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ACTIVITY 8.5 ROLES IN GROUP DISCUSSION
Purpose: Students should be able to identify the roles that people play in group
discussion; to specify methods for capitalizing on constructive roles and for minimizing
Procedure: Divide the students into groups of five. If there are students left over, have
them act as observers. Each group member should receive one of the following role
descriptions:
The Roles:
Authoritarian leader: You are the leader of this group. You should control the decisions
made by the group. You may ask for others’ opinions, but the final decision is yours.
Clown: You do not take the problem seriously. You want to make people laugh. Your
remarks are frequent, but they are not relevant. You like to poke fun at others in the
group and express “off the wall” ideas.
from criticizing others. You like to tear apart others’ ideas, even if you have to make
up fallacious arguments or use misleading information.
Each group member should also receive “The Bob Lee Case Study,” which follows.
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
Before the fourth test, Bob complained to a fraternity brother who was also in the
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,
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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 key that the professor had given him. He was tutoring
nine of Bob’s classmates for five dollars a test, or ten dollars if the student
wanted the answers to memorize. The fraternity brother invited Bob to join the
group.
After each group has reached a decision, have the students discuss their observations
and reactions to each of the roles they enacted or watched. The students should focus
their discussion on a description of each person’s behavior, trying to ascertain the role
assigned. They should also describe their reactions to each of the roles and report the
effect of the roles on group communication. Especially important is a recognition of the
barriers to effective group process that each role entails. The class should discuss ways
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.
Debriefing: This activity illustrates how different types and needs affect a group
discussion. The concepts of empathic listening and defensiveness are important if
students are to learn how to recognize and cope with the deviant group member. In
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ACTIVITY 8.6 GROUP PROBLEM SOLVING
Purpose: Students should be able to discuss the advantages of group versus individual
problem solving; to tell why groups are able to solve problems more efficiently than
Procedure: Divide the students into groups of five. Give a different information sheet
(A, B, C, D, or E) to each student in the group. If there are extra students, have them act
as observers. Do not give the observers information sheets. Each student in the group
should have access to only part of the information needed to solve the problem—that is,
INFORMATION SHEET A
1. On one recent day, the following tidbits of information concerning five executives,
2. From the tidbits overheard at the cooler (you may assume that they are all factual),
can you give each executive’s full name and position?
INFORMATION SHEET B
1. Appleby, Barton, Chambers, Dow, and Eggars are all executives of the Widget
2. Three of the executives are often in bad moods. Dow tends to be a terror on
3. There is a long-standing feud between Barton and the sales manager.
INFORMATION SHEET C
1. Kristina and the personnel director attended the same college.
3. Three of the executives are often in bad moods. Dow tends to be a terror on
Monday. The office manager’s bad day is Friday. The sales manager’s moods are
completely unpredictable.
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INFORMATION SHEET D
1. The president recently approved a raise for John, which was deeply resented by
both Harvey and the personnel director.
3. Eggars told Harvey that his wife is expecting a baby and that he needs a raise soon
or he will resign.
INFORMATION SHEET E
1. Chambers is given to pulling rank on both Kristina and Barton.
3. John, Chambers, and the sales manager get together for lunch every Thursday.
Answer to Logic Problem
President—Irene Chambers
Vice president—Kristina Dow
Office manager—John Barton
Personnel Director—George Eggars
Sales manager—Harvey Appleby
(1) What is the nature of the problem facing us? (2) What might be done to solve the
problem? (3) What are the probable benefits and possible negative consequences of
each proposed solution? (4) What is the best possible solution we can all support? (5)
What will we do to put our solution into effect? The students should come to realize that
Debriefing: This activity illustrates the importance of effective communication in small-
group discussion and the necessity for using several channels of communication.
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ACTIVITY 8.7 LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS
Purpose: Students should be able to identify characteristics associated with leadership;
to describe situations in which these characteristics would not be beneficial to a
potential leader; and to explain why the trait approach to leadership may be less useful
than other approaches.
Procedure: Ask the students to individually list as many characteristics of leadership as
they can. You may help them get started by suggesting some examples, such as
warmth, friendliness, assertiveness, an ability to communicate with large groups of
people, and so on. After each student has listed about ten characteristics, have the
students write one sentence for each characteristic explaining how that characteristic
would be useful to an individual in a leadership role. When the students have finished,
Lead a discussion that focuses on the relative usefulness of identifying leadership
characteristics. The students should recognize that virtually all individual character traits
can be both useful and detrimental to leadership. Discuss the implications of the relative
nature of leadership traits. What should the individual who wishes to be a leader learn
from this activity? How can individuals improve their ability to serve as leaders?
Debriefing: This activity helps the students to understand that leadership
characteristics are relative, and no traits guarantee a leadership role. You may want to
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ACTIVITY 8.8 LEADERSHIP STYLES
Purpose: Students should be able to identify different leadership styles; to differentiate
among these styles; and to illustrate behaviors associated with these styles.
