COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Chilimba S Hamavhwa, Psychotherapist.

Manager, Support Services

ChainamaHillsCollegeHospital and

Head, Centre for Continuing Education

ChainamaCollege of Health Sciences

Cell 0976084184/ 0966758193

Email: Chilimbahamavhwa@gmail.com

March 2010 Lusaka

OBJECTIVE

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

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 1. Define the term communication.
2. Define the communication cycle.
3. Describe each of the parts of the communication cycle.
4. Explain and give examples of verbal communication.
5. Distinguish between facts and opinion.
6. Explain and give examples of non-verbal communication.
7. Identify the four core dimensions of communication; empathy, unconditional
positive regard, genuineness and immediacy.
8. Describe the skills of good communication.
9. Explain and give examples of how communication can break down: types of
static, two value thinking, singular perception, generalities, thinning, slanting.
10. Identify and discuss common communication filters

COMMUNICATION

What is communication?

What does the word communication mean?

- Communication is the imparting(passing on) of thoughts, opinions or information by
speech, writing or signs (bogue)
- Communication is the sharing between two or more persons of information, ideas,
beliefs, emotions or other messages, which they wish to exchange (schramm 1972).
- Communication is WHO says WHAT in WHICH CHANNEL to WHOM with
WHAT EFFECT.

Why do we communicate? What is the purpose of communication

Why do we communicate? We communicate in order to inform; that is to impart or

obtain information needed in routine performance of work or tasks. Therefore, we
communicate in order to:

1. Educate or train (to learn essential knowledge and skills.)

2. Persuade or convince (to get persons to adopt an innovation, to sell
something, to get persons to stop undesirable behaviour.)
3. To show approval or disapproval, reward or punish.
4. To express emotions.

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THE COMMUNICATION CYCLE.

Communication is a complex transaction of thought in which two groups of people

can take part. The art of talking and the art of hearing do not ensure communication:
Communication is cooperation between individuals. It takes the form of a cycle as
illustrated below.
Message/Chanel
Sender

Receiver

Feedback

The four components of the communication cycle.

The communication cycle has four basic components: sender, message, receiver, and
feedback. Each component is necessary to complete the cycle; if one unit is missing,
then there is no communication.

1.Sender
The sender begins the cycle when he or she wants someone to react, respond or
behave in some manner. A good sender is specific, considerate, and discriminating.

2.Message.
The message is the vehicle for the sender’s thoughts. This vehicle may be spoken or
written word, body gesture, or facial expression. In other words, the message can be
verbal or non-verbal.

3. Receiver
Receiving is the most frequent communication activity on any working day.
Receivers-the recipient of the sender’s message-can be divided into two types,
passive and active listeners. Passive listener absorbs some of the information
directed to them but never receive others. Active listeners develop good habits of
concentration, evaluation and mental participation and thus succeed in absorbing
most of the intended message.

A.Concentration: The average listener can comprehend at the rate of 300-400

words/minute, whereas the sender can only speak at the rate of 125-150
words/minute. With this difference, it is easy for the mind to begin to wonder to last
night’s date or next weekend’s trip in a business situation. However, all your attention
is required in order that no important part of the message is missed.

For example, an airline ticket agent cannot chance missing in a single detail when a
traveller asks for two economy class round trip ticket on January 11 to the UK, with a
one day stopover in Kenya on the return trip on January 27.Abank teller must practice
active listening when a customer presents a ten thousand kwacha note and wants it
changed for one five thousands, one-one thousands, five two hundreds, one five
hundreds, five hundreds, twenty fifties and a hundred twenties.

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Successful people are good listeners, according to one professional lecturer. After
presenting a lecture to company sales people, he claims he can pick out the top ones
even without knowing their names, sales record, or backgrounds. Amazingly, his
choices are usually accurate. Merely by observation, he has found that the most
attentive listeners in the audience are generally the top performers in the sales force.

Evaluation: Learn to be a critical listener. Evaluate what is being said and the motive
behind this statement. Frequently, people turn to use inferences and opinions as
substitutes for facts-anything that can be supported by evidence. Learn to recognise
the differences between the fact, inference, and opinion.

