Page 366 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

Tools for Assessing and Evaluating Groups 349

FIGURE 12.8 SYMLOG diagram of a unified, productive group

F (Task-oriented)

Charlie
Ann

Donna

Bob
Ed

N P
(Unfriendly) (Friendly)

B (Emotionally expressive)

You can readily see that the group shown in Figure 12.7 is not cohesive. Ann is
dominant, task-oriented, and negative toward her fellow members. She tries to dictate
what happens in the group. Bob is dominant, but emotionally expressive, which gets
the group off track frequently; almost certainly, Bob’s behavior clashes with Ann’s
desire to stick to the task. Charlie, who is moderately dominant, task-oriented, and
friendly, is in the ideal position for a democratic, group-centered leader, but he’s all by
himself. Just by looking at the diagram you can tell that these people do not work well
as a team. Members are dissimilar, they clash, there appears to be little cohesiveness,
and there are wide variations in the degree of participation members exhibit.
The diagram in Figure 12.8 tells a different story. This group seems unified, with
all members in the upper-right-hand quadrant (which Bales calls the decision-making

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