Page 141 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

124 Chapter 5

An individual’s role will vary from group to group because roles depend on the
particular mix of people in the group. A major principle of small group theory, one
that illustrates interdependence, is this: The role of each group member is worked out in
the interaction between the member and the rest of the group and continues to evolve as
the group evolves. Thus, a well-organized person may end up leading one group and
playing a supporting role in another, depending on the characteristics and competen-
cies of all members relative to one another.
In addition, members’ roles are fluid and dynamic as members respond to others
and to shifting conditions in a group. Most people demonstrate flexibility as they
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enact their roles in a group, a member who supplied information will also support
another member’s suggestion, for example. While some role variability is helpful,
Jobidon and her associates found that too much variability hurt the performance and
coordination of the self-organizing teams they studied, likely because that created
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greater role ambiguity. Sometimes, consistent with the bona fide group perspective
discussed in Chapter 3, external forces in the environment create internal changes in
group roles. Apker, Propp, and Zavaba-Ford found that changing societal and profes-
sional expectations about the role of nurses led to changes in how nurses actually
operated among themselves and with physicians in healthcare settings, particularly
with respect to their degree of authority and autonomy. 40

Classifying Group Roles
Group researchers have developed a variety of systems for classifying group roles. Hare,
in a 1994 historical review of research about group roles, says roles should be defined in
terms that group members themselves would understand. One such system is the func-
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tional role classification system described by Benne and Sheats, who classified members’
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roles on the basis of the functions those roles performed for the group. These research-
ers defined three main categories of behavior: task, maintenance (socioemotional), and
individual. Task behaviors directly affect the group’s task. Maintenance or socioemo-
tional behaviors affect the relationships among members, thus indirectly affecting the
task. Individual behaviors are self-centered behaviors that help neither the task nor the
relationships, but function to satisfy the individual at the expense of the group.
Although Benne and Sheats’s system was first described in the 1940s, more
recent research verifies its usefulness as a classification system. Mudrack and Farrell
found that the task, maintenance, and individual distinctions Benne and Sheats
described is consistent with members’ perceptions and that the system holds up. 43
To some extent, all classification systems oversimplify group roles by suggesting
that a remark or nonverbal behavior performs only one function in a group; in fact,
remarks are fluid and affect both task and social dimensions. For example, assume
Teresa says to Mona and Melvin, “I think you guys are bypassing each other, and you
should listen more carefully.” That statement, even though it focuses on the ways mem-
bers are relating to each other (a socioemotional concern), also has a bearing on the
task accomplishment of the group, especially if Melvin and Mona start paying better
attention to each other. Moreover, Teresa’s statement implies that she has the right to
intervene to improve the group’s process, which says something about her relationship

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