Fact: “the thermometer registers 40degrees”. This statement is a fact because it can
be supported by evidence.
Inference:” This is one of the hottest days in the year”. This statement is an inference
because additional information is needed before it is recognised as a fact.
Opinion: “Today is hot”. This is a personal judgement about the weather.

Look at another example.

Fact:” The president is54 years old today.” This is a fact that can readily be
supported by proof. Remember, though, that what is fact today may not be a fact a
year from now.
Inference: “The president is the youngest political leader in the world.” This is an
inference: it needs evidence before it can be used as facts

An active listener learns not to accept every statement at face value. Develop the habit
of evaluating. Be aware also that people do not always say what they mean. By asking
“Why did the sender make that statement?” you can sometimes find real meaning
behind the words. The following dialogues illustrate this point.

1. A teenage boy comes home from school and tells his mother, “Mike is really
babied. His parents give him too much. He just got a brand new car for graduation”.
How might his mother interpret what he says? Is he telling her that Mike is babied? or
is he saying he is envious of Mike?
2. A colleague says to you “I have so much work to do that I don’t know if I can get it
all done. The boss wants me to do everything for him. He recently asked me to take
charge of the management of the national sales meeting next month. “Is your
colleague complaining or bragging?
3. One friend tells another “I had so much fun at the party. It’s too bad you weren’t
invited”. What is your friend really saying?
Be an evaluative listener. Teach yourself to listen not only for the words, but also
for the meanings and motives behind them.

Mental participation: A good listener takes notes, either mentally or physically. The
bank teller and ticket agent keep pads handy, for jotting down details. Note taking in a
social conversation would be considered rude, but in a business transaction, it shows
concern about getting the job done right and on time
When you listen to speakers, pick out the central themes and main points. Ask your
self the following questions:

 What is main idea of the speech?

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  Is the speaker sticking to the main idea?
 What are the major points of the speech?
 Do the major points directly relate to the main idea?
 When is the speaker using facts, Inferences and Opinions?
 Is the speaker covering the material too quickly or too slowly?
 Does the conclusion of the speech relate logically to the main point?
 Does the speaker accomplish the goals set in the beginning of the speech?

Do not sit passively. Absorb and analyse the speaker’s presentation and
persuasiveness.

4. FEEDBACK

Feedback is the response the receiver returns to the SENDER without it the cycle is
not complete. Without feedback, there is no communication.

Feedback comes in many forms .It can be either verbal or non-verbal: The speaker
can acknowledge the sender by words or by action. Television network use ratings for
feedback. Businesses use suggestion boxes, questionnaires, coupons and surveys for
feedback. In face-to-face communication, speakers rely on spontaneous reactions
of the receiver for feedback.

Feedback is the sender’s responsibility as well as the receiver’s. It is difficult to

determine what has gone wrong when a communication problem occurs, but the
blame should not always be on the receiver. When an employer complains that
employees do not follow the rules, the problem may not necessarily be in the
feedback. The rules may not have been stated or sufficiently stressed. When a
consumer sends letters to a manufacturer and receives no response, one cause could
be an incorrect address.

Feedback does not always take the form of an overt action. *******.

1.Someone in a group of teenagers suggests that they all go to swim. No one moves.
2.An employee makes a written request for a raise in salary. The company director
makes no reply. Feedback may not take the form the sender anticipates, but it
never the less completes the cycle.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION.

There are three types of communication, and these are verbal (speech), non-verbal
(signs, body language) and writing (What about music, art).
Communication can be divided into the following categories:

?Tone
?Vocals
?Visuals

1. Verbal communication.
7% is verbal, e.g. the actual words we say, our content.

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38% is vocal,e.g. the tone of our voice, sounds.
A verbal message consists first of all of words. Words of course do not exist apart
from their meanings, words are just sounds. But words don’t always mean the same
things to all people.(e.g. rubber is an eraser in the UK,a condom in US and a plastic
carrier bag or container in some African countries. Can you lend me a rubber can
mean at least three different things depending upon sender and receiver.)
It’s too simple to assume that merely because you are a sender attach a certain
meaning to your words, the receiver will attach the same meaning to them-or will
even recognise them at all.

