GROUP ROLES AND NORMS

Roles: expections regarding behavior of a group member in a specific positions

NORMS: a group's unspoken rules: generally agreed-on informal rules that guide all members' behavior in the group. Norms represent shared ways of viewing the world.

Norms, if written down, become formal rules of proper conduct. However, in most instances, norms are adopted implicitly as people align their behaviors during the group formation process until consensus in actions emerges.

ROLES: sets of shared expectations about who should do what under a given set of circumstances.

Certain structures are common to virtually all groups. These structures provide an underlying organization for the role, status, attraction, and communication relationships among members, and they influence a variety of group processes. Thus, individuals who occupy specific roles generally perform a specific set of behaviors in their groups.

A variety of roles can develop as group members interact with one another (role differentiation), however, most fall under one of two categories:

• task roles and
• socioemotional roles

Roles create stable patterns of behavior in groups, so disruptions in role relations can be stressful.

initiator-contributor:

• suggests new ideas to solve group problem or new ways for the group to organize the task

information giver/seeker:

• deals with information and facts about the group's task

opinion seeker/giver:

• deals with the group's values regarding its tasks

• tries to keep up the group's energy level

• goes into detail about how group plans would work

• coordinates group activities

• keeps the group focused on its goals

• acts as the memory of the group

• tries to keep relations between group members harmonious

• offers to compromise own position to keep the group harmonious

• praises and encourages group members

• facilitates the participation of othrers in the group

• supplies the group with observations of its procedures

• disagrees with the group and revives old issues for discussion

• seeks personal honor in the group

• attempts to manipulate the group and dominate others -- persecutor

• refuses to focus on the task or group relationship problems

• attacks the group

• uses the group as a forum for inappropriate talk about self

• looks for sympathy from others -- victim

• shows non-involvement in group and engages in distracting communication

• attempts to manipulate the group and dominate others

• position title
• job description
• organizational directives