Procedure: Instruct the students to divide a sheet of paper into three columns and then
to further divide the paper into three rows so that they have nine squares. Tell them to
write “Laissez-faire response” at the top of the third column. Explain that you will read
Some examples of situations that you might read to the students follow, but you can
create other situations that are more relevant for your class or that are derived from
actual small-group interactions in your classroom.
SITUATION 1
You have been meeting with a student-faculty committee that is charged with finding a
musical group for the annual homecoming celebration. The group has expressed a
variety of different suggestions, and little agreement has been apparent. You are now
SITUATION 2
You are in a study group. One group member is a real clown and keeps the group
entertained. However, he or she also tends to distract the group from its purpose, and at
SITUATION 3
You are in a self-help group. One group member dominates the discussion each time
you meet. This person seems to feel that his or her problems are more important than
anyone else’s. Every time another group member discusses his or her problems, the
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Lead a discussion about the implications of this activity. Ask the students if they had
more difficulty writing down one of the three responses each time. If so, why? They may
realize that they have a tendency to handle problems in one leadership style and that
the other leadership styles are more difficult to illustrate because they are foreign to
Ask the students if they believe that there is a “preferred” response in each case. Again,
students may perceive their own typical leadership style as “better” than a style that is
less familiar to them.
Debriefing: This activity helps the students to understand the behaviors that are
associated with three styles of leadership. You may want to relate this activity to
stereotyping and perception, self-awareness, and listening.
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ACTIVITY 8.9 LEADERSHIP AWARENESS
Purpose: Students should be able to identify characteristics associated with leadership;
to describe their own leadership characteristics; and to state behaviors that they might
incorporate into their repertoire that would make them more successful as a leader.
Procedure: The students should be seated in a large circle or around a table so that
everyone can see everyone else. Tell the students that they should each state some
personal characteristic that makes them a successful leader. If someone cannot think of
Ask the students if they had more difficulty in disclosing a positive leadership
characteristic that they possessed or in stating some change that they were willing to try
to make. Why would some people have more difficulty with one than the other? What
can be generalized about the positive characteristics that students named? Were the
characteristics primarily people-related, or were they related more to the
accomplishment of a specific task or goal? Did the women in the class suggest people-
Debriefing: This activity helps the students to understand their personal leadership
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ACTIVITY 8.10 LEADING A TASK
Purpose: Students should be able to assess the importance of leadership in a task
group and to distinguish between appointed and emergent leaders.
Procedure: Divide the class into small groups of five to seven students and assign
them a task (for example, construct a logo or develop a set of group communication
norms). The instructor should appoint leaders in some groups but not in others. The
After the task is complete, groups should comment on the role that leaders played in
attaining the task. Groups who were not appointed a leader should discuss the
transpiration of events and what, if any, leadership skills characterized their
Debriefing: This activity underscores the importance of leadership in task-oriented
groups.
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ACTIVITY 8.11 INFLUENTIAL LEADERS
Purpose: Students should be able to list ways in which leaders influence the direction
and attainment of goals in small groups.
Procedure: Instruct the students to think about the following statement: “Whenever an
individual influences another person, he or she is exhibiting leadership behavior.” Divide
This activity is an interesting one to ascertain the possible sex differences in deciding
the applicability of the statement. Class discussion should illustrate the specific
episodes that underscore the perspective on leadership. The class should determine
Debriefing: This activity aids in deciding the frequency with which leadership occurs.
Students will likely gain a deeper appreciation for those who are in leadership positions
on a daily basis. In addition, sex differences and similarities will prove intriguing to note.
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ACTIVITY 8.12 GROUP OBSERVATION
Purpose: Students should be able to assess the importance of nonverbal
communication in a small-group setting.
Procedure: Divide the class into small groups of five to seven students. Instruct
Most of the student discussion should focus on such areas as proxemics and eye
contact that facilitated (or debilitated) groups members’ interaction patterns. The
Debriefing: Students will realize the implications of utilizing nonverbal communication
to embellish discussion competency in small groups.
ACTIVITY 8.13 SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE COURTS
Purpose: Students should be able to conduct library research to identify a current court
case related to sexual harassment in the workplace. Students should be able to think
critically about sexual harassment as a communication issue.
Procedure: Before class, assign groups of three or four students the responsibility of
finding an article highlighting a sexual harassment case that has been settled either
Have students serve as jury members who must decide the outcomes of each case.
The student “experts” on the case should lead class discussion among jury members.
After student juries make decisions, each “expert” group can share the official outcome
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ACTIVITY 8.14 PREVENTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Purpose: Each student should complete the “Preventing Sexual Harassment” online
training course sponsored by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and New Media
Learning.
Procedure: Before class, require each student to complete the complimentary online
training entitled “Preventing Sexual Harassment” sponsored by the New Jersey
Chamber of Commerce and New Media Learning. This training takes approximately 30
minutes to complete. Upon completion, students can print off a certificate verifying they
Using the hypothetical scenarios provided by the training program, talk about various
language and nonverbal cues often associated with both quid pro quo and hostile work
environment sexual harassment. Ask students to come up with individual and
organizational strategies for addressing the scenarios.
