1. In the labeled groups, have participants (in turn) guess what
members try to guess what role each participant was playing.
2. Discuss the results:
the role designated, especially isolates, leaders, and clowns. This
shows the power of role labeling and how groups shape roles
played by members. If the group wants you to be an isolate, you
will become an isolate because after being ignored, you will give
up and shut up.
A. Purposes:
2. To allow group members to compare how they saw themselves
a. Labeled groups usually have several members who become
b. Interactions among members of groups with hidden roles
usually show very clearly the problem of hidden agendas
(personal goals pursued by members without the group’s
knowledge–in this case a specific role planned in advance of any
discussion).
c. Discuss how participants felt during the role playing.
the program) available on YouTube at:
VI. “Role Feedback” exercise
1. To provide useful feedback from symposium group members.
role they each thought they were and why they thought that.
In the “hidden agenda” roles groups (slips of paper), have group
distribute the forms all at once. Anonymity is not required but
usually works best.
D. Processing the exercise
1. Allow participants to discuss the feedback if they so wish.
2. Encourage all participants to learn from this feedback so they can
improve for their second symposium group in any areas deemed
inadequate.
3. Have participants focus on role flexibility versus role fixation.
FEEDBACK FORM
INSTRUCTIONS: Please fill out this feedback form for yourself and each
member of your term group. You may remain anonymous if you wish.
Name of Group Member:___________________
1. The degree of participation was:
Low 1 2 3 4 5 High
2. How task-oriented (showed interest in meeting group goals) was this
person?
Low 1 2 3 4 5 High
3. How socially oriented (concerned about the relationships among group
members) was this person?
Low 1 2 3 4 5 High
4. How much influence did this person exert on the group’s decisions?
Low 1 2 3 4 5 High
Using the scale above, indicate the degree to which this person played the
following roles:
TASK
_____Initiator-Contributor _____ Coordinator
_____ Information Seeker _____ Secretary-Recorder
_____ Opinion Seeker _____ Facilitator
_____ Information Giver _____ Devil’s Advocate
_____ Clarifier-Elaborator
MAINTENANCE
_____ Supporter-Encourager _____ Gatekeeper-Expediter
_____ Harmonizer-Tension Reliever
DISRUPTIVE
_____ Stagehog _____ Fighter-Controller
_____ Isolate _____ Zealot
_____ Clown _____ Cynic
_____ Blocker
CHAPTER 6
Leadership in Groups
I. Excerpt from the movie, Runaway Jury. Show the scene about 20 minutes into the
movie in which the John Cusack character acts as a lieutenant for the blind man to be
foreman of the jury. Great, short scene illustrating how a lieutenant can sway a group
to choose a leader. Illustrates emergent leadership process.
II. Excerpt from the movie, A League of Their Own.
A. This movie tells the story of the first professional women’s baseball
league. The Rockford Peaches coach, Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), is a
former professional baseball player turned drunk. He shows little initial
interest in the team, but eventually he decides to coach them seriously.
Show two excerpts from this movie. First, show the scene where Dugan
is berating Evelyn for a throw that misses the cutoff player (“There’s no
crying in baseball”). It begins about halfway into the film when a game
announcer says over the loudspeaker, “So with two runs in the sixth inning,
South Bend gets even.” It ends when the umpire throws Dugan out of the
game and his team applauds derisively. The second clip shows Evelyn
making the same mistake in the playoff game. It begins about 20 minutes
from the end of the movie. The Peaches are playing in the World Series. The
score is 0 to 0 in the eight inning. Start the clip when Dottie (Geena Davis)
pulls up her catcher’s mask and says, “2 down, 2 down.” End the clip
when Evelyn says, “Thanks Mr. Dugan.”
B. These two scenes provide a nice contrast of leadership styles. In the first
scene, Dugan is abusive to Evelyn (emotional incontinence). His
memorable line, “There’s no crying in baseball” applies a leadership style
(directive/autocratic) that fits poorly with his female players. They need
encouragement (selling style), not ridicule. In the second scene Dugan
struggles mightily to control himself and ultimately succeeds. The two
scenes shown together illustrate that the “central, overriding point to
make is that leadership is an adaptive process.” The “one style fits all”
leadership approach works only in certain circumstances, but will fail in
others.
