Working in groups

Introduction

Speaking in academic contexts is becoming increasingly important as teaching methods change to involve more group work, joint projects and group marks. Home students see problems if Students in Higher Education are not seen to be pulling their weight in collaborative work. Many students comment that they find working in groups difficult because they can never think of intelligent things to say, they can never contribute new ideas to the group.

It is important to point out, though, that contributing new ideas is only one aspect of successful group work and if everyone continued to contribute new ideas, the group would not be successful. Therefore, being aware of the other important roles in the group is valuable.

A successful group needs a good person in the chair, a person who can come up with good new ideas, someone who can see the practical uses of these ideas, someone who can spot the bad ideas, someone who can summarise the present state of the discussion, someone who can change the direction of the group, someone who can question the other group members and get explanations, and a range of different experiences etc.

Belbin's (1981, 1993) discussion of successful teams in business can be helpful. He analysed successful teams in business and came to the conclusion that successful teams contained the following roles:

Implementer (IMP)
Implementers are hard working, practical people. They make ideas and plans work in practice. They see what needs to be done and what will probably work in the future and they do it. They are well organised and efficient in carrying out the plans of the group.
Co-ordinator (CO)
Co-ordinators are the organisers of the teams. They control the way in which a team reaches its objectives. They are very good at making the best use of the resources of the team. They clearly see what each group member can contribute and ensure that the best use is made of each team member's potential. They encourage people to talk when they have something valuable to contribute. They are interested in all the views of the team but they see where the strengths and weaknesses of the teams lie and so easily make up their minds. They persuade people to agree.
Shaper (SH)
Shapers take the lead in shaping the way in which the team effort is applied. They focus the attention of the team on the setting of objectives and priorities and make sure that no time is wasted. They are therefore impatient with those who obstruct the progress of the group. They want to impose some shape or pattern on the group discussion and on the outcome of the group activities. They are often seen as forceful and authoritative when they challenge the views of others.
Plant (PL)
Plants are the creative members of the group. They introduce new ideas and strategies to the discussion, especially regarding important issues. They may not be clear on minor points and may not follow the argument well. They are sometimes poor at explaining and clarifying their ideas to others and may get frustrated when this happens.
Resource Investigator (RI)
Resource investigators explore and report on new ideas, developments and resources from inside or outside the group. They create external contacts that may be useful to the team and conduct negotiations. They talk a lot and open up the discussion. They respond to challenges but they may get bored easily.
Monitor-Evaluator (ME)
Monitor-evaluators are logical thinkers. They analyse problems and evaluate ideas and suggestions. They enjoy comparing different points of view and therefore help the team to make balanced decisions. They offer alternative suggestions and can give good reasons for these alternatives, but they can be too critical.
Teamworker (TW)
Teamworkers are good at listening and give support to the other members of the group. For example, they may support good suggestions, help members to support their ideas, improve communication between members and help the group to work well together in general. They find it difficult to lead from the front. They are not very good at defending their own opinions and can be easily influenced by others.
Completer-Finisher (CF)
Completer-Finishers ensure that the team is protected from mistakes. They pay attention to suggestions that do not work and make sure that the team does not omit something important. They actively search for aspects of work that need more attention than usual. They also maintain a sense of urgency within the team and make sure that the team does not fall behind schedule and finishes on time. They like things done properly and worry over detail and therefore prevent careless mistakes.
Specialist (SP)
Specialists have the important specialist knowledge. They are single-minded and dedicated. They provide the knowledge and skills which are in short supply. However they can only contribute in a narrow way, may spend too much time on technical matters and might not see the overall picture.

These roles can be divided into three main groups:

those roles concerned with action - Shaper, Implementer, and Completer Finisher
those more related to people - Co-ordinator, Teamworker and Resource Investigator
and the roles that involve use of the brain - Plant, Monitor Evaluator and Specialist.

Belbin (1981, 1993).

Read the descriptions of the roles and try to find one that fits you well. If you want to assess yourself more formally, try the questionnaire in the book (Belbin, 1981, pp. 147-151) or try the on-line test at http://www.belbin.com (but it is not free!).

This shows the importance of the different roles in a successful group. Try to find out what your strengths are and develop them. Do not think you have to, or can, do everything, but realise that, whatever your role, you have strengths that are important in a team. Learn the language that will enable you to play your role well.

There are	two	types kinds classes categories sorts varieties	of X	: Y and Z. . These are Y and Z.
The				are Y and Z.

As you can see	from in	the	chart, diagram, table, graph, figures, statistics,	...
We can see				that ...

As	the	chart diagram table graph	shows, indicates,	.
		figures statistics	show, indicate,

From	Table 1 Figure 2		we	can may	see conclude show estimate calculate infer	that ...
	the	figures chart diagram

X	increased shot up grew rose	by	...
	declined reduced decreased dropped fell

X	increased shot up grew rose	slightly slowly gradually steadily markedly dramatically steeply sharply rapidly suddenly
	declined reduced decreased dropped fell

A is	adjacent to alongside below beyond facing (diagonally) parallel to underneath opposite in the middle of on the right of on the left of near close to touching behind in front of under on top of above below level with diagonally above vertically below	B
A is	between equidistant from	B and C.

