A Piece of the Puzzle

I’ve been an athlete and a part of teams and group my whole life. Not every one of these teams was successful or cohesive, and after taking this course I realized a lot of the issues those teams who were less cohesive were facing was fulfilling individual’s roles as it pertains to the team process. Roles identify the particular way we, as individuals, are expected to act in a group. Scholars have divided roles into two general categories: task roles and social-emotional roles. Task roles relate to the members getting the “job done”, while social-emotional roles relate to the group’s climate and working relationship (Harris & Sherblom, 2011). Roles play an important factor when it comes to groups accomplishing their goals. I feel no matter what the role is, big or small; everyone has an important part to play in the group process. As a basketball player I’ve seen how important role playing can be. For example, not everyone may get to play, but it’s up to the second team or the beach players to keep the starters prepared for the games. So even though they may not get playing time they play an significant role because if the starters cant perform up to par, the team’s chances to have a productive and winning season can be ruined. Roles give us the chance to appreciate what other brings to the table, no one is more important than the other when it comes to groups working together.