career is also a valuable tool for
making sure you experience career growth.
Continually learning is another way to grow in your career. Stay updated on new technologies and
discoveries in your field. This can happen through formal training courses or reading publications from
your industry.
C H A P T E R C A SE
Robert is a supervisor at a large bottling company. His job includes managing safety and breaks and setting
schedules for his twenty-five employees who use forklifts and other machinery to package and move filled
bottles on to trucks for delivery. Robert has career goals with the organization. First, he would like to become
the bottling manager, which is one step up from his current job. In five years, Robert would like to become the
director of operations who oversees the entire factory floor.
Robert is an excellent, well-liked manager by his employees, but when it comes to his supervisors, he is very
quiet. He never mentioned the fact that his shift had one hundred accident-free days in a row or that
productivity had increased 10 percent since he took over the shift. Robert is also a bit shy, so he avoids any
kind of social interaction such as the holiday party.
While Robert wants to be promoted in the organization, he knows he lacks some of the skills needed to do the
job, such as the ability to put together budgets. Because of this, he has identified two courses he would like to
take to improve his financial skills.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Page 395
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Page 2
Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
2
Preface
Knowing how to get along with others, resolve workplace conflict, manage relationships,
communicate well, and make good decisions are all critical emotional intelligence skills students
need to succeed in career and in life. Our Human Relations book will address all of the critical topics
to obtain career success. This book isn‘t an organizational behavior (OB) text, which is too theoretical
for many of our students‘ needs. While this book will focus on some of the theories you might find in
an OB book, the focus is a direct benefit to students in their current and future jobs.
This book also isn‘t a professional communications, business English, or professionalism book, as
the focus is much broader: it focuses on general career success and how to effectively maneuver in
the workplace.
The core concept in the book is emotional intelligence and how these skills carry over into career
success, such as through ethics, communication, diversity, teamwork, conflict, good decision making,
stress management, motivation, and leadership.
This book‘s easy-to-understand language and tone is written to convey practical information in an
engaging way. Plenty of examples are included in each chapter so students understand the concepts
and how the concepts can benefit their career. This book will meet the needs of a course in the
business department or will be offered to professional technical students in any number of career
fields, such as automotive, dental hygiene, culinary, or technology. In addition, this book would be a
great addition to any school offering human relations course for teacher certification.
This book could be used in the following courses:
Human relations
Psychology
Career-focused courses
Professionalism
Business communications
Teacher/education certification
Features
Each chapter opens with a realistic example that introduces a concept to be explained in detail later. Each
chapter contains relevant examples, YouTube videos, figures, learning objectives, key takeaways, Why
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Page 197
Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
197
E X E R C I S E S
1. Think of the online groups you participate in. Forums may have hundreds or thousands of members, and
you may have hundreds of friends on MySpace or Facebook, but how many do you regularly communicate
with? Exclude the “all-to-one” messages, such as a general tweet to everyone (but no one person in
particular). Do you find that you gravitate toward the group norm of eight or fewer group members?
Discuss your answer with your classmates.
2. What are some of the primary groups in your life? How do they compare with the secondary groups in
your life? Write a two- to three-paragraph description of these groups and compare it with a classmate’s
description.
3. What group is most important to people? Create a survey with at least two questions, identify a target
sample size, and conduct your survey. Report how you completed the activity and your findings. Compare
the results with those of your classmates.
4. Are there times when it is better to work alone rather than in a group? Why or why not? Discuss your
opinion with a classmate.
Next
[1] Schutz, W. (1966). The interpersonal underworld. Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books.
[2] Harris, T., & Sherblom, J. (1999). Small Group and Team Communication. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
[3] McLean, S. (2003). The basics of speech communication. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
[4] Galanes, G., Adams, K., & Brilhart, J. (2000). Communication in groups: Applications and skills (4th ed.). Boston,
MA: McGraw-Hill.
7.2 Group Life Cycles and Member Roles
L E A R N I N G O B JE C T I V E S
1. Identify the typical stages in the life cycle of a group you have worked with.
2. Describe different types of group members and group member roles.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Page 198
Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
198
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 influence 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.
Group Life Cycle Patterns
Your life cycle is characterized with several steps, and while it doesn‘t follow a prescribed path, there are
universal stages we can all recognize. You were born. You didn‘t choose your birth, your parents, your
language, or your culture, but you came to know them through communication. You came to know
yourself, learned skills, discovered talents, and met other people. You learned, worked, lived, and loved,
and as you aged, minor injuries took longer to heal. You competed in ever-increasing age groups in your
favorite sport, and while your time for each performance may have increased as you aged, your experience
allowed you to excel in other ways. Where you were once a novice, you have now learned something to
share. You lived to see some of your friends pass before you, and the moment will arrive when you too
must confront death.
In the same way, groups experience similar steps and stages and take on many of the characteristics we
associate with life.
[1]
They grow, overcome illness and dysfunction, and transform across time. No group,
just as no individual, lives forever.
Your first day on the job may be comparable to the first day you went to school. At home, you may have
learned some of the basics, like how to write with a pencil, but knowledge of that skill and its application
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Page 394
Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
394
Many personality characteristics can help someone be successful at work. They include many topics
discussed throughout this book, such as learning how to manage emotions, being ethical, and learning
how to deal with stress.
Other factors to career success might include the ability to set goals, make decisions, and deal with
conflict.
Knowing which of these things you are good at and which need work is an important part to making sure
you continually grow professionally and personally.
Getting a mentor, that is, someone who can guide you through your career is also a valuable tool for
making sure you experience career growth.
Continually learning is another way to grow in your career. Stay updated on new technologies and
discoveries in your field. This can happen through formal training courses or reading publications from
your industry.
C H A P T E R C A SE
Robert is a supervisor at a large bottling company. His job includes managing safety and breaks and setting
schedules for his twenty-five employees who use forklifts and other machinery to package and move filled
bottles on to trucks for delivery. Robert has career goals with the organization. First, he would like to become
the bottling manager, which is one step up from his current job. In five years, Robert would like to become the
director of operations who oversees the entire factory floor.
Robert is an excellent, well-liked manager by his employees, but when it comes to his supervisors, he is very
quiet. He never mentioned the fact that his shift had one hundred accident-free days in a row or that
productivity had increased 10 percent since he took over the shift. Robert is also a bit shy, so he avoids any
kind of social interaction such as the holiday party.
While Robert wants to be promoted in the organization, he knows he lacks some of the skills needed to do the
job, such as the ability to put together budgets. Because of this, he has identified two courses he would like to
take to improve his financial skills.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Page 395
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