The words in turn must be put into patterns that show good organisation and sound
reasoning. There are many textbooks that show how to accomplish this area of written
communication; here, we will concentrate on spoken communication.-

The Five Cs: Concise, complete, Cohesive, Courteous and Clear-are terms that
describe all effective commnication. They are always evident in good business
correspondence and should carry over into spoken transactions.

THE FIVE CS OF VERBAL COMMUNICATION (for the sender)

You can eliminate many communication problems by applying the five-cs to your
message.

Concise. Keep to the business at hand. One supervisor complained that on many
occasions, subordinates and clients would drop by his office, chat a while, then, just
before leaving, state the real purpose of their visit. Socialising is an important human
activity, but should not take up the major portion of our business conversation. This is
not to say that you should just walk into your boss’ office and abruptly announce, “I
want a raise!” Some preliminary exchange is important, but keeps it from becoming a
time waster.

Complete. Give all, not part or half of the necessary information. The shoe store
owner who says “I want to order a dozen of those red shoes” raises many questions
for the shoe wholesaler, who needs to know style numbers, size and many other
details. The boss who hands a secretary a document and says merely,”Type this”
without giving instructions about the style, format and number of copies, will
probably not get his work back exactly as expected.
Cohesive. Don’t jump from one subject to another. Transition and thought
development are needed to keep the receiver’s attention. Perhaps you have witnessed
a conversation similar to the following.
Speaker: I want to order a dozen sheets of…Oh, before I forget; will you send me a
sample of that tape? And did you ever see your competitor’s new line of stationary?
It’s a quality product. Ideally, this sender is supposed to place the order first, and then
follow up with the questions. To make a message cohesive, use transitional words
such as ‘furthermore’,’otherwise’,’accordingly’,’instead’ and ‘besides’. Watch your
thought progression so that your receiver can follow your message.
Clear. Speak clearly. Clarity is perhaps the most important of the 5Cs.A clear
message is logical and understandable. A clear verbal message is one that is
enunciated carefully. Each word has a beginning and an end. Words are not run
together.

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When speaking, keep objects out of your mouth. That means hands, pencils, cigars,
Jewry, and so fourth. If you have ever taken dictation from someone who is smoking
a cigar or chewing gum, you can understand the importance of this advice.
One letter or digit mispronounced can be costly in time and money for the company.
Sometimes ‘fifteen’ can sound like ‘fifty’ or ‘B’ can sound like ‘D’or ‘V’. Imagine
the consequences of making dinner reservations for fifteen when the restaurant
manager understood you as saying fifty!
To improve your diction, practice with a tape recorder. The playback can be a
revelation. Listen to hear if you actually said what you thought you said.
Courteous: Be thoughtful and considerate in the way you phrase your message.
Notice the difference between these messages:
Who’s calling? May I tell Miss Phiri who’s calling?
What do you want? May I help you?
A little courtesy can smoothen the way for pleasant and business relationships.
Back scratching: One might say, ‘Scratch my back.’ ‘Not there, up!’ ’No, up on that
side!’ It is never clear which side. The conversation can be endless but all because it
lacks courtesy. It is ‘harsh.’

Other forms of communication

 Intrapersonal communication (self talk, premonition, thinking ideation –
thought process).
 Interpersonal communication (between two or more people, verbal or
nonverbal)
 Mass communication (involving multitudes: hundreds, thousands, millions,
using mass media: TV, Radio, internet, print media)
 Grape vine communication (gossip, rumours, information needing verification.
Common in institutions or administrations)
 Administrative communication (management form of communication
channels, memos, letters, and other procedure based on acceptable policies
and guidelines)
 Intercultural communication (form of communication responsive to particular
cultures and other complexities of a given culture or tradition. Also known as
inter racial communication)

The Ideal Communicator

About every person there is what he/she wishes to be and what he/she really is. The
best characteristics that one wishes to attain in life are the ideal self. We all wish to
have the best characteristics so that we are accepted by society. Ideally every person
would want to have only what is perceived as good character, but realistically only
few of the much desired characteristics are attained in one’s life. It can be argued
that, for Christians the most ideal person that ever lived is Jesus Christ. He attended
to all people according their needs. In other words, he was able to adapt to every
presenting situation. The implication of being the ideal communicator is that one has
to be as adaptable as possible.