C. These two scenes also show the importance of the social dimension in
groups. Leaders must be cognizant of the interpersonal relations between
leader and followers (coach and players), not merely task driven. Dugan
is task oriented in the first scene and unconscious of the importance of
social relations to task achievement. Players are more focused on
consoling abused players than learning the game and succeeding.
D. Additionally, these two excerpts show the influence followers have on
leaders. Leaders must meet the expectations of followers to lead
effectively. Dugan in the first scene has lost his players respect. They
applaud when he is ejected from the game. There is open dissension,
even defiance exhibited. His transformation in the second scene earns
respect from the players.
E. There are several additional scenes that can be excerpted from this
movie to show “emotional incontinence” of coach Dugan, autocratic
(directive) versus democratic (participative) leadership styles, and the
centrality of competent communication to effective leadership.
III. Show excerpt from the film Crimson Tide. About two-thirds into the movie there is
a powerful confrontation between Gene Hackman (captain of the submarine) and
Denzel Washington (second in command) regarding a partial message about
whether to launch nuclear weapons at a Russian renegade group seemingly about to
fire nukes at the U. S. Shows difference between autocratic (directive) leadership
style and democratic (participative) style. Discuss the pros and cons.
IV. Show scene toward end of movie The Doctor in which The William Hurt character
requires doctors-in-training to act as patients for 72 hours. Nice example of servant
leadership.
V. PSYCHOPATHIC LEADERS:
(My thanks to Professor John Gilgun, Los Rios College, for this suggestion)
See article by Jon Ronson on “The Psychopath Test” at:
http://www.npr.org/2011/05/21/136462824/a-psychopath-walks-into-a-room-can–you-tell
Show TED talk on psychopathic leaders available at:
http://video.ted.com/talk/podcast/2012/None/JonRonson_2012-480p.mp4
Discuss the implications for small group communication and leadership.
NOTE: Show Scene #2 in movie Horrible Bosses as example of psychopathic leaders.
Excellent dramatization of the research on psychopathic leaders discussed above.
VI. An excerpt from the movie, The Dream Team, if this movie is not
shown as a substitute for the Twelve Angry Men exam/paper described
earlier, can be shown here for analysis of informal roles, pattern of
leadership emergence, leadership styles, functional approaches to
leadership, and leadership and teambuilding.
A. Begin clip about two-thirds into the film. The Dream Team members
are looking for their psychiatrist, Dr. Weitzman. They enter a
hospital. Finish the movie from this point–about 45 minutes total. A
shorter clip (last 20 minutes of film), beginning with all four team
members in jail, could be used if desired.
B. Distribute a list of questions for group members to answer as they
view the video clip. Suggested questions:
1. Billy emerges as team leader. Does this emergence follow closely
the standard leadership emergence pattern described in the text?
Explain. Discuss each team member in terms of the “thou shalt
nots” for leader emergence discussed in the text.
2. Which leadership styles did Billy use? Were they effective?
3. Apply situational leadership and functional leadership
perspectives to the Dream Team.
4. Analyze the communication competence of each team member.
CHAPTER 7
Developing Effective Teams
I. Lecture/discussion on teambuilding
A. Effective/ineffective team members
B. Team structure
C. Team leadership
II. “The Marshmallow Challenge
A. Type Marshmallowchallenge.com into Google search window. You can now access
a TED talk by Tom Wujec (6:45 mins). He explains the creative problem solving
challenge and some interesting and amusing results. Show his brief talk after having
your class attempt the Marshmallow Challenge.
B. Have teams of four members do the marshmallow challenge.
C. Following the Egg Drop exercise, this can cement important points on teamwork,
cooperative problem solving, anticipating Murphy‘s Law, and moving beyond
mindsets requiring reframing.
D. Variation: after four-member teams attempt the challenge, have the entire class
work together on a single design. Give the class a box of spaghetti, 5 yards of tape
and 5 yards of string, and five marshmallows all that must be placed on the top.
