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Group Observation Form
TASK FUNCTIONS
EXAMPLES (specific comments or
nonverbal behaviors)
Information/opinion giver (offers facts, relevant
evidence; opinions)
Information/opinion seeker (asks others for
relevant information/ opinions)
Starter (initiates task-related behavior, “Let’s
get moving”)
Direction giver (gives directions on doing the
task)
Summarizer (reviews and identifies themes in
what’s been said)
Diagnoser (assesses group behavior, “We spend
a lot of time…”)
Gatekeeper (regulates who speaks, “Bill hasn’t
had a turn. John, before you speak again could
we hear from Mary.”)
Reality tester (checks group ideas against reality
of time, rules, constraints, “Could we plan a
carnival in three weeks?”)
Other comments:
IM 7-11
RELATIONAL FUNCTIONS
Participation encourager (motivates members
to be involved, lets them know they’re valued)
Harmonizer (mediates interpersonal conflicts
among group members)
Tension reliever (helps relieve anxiety and
pressures in group)
Evaluator of emotional climate (paraphrases
observed social and emotional climate, “We’re
all uneasy about the new manager.”)
Praise giver (gives compliments and acclaim to
group members)
Empathic listener (listens without evaluation to
members’ concerns)
DYSFUNCTIONAL ROLES
Blocker (prevents progress by raising objections
constantly)
Attacker (aggressively questions others’ motives
or competence)
Recognition seeker (repeatedly brags and
inappropriately calls attention to him/herself and
his/her own accomplishments)
Joker (clowns or jokes in excess of tension relief
and distracts group)
Withdrawer (refuses to participate, take a stand,
or respond to others)
Other comments:
IM 7-12
The Bob Lee Case Study
Bob Lee was taking a difficult required course during his junior year at Strivemore
University. Bob needed a B average to keep his scholarship, and he needed his scholarship to
attend the university. But no matter how hard he studied, he could only get Cs and Ds on the
weekly tests that determined his grade in the course. The professor curved the grades of the 30
students in the class, and Bob just couldn’t seem to come out on top of the curve.
After the fourth test, Bob complained to a fraternity brother who was in the same class.
The fraternity brother gave him some inside information. He swore Bob to secrecy and then told
him that the professor didn’t correct or grade his own tests, but that a graduate assistant did it for
him. The grader apparently had discovered a new way to work his way through college. He was
giving cram sessions before each test, based on the test key that the professor had given him. He
was tutoring nine of Bob’s classmates for $50 per test, or $75 if the students wanted the answers
to memorize. The fraternity bother invited Bob to join the group.
Bob had a little money saved from his summer job, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to
invest it in an A. Each group should discuss the problem, with the members behaving in
accordance with their assigned roles. The students should not reveal their roles to any other
group member. As a group, they should try to arrive at a consensus by answering the following
questions:
Isn’t this unethical?
Shouldn’t the professor be told?
But, then again, what if the fraternity brother or someone else were expelled?
What about the other students at the bottom of the curve?
If you were Bob, what would you do?
Managing Counterproductive Behaviors in Groups
Use guidelines from the text to plan specific steps a student group could use to constructively
manage the following situations. Identify which principles of effective teamwork are being
disregarded, and strive to develop responses that maintain a supportive communication climate.
1. LATENESS: At the second meeting, Peg came in a few minutes late. That was bad enough,
but now she’s coming 10–15 minutes late to very meeting. What’s worse, Angelica and Robert
have started arriving late, too. It makes the rest of us feel like giving up.
2. SKEPTICISM: Dan constantly makes negative comments. Our brainstorming activities fail
because he makes fun of our efforts. Some people in the group are losing their enthusiasm and
have stopped saying anything.
3. MONOPOLIZING: Rajiv is very opinionated. He keeps talking, and he rambles on and on. It
seems as though we can’t get a word in edgewise.
4. SILENT DISAGREEMENT: Adelle sits around rolling her eyes about almost everything we
say. We can tell from the look on her face that she doesn’t like our ideas. It makes us feel like
she doesn’t like us, either. She’s very pretty, and I think maybe she feels superior.
5. GOSSIPING: Geri and Toni keep talking about the boss and his personal adventures. They’ll
make snide remarks about him, right in the middle of a meeting. It seems inappropriate.
6. REPETITION: Pierre keeps repeating himself, over and over. We feel like we’ve finished
discussing one topic and we move on to another, but he jumps back and repeats himself again. It
seems like we can’t get anywhere.
Written Application Exercises
1. Emergent Leadership
Write an essay in which you discuss the following:
• Think of the time when you felt comfortable exerting leadership in a group. What conditions
contributed to your comfort level? What did you do to attain and maintain leadership?
• Describe an instance when either you or someone you knew tried to lead a group but failed. What
factors can you point to as contributing to the failure?
2. Contingency Leadership
Review Fiedler’s and Hersey & Blanchard’s contingency models. Develop your own list of the most
important contingencies that you think should be considered in deciding what type of leadership would be
most effective in various situations. Using your list, decide what type of leadership you would
recommend for each situation below,? Explain your reasoning.
a. a group of college students studying together for a final exam
b. a heart transplant team
c. a task force of neighbors trying to rid the neighborhood of “crack” dealers
d. a group of student senators planning the senate agenda for the following month
e. a construction crew replacing the roof on your house
f. a group of grown children planning their parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary
Video Activities
1. Power in Groups
Objective: Students will analyze the emergence, manifestation, and impact of power in small groups.
Procedure: The video Lord of the Flies (William Golding) illustrates how power could play out in a
small group. Show students a relevant clip from the video, asking them to observe the role of power in the
group’s interactions.