A good communicator should have the following characteristics:

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  Genuineness,
 Empathetic,
 Understanding,
 Good listener,
 Confidentiality,
 Trustworthy,
 Approachable.

People look for good characteristics in a helper. Good communicators need to

develop good characteristics to be seen to be ideal communicators

Other factors that promote or hinder communication

 Education
 Culture
 Language
 Environment

Common communication filters and bad habits

Communication filters are those distortions of communication or conversation

particularly in interpersonal or face to face communication.

Filters
Filters tend to dwell in the mind. Sometimes they have gained control of us they have
become part of our way of life. They can come inform of:

 Memories - of past events including traumatic events, that interrupt with the
flow of thought process.
 Preoccupations – thinking about something else when someone is talking
 Defence mechanisms – particularly the tendency to justify oneself instead of
accepting what one is being told.

Bad habits
Bad habits are largely the communication behaviours that we do during conversations.
They spoil communication and resultant effect is ineffective communication or
miscommunication. The common bad behaviours include:

 Giving advice – The speaker tends to give personal opinions about solutions to
the problems
 Intellectualising – The listener always tries to find explanations
 Going off tangent – The listener hijacks conversations
 Interrupting - The speaker tends to shut up.

Exercise.
Identify and discuss your own bad habits in communication.

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Mechanisms of filters and bad habits
 May be part of personality profiling (self awareness – Johari Window)
or Sigmund Freud’s concepts of the mind
 Filters may be stored away in memory or past events
 Filters take time to resolve and my need therapy while bad habits can
be ‘un-learnt’ and resolved in time by the individual.

Johari window
ARENA BLIND SPOT
Known to self and others Hidden to self but known to others

FAÇADE UNCONSCIOUS
Known to self but hidden to others Hidden to both self and others

Freud’concepts of Layers of the mind

Conscious

Subconscious

Unconscious

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 Freud’s Id concept

Super Ego

Ego

Id

Communication skills

Attending skills
Attending skills are a group of communication skills that enables a communicator to
establish rapport with a client. Within these are reception skills such as greeting,
offering a sit, etc, It can be argued that responding skills are closely related to
attending skills, and that the process of attending and responding occur concurrently.
While the counselor attends to the client through hearing and listening, she or he
(s/he) looks for clues that will enable him or enter and reach out to the needs of the
client. Emphatically s/he responds by touching, nodding or by verbal replies or
acknowledgements to the client's inner cries. A therapeutic relationship is then built
(Egan, 1990).

Thus both attending and responding skills can be enhanced by the practice of the
following behaviours in the acronym ROLES or sometimes known as SOLER
(Burnard, 1992):

R: Relax (maintains a calm position or poise)

O: Open posture (maintain an open sitting position with square shoulders). This
shows confidence;

L: Lean slightly towards the client. (It shows you are interested in the client’s
concerns);

M: Maintain reasonable eye contact. (Look but do not stare);

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S: Sit squarely in relation to the client;

These body postures during the communication process lead to effective

communication. The model is intended to make things easy for the communicator

Active Listening

The Active Listening skill involves paying attention to the psychological detail such
as verbal and non-verbal communication.

Perhaps the most important skill within attending skills in counseling is listening.
Most authors agree that this is the case, (Rogers and Stephens, 1967; Hartley and
Branthwaite, 1989; Egan, 1990; Burnard, 1992). However, listening can be passive or
active. Active listening involves hearing what is said as well as picking the meaning
of various behaviours expressed verbally, i.e., words; non verbally, also known as
'body language' i.e., gestures, facial expression, body position and posture (Egan,
1990: Burnard, 1992) and by means other than just words.

