Interactive Group Exercise

1. Interactive Group Exercise Identifying Task and Maintenance Roles within Groups 1

2. To enhance understanding about task and maintenance roles. To examine how task and maintenance roles influence group effectiveness. Objectives 2

3. Come up with a plan to promote a new student-run organization. This organization is called Students First and its purpose includes making students aware of their rights as students, helping Freshmen with adjustment issues, organizing events that promote healthy living, and various other student-oriented functions. Your task it to brainstorm a plan for promoting this organization on campus. Be specific. You have 15 minutes to come with a plan. Group Assignment 4

4. To what extent was there agreement about who was providing task and maintenance roles? What does this level of agreement indicate about group dynamics? Was this group effective? Were individuals successful in executing their designated roles? Are task and maintenance roles equally important? Explain. What should group members do if they are working in a group that is not effectively enacting the various task and maintenance roles? Discussion Questions 5

5. Listen to the short lecture on task and maintenance roles. Six volunteer students head to the front of the room. Volunteer group studies their role assignments. The group interacts for 15 minutes following their role descriptions. After the session, the class tries to guess which group members exhibited task and maintenance roles. Reconvene for class discussion. Instructions 6

6. Task roles: task-oriented group behavior Maintenance roles: relationship-building group behavior Task and Maintenance Roles Defined 7

7. Initiator Information seeker/giver Opinion seeker/giver Elaborator Coordinator Orienter Evaluator Energizer Procedural technician Recorder Task Roles 8

8. Encourager Harmonizer Compromiser Gatekeeper Standard setter Commentator Follower Maintenance Roles 6