Discuss the importance of prototypes (to account for Murphy’s Law) before building
the final product. Does leadership emerge? What style?
III. “The Deep Dive”
A. Access the excellent ABC Nightline 25-minute video entitled: “The Deep Dive.”
This is available on YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooN05Q030Qo&list=PL65FF22BBC5A7A59C
&index=1
B. This is an excellent video on IDEO, “The Innovation Company.” “Nightline”
gives IDEO a challenging goal to reinvent the common shopping cart. You see
teambuilding and teamwork in action as IDEO teams research, brainstorm, and
develop a prototype shopping cart for the future.
C. Discuss team members and deep diversity, optimistic “can–do” attitudes,
commitment to the challenging goal, team identity at IDEO, designated
roles, team empowerment, and team leadership. This video dovetails
nicely with text material on IDEO. Highly recommended!
D. An alternative, more recent video about IDEO is also available at:
http://www.ideo.com/60minutes/
E. See also: http://yannigroth.com/2011/08/12/the-ideo-shopping-cart-1998-wasnt-
a-failure-the-concept-was-just-ahead-of–its-time/
IV. Juggling Teamwork
A. The juggling team of Owen Morse and Jon Wee demonstrate collaborative
interdependence, available on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9MGWAfkfVc
B. This is an unconventional video for demonstrating principles of teamwork,
but Morse and Wee are extremely popular as motivational speakers and
entertainers and are often booked to discuss teamwork in their unique
manner. They also were finalists on “America’s Got Talent” TV show. The tape
is very amusing. Collaborative interdependence is critical in their work. They
keep raising the goal to a more challenging level. This is just a fun way to
introduce teamwork (even though this is not a small group but merely a pair
working together).
V. “The Straw Bridge” Teamwork Exercise
A. Purposes:
1. To provide an opportunity for creative problem solving.
2. To create teamwork.
3. To illustrate the importance of cooperation on an interdependent
task.
4. To show leader emergence, leadership styles, role emergence, and
norms in groups.
B. Time required: 75 minutes
C. Instructions
1. Task
a. Build a platform (a horizontal, flat structure of about 4-6 inches square)
from plastic straws and tape only. The challenge is to build some kind of
STRONG bridge structure of straws and tape that connects to two
parallel tables placed about 3-feet apart in the center of the classroom and
supports the platform so that the platform:
1) is raised about tabletop high from the ground,
2) is about dead-center between the two parallel tables,
3) is attached in some way to the two parallel tables, and
4) is capable of sustaining maximum weight placed on the platform.
Once the structure has been completed (about 30 minutes allowed), small
and large weights used for weightlifting (in increments of one-and-a-
quarter, two-and-a-half, five, and ten pounds) will be placed carefully on
the platform one at a time until the structure collapses. (The record at this
writing is an astounding 103 pounds)
b. This is a STRAW bridge/platform, so the tape can be used only to
connect
and strengthen the straw structure. Long strips of tape may not be used for
supports
c. The platform may swing from the arms above the ground, be
supported by a structure underneath the platform (an “oil derrick”
structure, for example) or the platform may be supported additionally
from straw “cables” attached to the ceiling, lights, or whatever. DO NOT
SUGGEST ANY OF THESE POSSIBILITIES to the class. These
suggestions have been included only to describe the parameters of the
exercise.
d. Some groups realize that tying straws together at the ends is extremely
effective, much more so than merely taping straws together. Also, building a
column of straws taped together to act as a support under the center portion
of the platform where the weight will be placed to test its strength is an
effective design. Occasionally a group will try hanging a length of
connected straws from the ceiling of the room, taped to the platform
and acting as a support like a cable on a suspension bridge.
2. Procedure
a. Time limit: 50 minutes for design and construction
b. The class will be given 200 straws and two dispensers of scotch tape.