Class Discussion: Class discussion could include questions such as:
• Describe examples of leadership emergence.
• What types of power existed in the group? How do you know?
• What impact did such power have on group members?
• Identify examples of goals, hidden agendas, and norms.
• Did you see any examples of cohesiveness? Of conformity? Explain.
2. Leadership Emergence in “Twelve Angry Men”
Objective: Students will identify principles of leadership, influence, and power in groups as illustrated in
the video Twelve Angry Men, which depicts group interaction during a jury meeting. This film also
illustrates stages of the group process, which will be presented in the next chapter.
Procedure: Show the video (or a representative clip from the video) Twelve Angry Men. If you can find a
copy of the original edition, it is more striking than the updated version. You may wish to assign students
to view the video outside class, as it lasts approximately 100 minutes. It is available through commercial
video rental services. Assign various topics from the sections on Becoming a Leader, Power and
Influence of Members, the Career Tip (How to Emerge as a Team Leader) and, if desired, Stages in
IM 7-15
Group Problem Solving from the next chapter. Students will focus on their assigned topic and come to
class prepared to discuss how it played out in the video.
Class Discussion: Ask students to share examples from the video that illustrate leadership emergence as
well as various types of power and influence. Encourage students to relate these examples to situations
they have witnessed in groups they’ve participated in.
3. Group Communication Characteristics
Objective: Students will observe examples of group communication characteristics in a video that
focuses on the interactions of a small group.
Procedure: Assign students to watch a video depicting the interactions of a small group, or show a
relevant portion of the video in class. Examples of such videos are Apollo 13, Stand by Me, and Joy Luck
Club. Ask students to note examples of characteristics of small-group communication outlined in the
section of the text titled “Effective Communication in Teams.” Each of these videos provides multiple
examples of goals, hidden agendas, norms, cohesiveness, conformity (and creativity from the next
chapter).
Class Discussion: Ask students to share examples from the video that illustrate goals, hidden
agendas, norms, cohesiveness, conformity, and creativity. Discuss both effective and ineffective
examples. Encourage students to relate these examples to situations they have witnessed in groups
they’ve participated in.
Additional Resources
Print
Bellman, G.M. & Ryan, K.D. (2009). Extraordinary groups: How ordinary teams achieve amazing
results. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.
Provides an easy to follow model, well presented research, and case studies. Highlights the role of
self-awareness in transforming groups.
DeRosa, D. & Lepsinger, R. (2010). Virtual team success: A practical guide for working and leading
from a distance. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Highly recommended. Provides strategies and examples for improving performance in virtual
teams.
Goleman, D., et al. (2002). Primal leadership: Realizing the power of emotional intelligence. Hay
Resources.
Argues that a leader’s emotions are contagious. Leaders can create positive impact on earnings
and strategy by driving their emotions in the best direction.
Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D.K. (2003). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance
organization. New York: Harper-Business.
Palms, P. (2006). The magic of self-directed work teams: A case study in courage and culture change.
Milwaukee, WI: Quality Press
A readable story, which traces the actual changes that took place at Northern Pipe Products under
self-directed work teams.
IM 7-16
DVD
Effective Communication in Teams. 35 min. Educational Video Group, Inc.
Uses dramatized teach skills for managing conflict in high performance teams.
Facilitative Leadership: Teamwork, Planning, and Conflict Management. 39 min. Educational Video
Group, Inc.
Four segments cover ways to set goals, create plans, and deal with conflict.
GroupThink (2nd ed). CRM Films.
This video depicts scenes from government and industry in which groupthink is a factor. In
addition to illustrating the dangers of groupthink, guidelines for avoiding it are presented.
Groupthink. YouTube.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYpbStMyz_I
A discussion of groupthink with examples, including a conversation with Irving Janis.
How to Work with People. (2000). 21 min. Insight Media
Teaches students how to evaluate the impact of their own personality type on group dynamics and
how to manage conflict in groups.
Team Building: What makes a Good Team Player? CRM Films.
This video is designed to look at different styles of communication and lead team players to
understand and value diverse styles. It can be used with the Parker Team Player Survey.
Web
ChangingMinds.org
http://changingminds.org/explanations/power/power_types.htm
Outlines types of power.
ChangingMinds.org
http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/risky_shift.htm
RiskyShift definition and examples.
Dummies.com
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ten-qualities-of-an-effective-team-player.html
Describes qualities of effective team players.
ITS Tutorial School
http://www.tuition.com.hk/groups.htm
Compares group to individual problem solving.
Nondestructive Testing Resources
http://www.ndt-ed.org/TeachingResources/ClassroomTips/Teamwork.htm
Resource for teaching team projects. Compares team exercises to group exercises.
PsyBlog: Fighting Groupthink with Dissent
http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/07/fighting-groupthink-with-dissent.php
Strategies for combating groupthink.
IM 7-17
Psychologists for Social Responsibility
http://www.psysr.org/about/pubs_resources/groupthink%20overview.htm
Provides an overview of groupthink and lists additional resources.
University of Pittsburgh
http://www.pitt.edu/~groups/kabindex.html
Defines cohesiveness and suggests ways to develop optimal cohesiveness.
Other Activities
Parker Team Player Survey is a self-assessment instrument to identify communication styles. Available
from CRM Press. (Same address as CRM Films.)
Several team-building activities are available from Talisco, particularly “Crisis in Mantique” and
“Hurricane Disaster Exercise.”
Quest, a project sponsored by NASA, provides online educational resources to support schools in using
information technologies and Internet as tools for learning. Find ongoing interactive projects, articles on
learning, online teams, and constant updates of projects. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov
