Giffin asked Hirokawa a question about how sometimes he is so incredibly bored and not stimulated by his groups ideas or discussions that he sometimes tells jokes and feels that according to Hirokawa's theory of group decision making, that it may be hindering the groups ability towards making good decisions. This interview is about chapter 17 and can be found at www.afirstlook.com. I found this question to be stimulating because I find myself in similar situations to Griffin quite often and thought it was interesting that he brought the question into play. Luckily for me, Hirokawa explained that joking can actually be functionally helpful towards a couple of his four essential functions in the theory.
I'm glad to have heard this information because it means I can continue to joke in groups as long as I'm not too negative and have good things to say in addition to my sarcastic or joke-like remarks.
~Tornn
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Someone else in the class blogged about this (can't recall who). I liked this point as well. Not all communication in groups must be directly focused on the task. Sometimes going off task can spark creative ideas and jog a group out of its unproductive routine. And not just jokes and humor. Attending to the social aspects of a group is also essential to the group achieving its objectives. In the faculty meeting I went to this morning we met for breakfast. It was a 3 hour meeting but it want by fast, in part because we were more relaxed after eating a good meal. Especially for a Friday morning meeting, having something to look forward to (an excellent breakfast) makes meeting for 3 hours more appealing.
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