If possible, make half of the straws straight plastic and half plastic flex
straws. Providing more than 200 straws will require more weights to test
the strength of the structure.
c. Brainstorming: Divide the class into 4 teams. Have each team spend
10 minutes on brainstorming ideas for designing the structure. Guide
brainstorming by putting the following brainstorming rules on the board:
1). Encourage wild ideas
2). Focus all ideas on task (stay on topic)
3). No idea killers/criticism (“That won’t work”)
4). Record all ideas
5). Build on ideas (piggyback)
d. Have each team report its best ideas for a design to the entire class
(about 5-10 minutes). Write ideas on board. Drawing designs on the
board is encouraged. Have each group briefly discuss, debate the pros and
distribute the forms all at once. Anonymity is not required but
usually works best.
D. Processing the exercise
1. Allow participants to discuss the feedback if they so wish.
2. Encourage all participants to learn from this feedback so they can
improve for their second symposium group in any areas deemed
inadequate.
3. Have participants focus on role flexibility versus role fixation.
FEEDBACK FORM
INSTRUCTIONS: Please fill out this feedback form for yourself and each
member of your term group. You may remain anonymous if you wish.
Name of Group Member:___________________
1. The degree of participation was:
Low 1 2 3 4 5 High
2. How task-oriented (showed interest in meeting group goals) was this
person?
Low 1 2 3 4 5 High
3. How socially oriented (concerned about the relationships among group
members) was this person?
Low 1 2 3 4 5 High
4. How much influence did this person exert on the group’s decisions?
Low 1 2 3 4 5 High
Using the scale above, indicate the degree to which this person played the
following roles:
TASK
_____Initiator-Contributor _____ Coordinator
_____ Information Seeker _____ Secretary-Recorder
_____ Opinion Seeker _____ Facilitator
_____ Information Giver _____ Devil’s Advocate
_____ Clarifier-Elaborator
MAINTENANCE
_____ Supporter-Encourager _____ Gatekeeper-Expediter
_____ Harmonizer-Tension Reliever
DISRUPTIVE
_____ Stagehog _____ Fighter-Controller
_____ Isolate _____ Zealot
_____ Clown _____ Cynic
_____ Blocker
CHAPTER 6
Leadership in Groups
I. Excerpt from the movie, Runaway Jury. Show the scene about 20 minutes into the
movie in which the John Cusack character acts as a lieutenant for the blind man to be
foreman of the jury. Great, short scene illustrating how a lieutenant can sway a group
to choose a leader. Illustrates emergent leadership process.
II. Excerpt from the movie, A League of Their Own.
A. This movie tells the story of the first professional women’s baseball
league. The Rockford Peaches coach, Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), is a
former professional baseball player turned drunk. He shows little initial
interest in the team, but eventually he decides to coach them seriously.
Show two excerpts from this movie. First, show the scene where Dugan
is berating Evelyn for a throw that misses the cutoff player (“There’s no
crying in baseball”). It begins about halfway into the film when a game
announcer says over the loudspeaker, “So with two runs in the sixth inning,
South Bend gets even.” It ends when the umpire throws Dugan out of the
game and his team applauds derisively. The second clip shows Evelyn
making the same mistake in the playoff game. It begins about 20 minutes
from the end of the movie. The Peaches are playing in the World Series. The
score is 0 to 0 in the eight inning. Start the clip when Dottie (Geena Davis)
pulls up her catcher’s mask and says, “2 down, 2 down.” End the clip
when Evelyn says, “Thanks Mr. Dugan.”
B. These two scenes provide a nice contrast of leadership styles. In the first
scene, Dugan is abusive to Evelyn (emotional incontinence). His
memorable line, “There’s no crying in baseball” applies a leadership style
(directive/autocratic) that fits poorly with his female players. They need
encouragement (selling style), not ridicule. In the second scene Dugan
struggles mightily to control himself and ultimately succeeds. The two
scenes shown together illustrate that the “central, overriding point to
make is that leadership is an adaptive process.” The “one style fits all”
leadership approach works only in certain circumstances, but will fail in
others.
C. These two scenes also show the importance of the social dimension in
groups. Leaders must be cognizant of the interpersonal relations between
leader and followers (coach and players), not merely task driven. Dugan
is task oriented in the first scene and unconscious of the importance of
social relations to task achievement. Players are more focused on
consoling abused players than learning the game and succeeding.