Clients seem to benefit more from active listening than passive listening as the
following statement by one of the clients experiencing counseling seems to suggest:

The process was very straightforward as far as I could observe. I talked and talked
and he listened in as active way, which was very important for me. It seemed to
spill out, nothing chronologically, nothing in its place, just a gigantic story of
suffering and loss. My life - o as much as of it as I was prepared to share with him
at the time - was spread between us like some ragged patchwork quilt that was full
of holes and very thin in places. My driving force was that I needed to work, to
catch-up on all those twilight years and he was simply a tool to facilitate my
recovery. I felt a surge of hope for the first time. Looking back, I see it as being the
end of the abuse that had been heaped upon me in the guise of treatment and the
beginning of my finding my voice, and taking responsibility for my own life,
(Mearns and Dryden, 1990:30).

This account is one example of benefits of qualitative research. It was given by a

client who had formally been a psychiatric institution for treatment of depression
where she received several treatments including electro convulsive therapy (ECT)
which allegedly, did not help her. In this statement above, she states her experiences
of a successful counseling therapy and contrasts this the treatment in a psychiatric
hospital. From her statement it would appear that she attributes the healing process to
a number of factors including freedom to express her inner feelings and good
attending skills in form of active listening practiced by the counselor.

Rowan (1983), makes contrasts between ordinary listening and active listening, laying
emphasis on content and feelings of the client in a counseling relationship. He
includes issues of sexuality and spirituality of the clients. At the sexual level, it is
said that the client could "virtually fall in love with the therapist and exercise this as
falling in love with a parental figure, hence feelings about incest and castration can
arise, which can go back to the family situation at about five years old". At a spiritual
level it is noted that clients can drif5t on spiritual can drift on a spiritual path without
themselves being aware (Rowan, 1983:32).

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Therefore, active listening, as it is so called (Egan, 1982) can enable counselors to
observe further clues that could otherwise be hidden. However, and as Burnard (1992)
Observes, attempts to make assumptions of what the client exhibits should be resisted
in order to avoid making wrong assumptions, as people will use body language for a
number of reasons based on their own perceptions and preferences. Thus listening is
contrasted from hearing. Hearing is the perception of sound while listening is the
perception of content of sound enhance by the process of attending, hearing,
understanding and remembering.

Empathy

Is one of the group of skills that enable the communicator to organise information
from the interaction and provide appropriate feedback to a client Empathy can be
defined as the ability to enter into a client’s world of experiencing, without being
perturbed but at home therein: understanding, analysing, interpreting and giving
feedback

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is the art of repeating or restating what the client says in the
communicator’s own words. It involves clarifying content and understanding
meaning.

Reflecting feelings

Reflecting feelings is also known as picking feelings. It means the ability to `move`
with the client to appreciate what the client is going through. It is important to use
accurate empathy to pick and reflect feelings accurately.

Probing

The purpose of probes is to help clients explore issues more fully. Prompts and
probes are verbal tactics for helping clients talk about themselves and define their
concerns. The three most common forms of prompts and probes are: statements,
interjections, and questions.

Probing statements make some demand on the client either to talk or to become
specific. They are indirect requests of clients to elaborate on their experiences,
behaviours, or feelings.

Probing interjections can be a word or phrase that helps focus the clients' attention on
the discussion. Interjections can also be nonverbal.

Questions are an important part of the communicator's interaction with clients.

However questions should not be used as a means of interview. When clients are
asked too many questions they feel grilled or interrogated and this is not helpful for
the interpersonal communication relationship. Ask questions that have substance to
them, questions that help clients gain insight and understanding. Ask open-ended
questions that help clients talk about specific experiences, behaviours and feelings.

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Questions should keep the focus on clients and their interests, not on the theories of
the communicator.

Challenging skill

Challenge is an invitation to examine internal and external behaviour that seems to be

self-defeating, harmful to others, or both, and to change that behaviour. The goals of
challenging are: to help clients develop new perspectives, and to help clients link new
perspectives to action.

