Sometimes we don’t know what to do during team meetings. We’re not sure how to act or what role to play on the team. Should we say something or just keep our head down and my mouth shut?
There are more than a dozen task roles that need to be played on a team. Be prepared to play many roles on a team. They are each important and help teams get things done.
You can be:
- An Initiator/Contributor and contribute ideas and suggestions.
- Or an Information Seeker and ask for information and facts.
- Or an Information Giver and offer facts or generalizations.
You can be:
- An Opinion Seeker and ask for others’ opinions.
- Or an Opinion Giver and state your opinions and beliefs.
- Or an Elaborator/Clarifier who expands ideas and offer rationales.
You could be:
- A Coordinator and integrate information and ideas.
- Or a Diagnostician and help clarify the problem.
- Or an Orienter/Summarizer that keeps the team on track.
You could play:
- The Energizer and encourage the team and boost their emotional and physical energy.
- Or the Procedure Developer who handles equipment, papers, and seating arrangements.
- Or the Secretary and keep notes and record progress.
Finally, you could play the role of Evaluator/Critic and constructively analyze ideas.
Cast yourself into the roles you enjoy. Be the supporting actor and help the team create great solutions to problems. Life is a stage, so play a role.
Think about these functional task roles like the spark plugs in your car engine. When a couple aren’t working properly, its hard to accelerate, performance is weak, and the result is disappointing. It’s the same way on a team if a couple of these roles aren’t being played.
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