D. Additionally, these two excerpts show the influence followers have on
leaders. Leaders must meet the expectations of followers to lead
effectively. Dugan in the first scene has lost his players respect. They
applaud when he is ejected from the game. There is open dissension,
even defiance exhibited. His transformation in the second scene earns
respect from the players.
E. There are several additional scenes that can be excerpted from this
movie to show “emotional incontinence” of coach Dugan, autocratic
(directive) versus democratic (participative) leadership styles, and the
centrality of competent communication to effective leadership.
III. Show excerpt from the film Crimson Tide. About two-thirds into the movie there is
a powerful confrontation between Gene Hackman (captain of the submarine) and
Denzel Washington (second in command) regarding a partial message about
whether to launch nuclear weapons at a Russian renegade group seemingly about to
fire nukes at the U. S. Shows difference between autocratic (directive) leadership
style and democratic (participative) style. Discuss the pros and cons.
IV. Show scene toward end of movie The Doctor in which The William Hurt character
requires doctors-in-training to act as patients for 72 hours. Nice example of servant
leadership.
V. PSYCHOPATHIC LEADERS:
(My thanks to Professor John Gilgun, Los Rios College, for this suggestion)
See article by Jon Ronson on “The Psychopath Test” at:
http://www.npr.org/2011/05/21/136462824/a-psychopath-walks-into-a-room-can–you-tell
Show TED talk on psychopathic leaders available at:
http://video.ted.com/talk/podcast/2012/None/JonRonson_2012-480p.mp4
Discuss the implications for small group communication and leadership.
NOTE: Show Scene #2 in movie Horrible Bosses as example of psychopathic leaders.
Excellent dramatization of the research on psychopathic leaders discussed above.
VI. An excerpt from the movie, The Dream Team, if this movie is not
shown as a substitute for the Twelve Angry Men exam/paper described
earlier, can be shown here for analysis of informal roles, pattern of
leadership emergence, leadership styles, functional approaches to
leadership, and leadership and teambuilding.
A. Begin clip about two-thirds into the film. The Dream Team members
are looking for their psychiatrist, Dr. Weitzman. They enter a
hospital. Finish the movie from this point–about 45 minutes total. A
shorter clip (last 20 minutes of film), beginning with all four team
members in jail, could be used if desired.
B. Distribute a list of questions for group members to answer as they
view the video clip. Suggested questions:
1. Billy emerges as team leader. Does this emergence follow closely
the standard leadership emergence pattern described in the text?
Explain. Discuss each team member in terms of the “thou shalt
nots” for leader emergence discussed in the text.
2. Which leadership styles did Billy use? Were they effective?
3. Apply situational leadership and functional leadership
perspectives to the Dream Team.
4. Analyze the communication competence of each team member.
CHAPTER 7
Developing Effective Teams
I. Lecture/discussion on teambuilding
A. Effective/ineffective team members
B. Team structure
C. Team leadership
II. “The Marshmallow Challenge
A. Type Marshmallowchallenge.com into Google search window. You can now access
a TED talk by Tom Wujec (6:45 mins). He explains the creative problem solving
challenge and some interesting and amusing results. Show his brief talk after having
your class attempt the Marshmallow Challenge.
B. Have teams of four members do the marshmallow challenge.
C. Following the Egg Drop exercise, this can cement important points on teamwork,
cooperative problem solving, anticipating Murphy‘s Law, and moving beyond
mindsets requiring reframing.
D. Variation: after four-member teams attempt the challenge, have the entire class
work together on a single design. Give the class a box of spaghetti, 5 yards of tape
and 5 yards of string, and five marshmallows all that must be placed on the top.
Discuss the importance of prototypes (to account for Murphy’s Law) before building
the final product. Does leadership emerge? What style?
III. “The Deep Dive”
A. Access the excellent ABC Nightline 25-minute video entitled: “The Deep Dive.”
This is available on YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooN05Q030Qo&list=PL65FF22BBC5A7A59C
&index=1
B. This is an excellent video on IDEO, “The Innovation Company.” “Nightline”
gives IDEO a challenging goal to reinvent the common shopping cart. You see
teambuilding and teamwork in action as IDEO teams research, brainstorm, and
develop a prototype shopping cart for the future.
