Viewing page 9 of 18

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

-4-

[[underlined]]The important thing is interaction.[[/underlined]]  Discussion should not be directed toward the leader.  No two members of the group should get into a discussion "with the other".

[[underlined]]Trust the group.[[/underlined]] There is no person in it who is not superior to the others in at least one respect.  the experience of all is richer than the experience of any one.  The group as a whole can see further and more truly than its best member.  Remember that every member of the group is an individual just as you are.

[[underlined]]Functional Roles of Group Members[[/underlined]]

(Reprinted from [[underlined]]The Journal of Social Issues[[/underlined]] - Benne, K.D. and Sheats, P. "Functional Roles of Group Members". 4-2-42 Spring, 1948)

The member-roles identified in this analysis are classified into three broad groupings.

(1) Group task roles. Participant roles here are related to the task which the group is deciding to undertake or has undertaken. Their purpose is to facilitate and co-ordinate group effort in the selection and definition of a common problem in the solution of that problem.

(2) Group building and maintenance roles.  The roles in this category are oriented toward the functioning of the group as a group.  They are designated to alter or maintain the group way of working, to strengthen, regulate and perpetuate the group as a group. 

(3) Individual roles are directed towards the satisfaction of the "participant's" individual needs.  Their purpose is some individual goal which is not relevant either to the group task or to the functioning of the group as a group.

[[underlined]]Group Task Roles[[/underlined]]  
The following analysis assumes that the task of the discussion group is to select, define and solve common problems. The roles are identified in the relation to functions of facilitation and co-ordination of group problem-solving activities.

a. [[underlined]]The initiator-contributor[[/underlined]] suggests or proposes to the group new ideas or a changed way of regarding the group problem or goal.

b. [[underlined]]The information seeker[[/underlined]] asks for clarification of suggestions made in terms of their factual adequacy for authoritative information and facts pertinent to the problem being discussed.

c. [[underlined]]The opinion seeker[[/underlined]] asks not primarily for the facts of the case but for a clarification of the values pertinent to what the group is undertaking.

d. The information giver offers facts or generalizations which are "authoritative" or relates his own experience pertinently to the group problem.