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Kansas Wildlife and Parks

Bryce Presley

Langdon Elliott

John Jameson

Korah Calvin

Small-Group Communication

Gil Cooper

March 9, 2022
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Introduction

The Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission is a group that gathers and talks about

relevant issues facing Kansas natural resources. The commission is a structured democracy with

an appointed chairman who helps lead group meetings. At each meeting, they listen to

presentations and comments from both the public and outside experts. From there, they make

decisions and recommendations based on the information they were presented with. In terms of

the functioning of the small group, we noted four major concepts that seemed to impact overall

group performance, which were: nonverbal communication, group decision making, structure,

and norms. There was an additional impact made to the group outside of these concepts, as the

meetings are currently held exclusively on Zoom.

Nonverbals

Before getting into the specifics of nonverbal communication used by Kansas Wildlife

and Parks, it is important to understand what nonverbal communication is. Nonverbal

communication is defined as “aspects of communication, such as gestures and facial expressions,

that do not involve verbal communication but which may include nonverbal aspects of speech

itself”. When specifically talking about the Kansas Wildlife and Parks meeting, nonverbal

communication was easier to observe, because on Zoom each member's face was consistently on

the screen, so facial expressions and body language were hard to hide. For this specific group, a

member would simply nod their head to signal their agreement with the other members, unlike in

traditional groups where members would typically verbally respond. In an article by Richard

Nordquist, he talks about how body movements and environment are good tools to see how a

person is feeling without them having to say anything (Nordquist, 2020). Another example of

nonverbal communication used in the Kansas Wildlife and Parks meeting is a negative form of
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nonverbal communication. If one of the members disagreed or disliked something that was said,

it became evident in their face. Nonverbal communication can be something that happens

unconsciously. While nonverbals were used several times, verbal communication was just as

prevalent in these meetings. Members had no problem expressing how they felt about a certain

topic and they were more than happy to share that with the group.

Group Decision Making

As defined in Effective Group Discussion, group decision-making is the ability to

“choose between alternatives” (Galanes, 2019). This definition implies that multiple choices are

being considered at a time by the group. However, in the case of the Kansas Fish and Wildlife

Commission, group decision-making seems to be among the more unhealthy aspects of the

group’s functions, due to their lack of presenting multiple alternatives that can be considered, and

the unilateral, authoritative structure of their group.

The meetings of the commission themselves consisted of an outside expert presenting

information to the commission that covered a variety of topics. After each expert presentation

concluded, there would be opportunities for the commission to ask questions and discuss the

information they had just received. But rather than engage in discussion, the group was quick to

move on to the next presentation, often with no questions or discussion occurring.

One significant red flag I noticed from the commission's decision-making process was

putting a potential group discussion aside to be addressed later. The commission's chairman

noted, “let’s have staff look into that further”, without any prior or ending discussion surrounding

the issue. This is problematic for the group’s ability to tackle decisions, as this request to have

staff look into it is vague and undirected, it acts as a placeholder for what could have been

genuine discussion. What is the staff looking into specifically? Why are they looking into it? Is
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the data being addressed incomplete in some way? These are the kinds of questions I ask as I

listen to this kind of remark be made.

If we look back at our working definition of group decision making, we can note that this

commission does not “choose amongst alternatives”, but rather often proceeds with the first idea

placed on the table. Even in matters of small decision making, such as moving on to the next

expert presenter after ample room for questions, there is little discussion or debate. Chairman

Lauber unilaterally determines when and how the group's meeting will flow. This commission is

meant to work as a democracy, but when these kinds of decisions are made without any group

input, it removes group member autonomy from group decision making.

Structure

As a cabinet-level agency, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks is administered

by a Secretary and advised by a seven-member Commission. Commission positions are

appointed by the Governor, with Commissioners serving alternating four-year terms. Serving as

the regulatory body for KDWP, the Commission is a non-partisan board made up of no more

than four members of any one political party, advising the Secretary on planning and policy

issues regarding the administration of KDWP. The Commission's actions are the goals and

objectives of managing and promoting the wildlife and natural resources of Kansas. They have a

bureaucratic structure that is highly specialized between members.