C. Discuss team members and deep diversity, optimistic “can–do” attitudes,
commitment to the challenging goal, team identity at IDEO, designated
roles, team empowerment, and team leadership. This video dovetails
nicely with text material on IDEO. Highly recommended!
D. An alternative, more recent video about IDEO is also available at:
http://www.ideo.com/60minutes/
E. See also: http://yannigroth.com/2011/08/12/the-ideo-shopping-cart-1998-wasnt-
a-failure-the-concept-was-just-ahead-of–its-time/
IV. Juggling Teamwork
A. The juggling team of Owen Morse and Jon Wee demonstrate collaborative
interdependence, available on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9MGWAfkfVc
B. This is an unconventional video for demonstrating principles of teamwork,
but Morse and Wee are extremely popular as motivational speakers and
entertainers and are often booked to discuss teamwork in their unique
manner. They also were finalists on “America’s Got Talent” TV show. The tape
is very amusing. Collaborative interdependence is critical in their work. They
keep raising the goal to a more challenging level. This is just a fun way to
introduce teamwork (even though this is not a small group but merely a pair
working together).
V. “The Straw Bridge” Teamwork Exercise
A. Purposes:
1. To provide an opportunity for creative problem solving.
2. To create teamwork.
3. To illustrate the importance of cooperation on an interdependent
task.
4. To show leader emergence, leadership styles, role emergence, and
norms in groups.
B. Time required: 75 minutes
C. Instructions
1. Task
a. Build a platform (a horizontal, flat structure of about 4-6 inches square)
from plastic straws and tape only. The challenge is to build some kind of
STRONG bridge structure of straws and tape that connects to two
parallel tables placed about 3-feet apart in the center of the classroom and
supports the platform so that the platform:
1) is raised about tabletop high from the ground,
2) is about dead-center between the two parallel tables,
3) is attached in some way to the two parallel tables, and
4) is capable of sustaining maximum weight placed on the platform.
Once the structure has been completed (about 30 minutes allowed), small
and large weights used for weightlifting (in increments of one-and-a-
quarter, two-and-a-half, five, and ten pounds) will be placed carefully on
the platform one at a time until the structure collapses. (The record at this
writing is an astounding 103 pounds)
b. This is a STRAW bridge/platform, so the tape can be used only to
connect
and strengthen the straw structure. Long strips of tape may not be used for
supports
c. The platform may swing from the arms above the ground, be
supported by a structure underneath the platform (an “oil derrick”
structure, for example) or the platform may be supported additionally
from straw “cables” attached to the ceiling, lights, or whatever. DO NOT
SUGGEST ANY OF THESE POSSIBILITIES to the class. These
suggestions have been included only to describe the parameters of the
exercise.
d. Some groups realize that tying straws together at the ends is extremely
effective, much more so than merely taping straws together. Also, building a
column of straws taped together to act as a support under the center portion
of the platform where the weight will be placed to test its strength is an
effective design. Occasionally a group will try hanging a length of
connected straws from the ceiling of the room, taped to the platform
and acting as a support like a cable on a suspension bridge.
2. Procedure
a. Time limit: 50 minutes for design and construction
b. The class will be given 200 straws and two dispensers of scotch tape.
If possible, make half of the straws straight plastic and half plastic flex
straws. Providing more than 200 straws will require more weights to test
the strength of the structure.
c. Brainstorming: Divide the class into 4 teams. Have each team spend
10 minutes on brainstorming ideas for designing the structure. Guide
brainstorming by putting the following brainstorming rules on the board:
1). Encourage wild ideas
2). Focus all ideas on task (stay on topic)
3). No idea killers/criticism (“That won’t work”)
4). Record all ideas
5). Build on ideas (piggyback)
d. Have each team report its best ideas for a design to the entire class
(about 5-10 minutes). Write ideas on board. Drawing designs on the
board is encouraged. Have each group briefly discuss, debate the pros and