Gerald Egan proposes the following common areas that needs to be challenged:

• Failure to own problems

• Failure to define problems in solvable terms
• Faulty interpretations of critical experiences, behaviours, and feelings
• Evasions, distortions, and game playing
• Failure to identify or understand the consequences of behaviour
• Hesitancy or unwillingness to act on new perspectives

Some communicators are quite reluctant to help clients challenge themselves. This is
understandable since challenge can precipitate some degree of disorganisation in the
client. It is necessary to examine one's own values and personal feelings with respect
to inviting others to challenge themselves and therefore opening yourself up to
challenge.

The above stages and steps in the communication process all point to the base:
ACTION that leads to valued outcomes. Egan calls client action as "the heart of the
helping process". The objective of communication in clinical settings is to help
clients act on issues and new perspectives discovered to enhance change and growth.
Clients should be encouraged to take ownership of problems and responsibility for
action.

And finally, at the centre of each stage Egan's helping model is placed an "E" which
stands for evaluation. In communication, it is important to evaluate the process on an
ongoing basis, i.e. during each session as well as throughout the communication
contract. Both the client and communicator need to appraise themselves on how well
communication is proceeding, and how the client is managing his/her problem
situation and developing opportunities for change and growth.

Assertiveness

Assertiveness is the ability to express yourself and your rights without hurting or
violating the rights of others. It is appropriately direct, open, and honest
communication, which is self-enhancing and expressive. Acting assertively will allow
you to feel self-confident and will generally gain you the respect of your peers and
friends. It can increase your chances for honest relationship and help you feel better
about yourself and your self-control in everyday situations. This in turn will improve
your decision-making ability and possibly your chances of what you really want from
life.

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Therefore ‘‘assertiveness’’ basically means the ability to express your thoughts
and feelings in any way that clearly states your needs and keeps the lines of
communication with others.It does not mean being rude or impolite.

Rights of an individual

However, before you can comfortably express your needs, you must believe you
have a legitimate right to have those needs in mind that you have the following
rights;

 The right to decide how to lead your life. This includes ways of meeting your
own goals and dreams and making your own priorities.
 The right to your own values, beliefs, opinions and emotions and the right to
respect yourself for them no matter the opinion of others.
 The right not to explain your actions or feelings to others
 The right to tell others how you wish to be treated.
 The right to express yourself and say ‘‘NO’’ I don’t know, I don’t want or I
don’t understand. You have the right to take time you need to formulate your
ideas before expressing them.
 The right to ask for information or keep without having negative feelings
about your needs.
 The rights to like yourself even though you are not perfect and to sometimes
do less than you are capable of doing.

Types of assertive behaviours

S/N NON-ASSERTIVE ASSERTIVE AGGRESSIVE

BEHAVIOUR. BEHAVIOUR. BEHAVIOUR.
1 Self denying. Self enhancing Self enhancing at expense
of others.
2 Inhibited. Expressive. Over expressive
3 Does not achieve desired Achieve desired goals. Achieve desired goals at
goals. expense of others.
4 Other choose. Chooses for self Chooses for others
5 Uncertain, anxious and Confident and feels good Depreciates others.
depreciates self about self.

Assertiveness Techniques

1. Be specific and clear as possible about what you think and feel. You can use
the following statements:-

 ‘‘I want to……………………….’’

 ‘‘I don’t want you to take advantage of me, would you………………..?
 ‘‘I liked it when you did that.’’
 ‘‘I have a different opinion, I think that…………………..’’

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  ‘‘I don’t want to break this relationship but I’d like to talk it through and
see if we can prevent it from happening again.’’
 ‘‘I have mixed reaction, I agree with these aspects for those reasons.

2. Own your message.

Acknowledge that your message comes from your frame of reference, your
conception of good or bad, or right from wrong about your perceptions.
You can acknowledge ownership with personalized (‘‘I’’) statements such as
‘‘I don’t agree with you’’ (as compared to ‘‘you are wrong’’). Suggesting
that someone is wrong or bad should change for his or her own benefit,
when in fact, it pleases you.