After watching the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Commission staff, it was

apparent that this is a well-structured group that is in charge of regulating many processes. While

many of the agenda items and department reports go unchallenged and move forward with little

discussion, that is because they are well structured enough to get the information out to each

member and other constituents ahead of time. They are emailed a “Briefing Book” that reiterates
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the meeting and its order of activities. Sending the “Briefing Book”, gives the commissioners

ample time to read and do individual research on all subjects to be discussed within the meeting

along with preparing questions to express any concerns about individual subjects. For example,

of the in-depth detail, the latest booklet was 76 pages long. This document also allows

commissioners and the public to review past issues on demand by going through the Kansas

Department of Wildlife and Parks website. This ties back to the concept of structuration:

Structuration is the idea that any social system’s rules, operating procedures, and resources

emerge from the verbal and nonverbal communication between members. This sets the rules and

guidelines for how actions are to be done. This is a fluid and continuous process that builds and

changes over time throughout the group.

Norms

While observing the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission meetings, several items

stood out. The things that we will focus on in this section are the social norms that the group

portrays. Social norms are defined as rules or expectations that are socially enforced, but not

written down. These norms are things that a particular group may not even know that they are

portraying. Some of these norms are accepted as a society, while others are variable between

groups or even particular members of groups. Some of the norms that were observed from this

group have a positive impact on the overall function of the group, while others have a seemingly

negative impact.

To begin, there are a number of norms that have a positive impact on the group function.

All group members have their camera on, facing them, with their faces and shoulders well within

the frame. This is beneficial, as it depicts that the members are paying attention to one another,

as well as brings a common face-to-face feeling presence to the meeting. Each member also
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clearly speaks up when they present information to the group, as well as use each other’s names

if the information provided is directed toward a specific member. This is beneficial to the

function of a group, as it builds bonds between members. But more importantly, it simply helps

the meeting to flow smoothly. Another example of the positive norms which were observed

included members introducing themselves at the beginning of each meeting. This is helpful,

along with the name tag provided via zoom, to ensure that it is effortless to name another

member, whether it be to address a question or concern to them. This is less helpful in a group

such as this, where the members are well acquainted with one another but would be quite helpful

in a less mature group. The last norm which is important for the flow of the meetings was the

fact that all members remained quiet while presentations were being given, and answered any

questions as well as addressed comments directed toward them. The last thing which will be

added to the positive section is that the members interact professionally for the most part, but

show signs of being comfortable with one another. It is good for a group to become comfortable

with one another, however can be disadvantageous if the members become too comfortable, and

begin simply trusting one’s judgment.

Some norms were observed, which are not so beneficial to the functioning of the meeting.

The main issue observed was simple members being seemingly disconnected from the

discussion. Members also seemed overly relaxed, leaning back in their chairs, glancing around

the room, and possibly even watching TV behind the camera. This could be possibly detrimental

to the success of the meetings, as specific members may have little or no idea as to the topic at

hand. Being unfamiliar with the content being discussed could lead specific members to simply

agree with the rest of the group, rather than paraphrasing, as well as giving or ensuing deeper
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thought to the rest of the group. Some of this may be due because the group is only currently able

to meet via zoom.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Kansas Wildlife and Parks presents a different set of nonverbals, decision

making strategies, structures, and norms largely due to their meetings being held on the Zoom

platform. We can see that this online meeting structure has some benefits, such as being able to

review meetings after they’ve occurred; but issues like distractibility, impersonable format, and

apathetic group participation clearly show up in these types of online meetings. Overall, this was

a quality group to observe as they presented both healthy and unhealthy group behaviors to be

examined.
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Resources

Galanes, Gloria J., and Katherine Adams. Effective Group Discussion: Theory and

Practice. McGraw-Hill Education, 2019.

“Nonverbal Communication in Humans.” Taylor & Francis,

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10911359.2013.831288.

Nordquist, Richard. “What Is Nonverbal Communication?” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 29

June 2020,

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-nonverbal-communication-1691351#:~:text=Nonverbal%20

communication%2C%20also%20called%20manual,parts%20of%20a%20verbal%20message.

Wildlife and Parks Commission . January 13, 2022 / 2022 / Archived Meetings / Meeting

Schedule / Commission / KDWP Info / KDWP. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2022,

fromhttps://ksoutdoors.com/KDWP-Info/Commission/Meeting-Schedule/Archived-Meetings/20

22/January-13-2022

Commission. Commission / KDWP Info / KDWP - KDWP. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2,

2022, from https://ksoutdoors.com/KDWP-Info/Commission

Karl KA, Peluchette JV, Aghakhani N. Virtual Work Meetings During the COVID-19
Pandemic: The Good, Bad, and Ugly. Small-Group Research. May 2021.
doi:10.1177/10464964211015286