Task facilitating roles are roles that help a team
accomplish its goals, outcomes and objectives. Task facilitating roles are
important as they help a team effectively and efficiently achieve the goals it
has put before them. There are nine task facilitating roles that assist with a
team staying on track towards its objectives. It is important that there are a
few members on a team that are task oriented, to always ensure that the
important topics are being discussed that will in turn help the team to solve
their issue and make them successful in achieving those goals. The most common
task facilitating roles are; direction giving, information seeking, information
giving, elaborating, urging, monitoring, process analyzing, reality testing,
enforcing and summarizing.
In addition to task facilitating
roles, relationship building roles are also imperative to a team’s success as
these roles emphasize the interpersonal aspects of the team. The main goal of
relationship building roles is to ensure that the team is able to interact with
one another, trust and enjoy each other as well as the efforts of the team as
well as maintain a friendly and open team dynamic. Relationship building roles
are most important when team tension is high, team dynamic or team performance
is decreasing, and when there is negative feedback or disagreements between
team members. The most common relationship building roles are; supporting,
harmonizing, tension relieving, confronting, energizing, developing, consensus
building, and empathizing.
In my experiences with teams that I
have been a part of, I do feel as though I actively engage in my team to
accomplish its mission. I feel I accomplish this as I do my best to engage with
each individual on the team to ensure that I have a professional relationship
with them so there is a level of trust and respect. I also do my best to
interact with the leader or manager to also share this one on one relationship
where I am able to both give and receive constructive criticism. I do my best
to be honest and contribute to the team’s strengths by thinking outside of the
box and welcoming the ideas and suggestions of others.
When it is time to listen, I make sure that I am
hearing everyone out and take into consideration all suggestions everyone has
made without bias. When it is time to speak, I do my best to make sure that I
am providing a clear picture or description of the information I am trying to
get across to ensure there is no confusion in the message I am delivering. If
there is a timeline to get something done, whether it is as a team or as an
individual, I ensure that part is done on time and to the best of my ability
with all of the necessary information I may have needed to accomplish my task. I
think a little bit of each of these things, allows for me to effectively
contribute to my teams success and to actively engage in my team in order for
them to help them achieve their mission.
I also feel as though I do assist in
helping my team improve team cohesion and collaboration. To accomplish this I
do my best to try and balance both task facilitating and relationship building
roles. If I am sitting in a meeting where my team seems to have strayed off
course or off topic, from the issue we are trying to accomplish, I try to bring
this to the attention of the team so we all ensure that we come full circle in
realizing the actual task or issue at hand, so it can be addressed and a
conclusion can be made. I also do my best to make sure that all team members
are engaging in the conversation and relaying their ideas and suggestions to
the team. If I notice that someone is quiet, or seems to be a bit shy to speak,
I ask what their thoughts are, on the suggestions at hand and if they would
like to add anything to the conversation. I noticed that this usually opens up
the quieter or shier individuals to speak and be heard.
I think a balance of task
facilitating and relationship building roles is important for all individuals
as well as for the team leader or manager, as each team and team members are
different. One should be able to zoom in when necessary to be able to see the
details of what is being discussed, however they must also be able to zoom out
to notice thing such as, if the team is still on topic and whether or not all
members have contributed to the conversation. A balance of these two roles
allows for individuals to challenge themselves to recognize both the task at
hand and the team dynamic in order to ensure the team’s success.
As the text states, “without both task-facilitating
and relationship building roles, teams struggle to perform effectively. Some
members must ensure that the team accomplishes its tasks, while others must
ensure that members remain bonded together interpersonally. These are usually
not the same individuals, and at certain points in time, different roles may
become more dominant than others. The key is to have a balance between task-oriented
roles and relationship-building roles displayed in the team. The downfall of
many teams is that they become unidimensional—for example, they emphasize task
accomplishment exclusively—and do not give equal attention to both types of
roles.”
References
Whetton, D.
(n.d.). Developing Management Skills.
(8thed.).
