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Two decades of research have identified a robust effect: Members of decision-making groups mention and repeat shared information that all members know more so than unshared information that a single member knows. This chapter explores the idea that processes related to member status both affect and explain information exchange in decision-making groups. First, we offer five propositions that identify information sharing patterns and their implications for high- and low-status group members. Second, we highlight three theoretical explanations for the group preference for shared information and examine how well each theory accounts for the proposed member status processes.

Groups typically are composed of members with different knowledge, information, and expertise. Group discussion provides the means by which members can communicate their unique knowledge to reach better group decisions, develop a shared system for remembering and retrieving knowledge, and establish their expertise through enacted performance. In this chapter, three streams of research are reviewed that explore knowledge communication in groups: Hidden profiles, transactive memory systems, and a performative view of expertise. Each of these three research streams complements and informs the other. Across these three research streams, 10 major research findings are identified. We offer three research directions that include integrating these research streams, examining knowledge communication in the context of emerging technology (e.g., artificial intelligence), and studying effects of knowledge diversity in conjunction with surface-level diversity (e.g., member race).

Group communication as an area of intellectual interest had its beginnings in communication pedagogy with the goal of helping students to become more effective decision makers. A by-product is that group decision making became and remained a central research focus for many years. In the last 20 years, group communication research has facilitated the development of theory, research methods, and technology. Since 2000, group communication scholars have developed research lines on (1) virtual/digital team communication; (2) information sharing, hidden profile, and transactive memory systems; and (3) group participation. This chapter also explores the way in which group communication scholars have become connected with other disciplines that study groups and teams. The chapter concludes with current research methods trends, including interaction analysis, multilevel modeling, and qualitative methods.

This commentary describes (1) the role of group communication research in Communication Departments and (2) reflects my personal experiences in conducting group and team research with international and interdisciplinary group scholars. I describe the challenges associated with research funding, research space, participant pools, and research technology. Additionally, I address international and interdisciplinary influences (i.e., team science, university/government/industry collaboration) on communication research. This chapter concludes by identifying interdisciplinary contexts for group and team communication research including children and teens' groups, healthcare teams, and robot–human teams.