Page 215 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

198 Chapter 8

aureen, an active community volunteer, was asked by the local Community
Foundation to chair a task force charged with producing a Community
MReport Card. Twenty-seven committee members, who represented numer-
ous community agencies and organizations such as the local health department, the
public schools, the city’s transportation department, had already been selected.
Maureen’s task was to organize the work of this large group so that, at the end of the
eight months of the task force’s work, she would have the relevant information to
evaluate how the community stacked up in 11 different areas, including business,
transportation, housing, economic conditions, education, and recreation. The final
professionally designed report would be widely distributed throughout the community
by the local organizations that sponsored it: Community Foundation, Chamber of
Commerce, United Way, Library System, and Junior League. This high-visibility,
high-stakes project had to satisfy a lot of individuals and agencies.
The large group decided to split into 11 subcommittees, each focusing on a differ-
ent area of the report. The subcommittees added community members with relevant
expertise to their ranks; for example, the education committee added the school dis-
trict’s statistician, who supplied (and explained) up-to-date figures about the district’s
performance. The entire group met monthly, with subcommittees meeting more fre-
quently to gather information, compare the city’s performance with other cities,
explain the data so that normal people could understand it, and meet their deadlines.
Maureen faced several leadership challenges: managing the discussion of a group of
27 people, keeping track of the work of the subcommittees ensuring that the subcom-
mittees sections were understandable and could be defended, and promoting buy-in
so that each committee member accepted the format of the report and the informa-
tion it contained. Her know-how as a group leader helped the group complete the
Community Report Card on time, to widespread praise.
Throughout this text, you have been presented with theories, concepts, and
advice regarding various elements of the group discussion process. In this chapter, we
focus on the practice of small group leadership by offering a type of “leader’s manual”
for when you find yourself in the leader’s role, so you can be the best leader possible.
We describe the three major types of duties that leaders are expected to perform and
conclude with ethical principles leaders should follow. Remember our theme: All
group members should perform leadership services for the group, but the leader has
the unique responsibility to make sure the group gets what it needs to do its job well.

Responsibilities and Techniques of Discussion Leaders and Chairs
Group members will expect leaders to perform three broad types of functions: admin-
istrative duties, discussion coordination, and group development. Our advice is based
on research findings and the shared leadership philosophy we espouse.

Administrative Duties
Leaders handle numerous administrative duties; the most important ones are assem-
bling the team, planning for meetings, following up on meetings, maintaining liaison
with other groups, and managing the group’s written communication.

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