When the nature of a task is such that it must be performed by a group rather than by a single individual, the problem of working relationships arises.
One of the more important of these relationships is that of Communication. Quite aside from a consideration of the effects of communication on what is generally called "Morale," it may be easily demonstrated that for entire classes of tasks any hope of success depends upon an effective flow of Information. >> communication morale flow information
On what principles may a pattern of communication be determined that will in fact be a fit one for effective and efficient human effort? Administrative thinking on this point commonly rests upon the assumption that optimum patterns of communications for a task-group may be derived from the specifications of the task to be performed. Students of organization, however, have pointed out repeatedly that working groups – even if one considers only communications relevant to the work being done – invariably tend to depart from formal statements of the pattern to be employed.
Fig. 1. Some illustrative communication patterns among five individuals.
One may take the view that this departure is due to the tendency of groups to adjust toward that class of communication patterns that will permit the easiest and most satisfying flow of ideas, information, decisions, etc. In groups that are free of outside direction and control, it is clear that the interaction patterns that emerge and stabilize are a product of social processes within the group. A group that exists as part of a larger organization, however, may have relatively little freedom to make such an adjustment. In Military organizations, for example, the maintenance of the stated, presumably optimum, patterns of communication is regarded as a first principle of effective performance. It is easy to understand this tendency to inhibit change in formal communication patterns if one considers how intimate the relation is among communication, control, and authority. >> military
In such restrictive organizations the imposed patterns determine certain aspects of the group process; the group process does not completely determine the communication pattern. This situation raises questions about how a fixed communication pattern may affect the work and life of a group. Do some patterns have structural properties that limit group performance? It may be that among several communication patterns, all logically adequate for the successful completion of a specified task, one gives significantly better performance than another. What effects can pattern, as such,have upon the emergence of leadership, the development of organization, the degree of resistance to group disruption, the ability to adapt successfully to sudden changes in the working environment?
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BAVELAS, Alex, 1950. Communication Patterns in Task‐Oriented Groups. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. November 1950. Vol. 22, no. 6, p. 725–730. DOI 10.1121/1.1906679.