X	is	nailed screwed fixed fastened welded tied connected attached	to	Y	by	Z
	consists		of	Y and Z
	contains

Firstly,	The first step is
First of all,	The first stage is
To begin with,	... begins with
Initially	... commences with

Beforehand,	Before this,
Previously,	Prior to this,
Earlier,

At the same time,	During
Simultaneously,	When this happens
	While

Secondly, Thirdly etc	After this,
Next,	The next step is
Then,	In the next stage,
Subsequently,	In the following stage,
Later,	Following this,
	As soon as the committee has finished its work, ...

Eventually,	... until ...
Lastly	... finishes with ...
Finally,	concludes with
In the last stage,	The last step is ...

	Verbs	Degree of certainty
complete certainty	is (not) will (not) must (not)	certain(ly) definite(ly) clear(ly) undoubtedly
strong	can/cannot should (not	probably (is) presumably
partial	could (not)	likely/unlikely
less strong	may (not) might (not)	possibly (not) perhaps (not)
impersonal (i.e. no commitment)	It is said that ... It appears that ... A reports that ... There is evidence to suggest that. (etc.)

X	is	6 cm	in	length height width diameter
		6 Kg		weight

The	length height width diameter	of	X	is	6 cm
	weight				6 Kg.

X	has	a	length width height diameter	of	6 cm.
			weight		6 Kg.

An increase in the death rate from cancer	is may be	one effect of one result of one consequence of caused by due to because of	people smoking more.
	results from arises from

People are smoking more.	Therefore, So, Thus, Hence, Consequently, Because of this, For this reason, As a consequence, As a result,	the death rate from cancer is increasing.
People are smoking more,	as a result of which as a consequence of which with the result that	the death rate from cancer is increasing.

One The	effect of result of consequence of	people smoking more	is that	the death rate from cancer is increasing.
			is to	increase the death rate from cancer.

Percentage	Frequency	Verbs
100%	always usual(ly) normal(ly) general(ly) as a rule on the whole often frequent(ly) sometimes occasional(ly)	will is/are must have to should ought to can could may might
0%	rare(ly) seldom hardly ever scarcely ever never	could not will not cannot is/are not

Percentage	Quantity	Frequency	Certainty	Verbs
100%	all/every/each most a majority (of) many/much some a number (of) several a minority (of) a few/a little	always usual(ly) normal(ly) general(ly) as a rule on the whole often frequent(ly) sometimes occasional(ly)	certain(ly) definite(ly) undoubtedly clearly presumably probably/probable likely conceivably possibly/possible perhaps maybe	will is/are must have to should ought to can could may might
0%	few/little no/none/not any	rare(ly) seldom hardly ever scarcely ever never	uncertain unlikely	could not will not cannot is/are not

Firstly Secondly Next Then Thirdly Lastly Finally			.
First of all In the first place For one thing To begin with In the second place For another thing
The	first second next last	point I'd like to make is

While he was doing his research,		he made an important discovery.
When	doing his research,
While
During his research,

In other words, Or rather, That is to say, Basically To put it another way, If we put that another way, I mean By which I mean Or you could say The point I'm making is That is to say, That is, Namely, i.e. That means			.
What I	'm suggesting 'm trying to say meant to say should have said	is
Let me put it another way

Working in groups

Introduction

Useful language

Advising and persuading

Agreeing

Apologising

Asking for clarification/more information

Asking for information

Asking for opinions

Asking for permission

Challenging

Changing the subject/moving on

Checking that people are following

Checking that you have understood

Classifying / categorising

Comparing

Concluding

Contrasting

Controlling the discussion

Dealing with difficult questions

Defining

Describing aims and objectives/intentions

Describing function

Describing graphs and figures

Describing change

Describing objects

Describing procedures

Describing processes, developments and changes

Disagreeing

Expressing doubt and reservation

Encouraging

Emphasising a point

Evaluating

Exemplification - giving examples

Expressing method and means

Expressing certainty

Expressing reasons and explanations

Emphasising cause.

Emphasising effect.

Following up a question

Expressing frequency

Generalising

Giving instructions

Expressing manner - how something is done

Expressing purpose - why something is done

Giving further information

Giving background information

Giving opinions.

Giving, withholding & seeking permission

Holding the floor - preventing interruptions

Hypothesising

Interrupting politely

Introducing your group/team

Inviting

Listing

Narrating

Obliging

Offering

Predicting

Presenting and discussing results

Referring to research

Quoting

Requesting

Rephrasing

Sequencing

Speeding up things

Suggesting

Summarising

Using visuals

Warning