5: Leadership/Roles/Problem Solving

5.1: Leadership and Small Group Communication

Achievement-oriented leaders: Leaders who strive for excellence and set challenging goals, constantly seeking improvement and exhibiting confidence that group members can meet their high expectations

Coercive power: Power that comes from the ability of a group member to provide a negative incentive; for example, “vote for me, or else…”

Designated leaders: Leaders who are officially recognized in their leadership role; may be appointed or elected by people inside or outside the group; especially successful when they are sought out by others to fulfill and then are accepted in leadership roles

Directive leaders: Leaders who help provide psychological structure for their group members by clearly communicating expectations, keeping a schedule and agenda, providing specific guidance as group members work toward the completion of their task, and taking the lead on setting and communicating group rules and procedures

Emergent leaders: Leaders who gain status and respect through engagement with the group and its task and are turned to by others as a resource when leadership is needed

Expert power: Power that comes from knowledge, skill, or expertise that a group member possesses and other group members do not.

Information power: Power that comes from a person’s ability to access information that comes through informal channels and well-established social and professional networks

Leader: A group role that is associated with a high-status position and may be formally or informally recognized by group members

Leadership: The complexity of beliefs, communication patterns, and behaviors that influence the functioning of a group and move toward the completion of its task

Legitimate power: Power that flows from the officially recognized position, status, or title, of a group member

Participative leaders: Leaders who work to include group members in the decision-making process by soliciting and considering opinions and suggestions

Referent power: Power that comes from the attractiveness, likeability, and charisma of the group member

Reward power: Power that comes from a group member to provide a positive incentive as a compliance-gaining strategy

Supportive leaders: Leaders who show concern for their followers’ needs and emotions

5.2: Group Member Roles

Aggressor:  Unproductive role in which someone exhibits negative behaviors such as contradicting ideas, attacking others, competing at the expense of the group, and being outspoken to the point of distraction

Airhead:  A person who skirts their responsibilities by claiming ignorance when they actually understand or intentionally perform poorly on a task so that other group members question their intellectual abilities to handle other tasks

Blocker: An unproductive role that intentionally or unintentionally keeps things from getting done in the group

Central negative:  This view argues against most of the ideas and proposals discussed in the group and often emerges as a result of a leadership challenge during group formation

Doormat:  Unproductive role in which a person is chronically submissive to the point that it hurts the group’s progress

Expediter:  A task-related role that functions to keep the group on track toward completing its task by managing the agenda and setting and assessing goals in order to monitor the group’s progress

Gatekeeper:  A task role that manages the flow of conversation in a group in order to achieve an appropriate balance so that all group members get to participate in a meaningful way

Harmonizer:  A maintenance role played by group members who help manage the various types of group conflict that emerge during group communication

Information provider:  A task role that includes sharing information with the rest of the group; more evenly shared than other roles because all group members share new ideas, initiate discussion of new topics and contribute their own relevant knowledge and experiences

Information seeker:  A task role that includes asking for more information, elaboration, or clarification on items relevant to the group’s task

Insecure Compliment Seeker:  A disruptive role characterized by behavior of a person who wants to know that s/he is valued by the group and seeks recognitions that is often not task related

Interpreter:  A maintenance role that helps manage the diversity of a group by mediating intercultural conflict, articulating common ground between different people, and generally creating a climate where difference is seen as an opportunity rather than as something to be feared

Joker:  A disruptive role played a group member who consistently uses sarcasm, plays pranks, tells jokes, which distracts from the overall functioning of the group

Monopolizer:  A group member who makes excessive verbal contributions, preventing equal participation by group members

Recorder:  A task role that takes notes on the discussion and activities that occur during a group meeting; the only role essentially limited to one person at a time

Self-centered roles:  Roles that divert attention from the task to the group member exhibiting the behavior

Self-Confessor:  A disruptive role played by a group member who tries to use group meetings as therapy sessions for issues not related to the group’s task

Social-emotional leader:  A leader who performs a variety of maintenance roles and is generally someone who is well liked by the other group members and whose role behaviors complement but don’t compete with the task leader

