ABSTRACT
Effective group members are open-minded to ideas, solutions, and people. They are familiar with the topic and have done some preliminary research and have even thought about possible problem areas and problem people before coming to the group meeting. Most effective group discussions experience some conflict as members openly express their views and concerns. This type of conflict can stimulate group members to generate ideas and solutions that they might never have thought of if the group was in complete agreement from the beginning. One characteristic of effective group members is that they participate effectively and use group roles as needed. Group roles are categories of behaviors performed by individuals. One important category of informal roles are the task roles, behaviors that individuals exhibit in a group that assist the group in achieving its goals.