3. Ask for feedback

‘‘Am I being clear?’’

‘‘How do you see this situation?’’
‘‘What do you want to do?’’

Asking for feedback can encourage others to correct any misperceptions you have as
well as help others realize that you are expressing an opinion, feeling or rather than a
demand. Encourage other to be clear and specific in their feedback to you.

Activity

 Demonstrate assertiveness in an activity for two people, where one person

negotiates sex while the other resists the temptation.
 This activity can be performed while the actors walk about negotiating sex or
while seated.

This activity should be done in class or plenary for every one to see and pass
comments.
The rest of the participants should note their observations to be discussed later
The role play can continue for at least 5 minutes.
In plenary, let the participants discuss their observations and suggest ways of
improving assertiveness in negotiating sex. This discussion should last 15 minutes
In conclusion, make a summary of the key issues.

Group dynamics as relates to communication

Group dynamics refer to the energies, wits and initiative exerted by individuals
whenever people come together. These energies often determine the direction of the
group process. Group dynamics can enhance or hinder group process or cohesion.

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Group process

When people get together (form up) a number of psychoemotional events take place.
Communicators and trainers alike should be able to understand these processes or
events whenever they occur during communication or training sessions. The events
occur at various levels or stages. Below are some of the commonly occurring events
during group processes:

Stage one - Forming:

When people come together for the first time the following characteristics are seen:

 Making friends
 Companionship
 Learning names, ideas (they come to talk)

Stage two - Norming:

Once people get to know each other they tend to define their scope of functioning
characterised by:

 Setting up rules (group norms)

 Setting standards

Stage three - Storming:

At this stage groups tend to utilise all their energies to determine their own cause and
develop helpful strategies for a common cause. The group members are free to
express themselves and brainstorm: They express or exhibit:

 Different opinions
 Different reactions and
 Feelings

Brainstorming is quite healthy in a group but should be observed to avoid ugly scenes.
Conflicts may appear as people present different opinions

Stage four - Deforming:

This is a break up stage, which usually happens when people come to the end of their
relationships. The characteristics at this stage include the following:

 Ending or closing the communication relationship

 Winding up meetings/workshops

Possible consequences or outcomes of group process

Group cohesion can bring about desirable or undesirable consequences.

Forming stage:
At this stage people express feelings and reactions related to the newness of the
situation in which they find themselves. Therefore members may be:

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  Insecure, tense, afraid
 Shy/timid
 Suspicious

Norming stage:
There are consequences arising from the need to conform to the set rules or standards.
The following may be the consequences:

 Independence
 Security
 Co-operation
 Stabilization

Storming stage:
Sometimes the group process may be stormy to a point of disruption. Therefore, it is
the duty of trainer or communicator to monitor the process. The group members may
express:
 Conflict/debate
 Anger
 Confusion
 Sadness and anxiety
 Satisfaction and worthwhile

Deforming stage:
By the end of the group process group members would have formed strong alliances
with others that may be difficult to break. This process may lead to:

 Uneasiness
 Insecurity
 Depression

Characteristics of a Group
 Groups have a common purpose that dictates size, structure, goals, tasks, roles
process, and life span.
 Groups have to deal simultaneously with the tasks that grow out of keeping
themselves going and those that lead to realization of their purpose.
 There is interaction among group members
 Members have different positions and status within the group
 Each member has an assigned role that is essential to maintaining the balance of
the group; the group will exert force to restrain members in designated roles in
order to protect that balance.
 Each group develops its own values and norms
 Each group has both an inherent tendency to maintain the status quo and an
inherent tendency to grow and develop

Reference:

1. Burnard, P. (1992). Counselling handbook. Page, London

2. Egan, G, (1990). Person centred counselling. Kegan London

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3. Hamavhwa, C.S, (2006). Psychosocial counselling for beginners. Acrodile,
Nairobi
4. Mearns and Dryden, (1990). Counselling in action. Kegan, London
5. Rowan, W, (1983). The effective counsellor. Litridge, London

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