Describe the three types of small group communication roles and provide examples of each

Question

Please provide the best answer for the best statement.

Answer 1

Answer: The three types of communication roles are task, relational, and individual. Task roles are roles that are directly related to the accomplishment of group goals. These communication roles often involve seeking, processing, and evaluating information. For example, one of these roles is the initiator–contributor, who proposes new ideas or approaches to group problem solving. If, in a group, the members are struggling to solve a problem based on one idea, the initiator–contributor offers expertise in looking at the problem through a different lens. Relational roles are roles that help establish a group’s social atmosphere. Members who encourage others to talk or mediate disagreements are filling relational roles. For example, a harmonizer mediates disagreement among group members. If a harmonizer witnessed two members arguing over an idea, he or she could propose a compromise or suggest listening to both ideas instead of simply arguing the merits of each. Individual roles are roles that focus more on individuals’ own interests and needs than on those of the group. This tends to be dysfunctional to the group because these individuals tend to be uninvolved, negative, aggressive, or constantly joking. For example, the joker always has to “one up” members’ comments with a joke or a story, constantly moving the group off-task.