What are the roles of group members?

Peter Honey suggests there are five key Team Roles (see descriptions below). Both the activities below are based on these roles. Activity 1 is an activity you can do with your team before you properly start working on your teamwork task. Activity 2 is an activity you can do individually after your teamwork task is completed.

Team Role Activity 1: Before you start teamwork

Together with your team:

1. On a piece of paper, draw a circle split into five segments with one of the Team Roles (leader, challenger, doer, thinker, supporter) represented in each segment.
2. Ask each team member to enter their name in the segment or segments that correspond to the role they find they usually perform in a team.
3. Once team members’ names have been entered, analyse the circle and discuss the role descriptions together. Where are your team’s strengths and potential weaknesses?
4. Ask everyone to come up with an action point, based on their discussions, which will enable the team to increase its effectiveness.

This activity also highlights any skill gaps or surpluses that your group hadn't anticipated. If either of these is the case, you will need to be proactive about managing that situation. For instance, who might be willing to fill in any skills gaps? What if there are two people suited to the same role?

Team Role Activity 2: After teamwork is completed

Reflecting individually on the teamwork you have completed:

1. Which description do you think best describes your individual role or roles in the teamwork during this task?
2. Which roles did other individual team members play?
3. What were your team’s strengths and weaknesses? What (or who) do you think contributed to your team’s overall effectiveness?
4. What did you learn from this team task (about yourself, and about teamwork generally) that you can use in future teamwork?

Honey's Five Team Roles

1. LEADER: makes sure team has clear objectives and members are engaged

Leaders have good awareness about what skills their group needs to develop, they are good at planning and prioritising tasks needed to complete work. They are organised and focus on time management, and can set realistic targets. They have a good sense of when a problem is 'solved', and pay attention to detail in checking and finalising work.

2. CHALLENGER: questions effectiveness and drives for results

Challengers can look at problems and see more than one solution. They are able to explain ideas and counter-ideas clearly to people, and are always thinking about how to do things better.

3. DOER: encourages progress and takes on practical jobs

Doer's deal well with distractions are are focused workers. They know where to go to find information and are proactive about doing so. They are task oriented and ask for advice or input when they are stuck on a problem.

4. THINKER: produces ideas and thinks through those proposed by others

Thinkers are good at selecting the information they need to solve problems or complete tasks. They are logical and can break down tasks into steps and put information in order. When solutions to problems don't work they try to find out why and approach the problem from another direction.

5. SUPPORTER: eases tension and promotes harmony

Supporters work well with other people and listen to their suggestions. They like to check that they have understood problems, and suggest different ways of solving them in a team. They stay calm when there is disagreement or conflict. They can follow instructions to get tasks done and see how these contribute to overall team goals.

Organizational development, the process of adjusting departmental functions, enables companies to perform more efficiently and increase productivity. To plan and implement organizational changes that benefit the company, effective leaders establish clear roles and responsibilities for all group members, including sponsors and stakeholders. Typical tasks include gathering data, defining issues and determining actions. Establishing functional roles for each member enables effective group collaboration, which typically results in improved morale and profitability.

Benefits

1. Clearly defined functional roles, such as contributor, coordinator, evaluator and recorder, prevent communication problems, promote cooperation and allow the team to accomplish complex tasks. Establishing functional roles for all group members in organizational development typically contributes to improved quality, reduced product errors and faster service. This leads to improved customer satisfaction, lower operating costs and allows group members to adapt to change and respond quickly to opportunities.

Contributor Role

1. Group members playing the contributor role typically propose ideas, initiate discussions and explore options. They respond to requests for clarification by providing facts and relevant information related to the problem. They seek out missing information. Contributors express their own opinions, relate their personal experience and offer new perspectives on problems. For example, a contributor may suggest reorganizing the company into functional teams, eliminating redundant steps in processing order or instituting more environmentally friendly processes, such as purchasing only recycled paper for use at the company.

Coordinator Role

1. Coordinators or facilitators organize team meetings and establish the agendas. They review and clarify the statements made by contributors to summarize actions, such as the decision to hire more administrative assistants to handle travel arrangements required by sales personnel. They keep the group on track and help solve disputes or conflicts when necessary. Coordinators conduct team building exercises to help the group members function more effectively as a unit.

Evaluator Role

1. Evaluators function as critics. They evaluate proposals developed by group members to ensure the recommendations align with the company's strategic objectives. Evaluators help the group assess whether alternatives represent realistic options. Evaluators ask probing questions and help the group discover flaws in their plans before implementation. Evaluators enable quality by ensuring the other group members justify their plans.

Recorder Role

1. Recorders function as scribes and take notes on what happens during meetings and brainstorming sessions. They distribute the meeting notes through email or upload the documents to a public folder. Recorders typically use software tools, such as Microsoft Office’s OneNote, Evernote or Mindjet’s mind mapping software, to record decisions, concepts and ideas. They develop process flow diagrams and other forms of documentation, such as policies and procedures. Recorders keep comprehensive notes on discussions and decisions so that group members can focus on participating in meetings instead of taking their own notes. Drawing elaborate pictures and diagrams helps the other group members troubleshoot problems, analyze data, identify root causes of issues and document process improvement recommendations.

   What are the 6 roles in a group?

   Group roles have an important function in workplace teams because they help members work together effectively..

   Facilitator. ... .

   Initiator. ... .

   Arbitrator. ... .

   Notetaker. ... .

   Coach. ... .

   Coordinator. ... .

   Evaluator. ... .

   Compromiser..

   What are the 3 types of group roles?

   Benne and Sheats defined three categories of group roles: task roles, personal and social roles, and dysfunctional or individualistic roles.

   Why are group members roles and responsibilities important?

   Group roles encourage individual accountability. Group members are more likely to hold each other accountable for not completing work if a particular task is assigned to them. Group roles allow students to strengthen their communicative skills, especially in areas that they are less confident in volunteering for.

   What are the 5 roles in a team?

   Honey's Five Team Roles.

   LEADER: makes sure team has clear objectives and members are engaged. ... .

   CHALLENGER: questions effectiveness and drives for results. ... .

   DOER: encourages progress and takes on practical jobs. ... .

   THINKER: produces ideas and thinks through those proposed by others. ... .

   SUPPORTER: eases tension and promotes harmony..