Supporter:  A maintenance role characterized by communication behaviors that encourage other group members and provide emotional support as needed

Task Leader:  A person who has high group status because of maturity, problem-solving abilities, knowledge, and/or leadership experience and skills and functions to help the group complete its task

Tension Releaser:  A maintenance role usually played by someone who is naturally funny and sensitive to the personalities of the group and the dynamics of any given situation and who uses these qualities to manage the frustration level of the group

Unproductive roles:  Negative roles in group communication that make it difficult for the group to make progress; include blocker, withdrawer, aggressor, and doormat

Withdrawer: An unproductive role in which a person mentally or physically removes themselves from group activities and only participates when forced

5.3: Problem Solving and Decision Making in Groups

Baby Boomers: The group born in the US between 1946 and 1964; the largest and most predominant generation in the current workforce

Brainstorming: A quick generation of ideas, free of evaluation; an idea-generating and/or decision-making method

Consensus rule: A decision-making technique in which all members of a group must agree on the same decision

Desired situation: A common component of a problem that may include a vague idea that will improve the undesirable situation

Dominant group members: Group members that act more independently and directly, initiate conversations, take up more space, make more direct eye contact, seek leadership positions, and take control over decision-making processes

Emotional group members: Group members who are creative, playful, independent, unpredictable, and expressive, which leads them to make rash decisions resist group norms or decision-making structures, and switch often from a relational to task focus

Friendly group members: Group members who find a balance between talking and listening, don’t try to win at the expense of other members, are flexible but not weak, and value democratic decision-making

Generation X: The group of people born in the US between 1965 and 1981; the first generation to see technology (cell phones, Internet) make its way into classrooms and daily life; have a greater appreciation for and understanding of diversity

Generation Y: The group of people born in the US between 1982 and 2000; also called millennials; have never experienced a time without technology such as computers and cell phones

Group familiarity with the problem: A characteristic of a problem that impacts the amount of background research a group needs to do in order to solve the problem effectively; more familiarity requires less background research

Group member interest in a problem: A characteristic of a problem that impacts the level of engagement with the problem-solving process and the level of investment in finding a quality solution

Instrumental group members: Group members who are emotionally neutral, objective, analytical, task-oriented, and committed followers, which leads them to work hard and contribute to the group’s decision-making as long as it is orderly and follows agreed-on rules

Majority rule: A decision-making technique in which a majority must agree before a decision is made

Minority rule: A decision-making technique in which a designated authority or expert has final say over a decision and may or may not consider the input of other group members

Need for solution acceptance: A characteristic of problem solving that suggests groups must consider how many people the decision will affect and how much “buy-in” from others the group needs in order for their solution to be successfully implemented

Nominal group technique: A technique that guides decision making through a four-step process that includes idea generation and evaluation and seeks to elicit equal contributions from all group members

Number of possible solutions: A characteristic of a problem that suggests there are usually multiple ways to solve a problem or complete a task; some problems have more potential solutions than others

Obstacles between undesirable and desirable situations: A common component of a problem that stands in the way between the current situation and the group’s goal of addressing it

Problem question: A question that guides that group as it generates possible solutions

Problem statement: A single sentence that summarizes the problem

Silent Generation: The group born in the US between 1925 and 1942; the smallest generation in today’s workforce due to retirement or other reasons

Six hats method of thinking: A method of decision-making that helps people avoid habitual ways of thinking by allowing group members to play different roles and see a problem or decision from multiple points of view

Submissive group members: Group members that are reserved, contribute to the group only when asked, avoid eye contact, and leave personal needs and thoughts unvoiced or give into the suggestions of others

Task difficulty: A characteristic of a problem that creates more complexity in a problem

Undesirable situation: A common component of a problem; undesirable situations present problems

Unfriendly group members: Group members who are disagreeable, indifferent, withdrawn, and selfish, which leads them to either not invest in decision-making or direct it in their own interest rather than in the interest of the group