I wouldn’t consider myself an expert on group or team dynamics but I have a long history of knowledge to help me in any group I walk into.

I have been on numerous sports teams, ran a radio station but my biggest knowledge comes from working on different film sets. 

Within all these groups, I take on different personas to create a better workflow. You won’t always have the luxury of playing the same role in a different group of people. For example, on a softball team, there can only be one pitcher at a time. That’s why being so adaptable is so important and also being prepared will always be beneficial.

How and Why to Start Planning for a group meeting?

Well in a lot of group planning there has to be a pre-production aspect even before you get together. This has a lot of added benefits.

1. In the long run it will save time
2. Improve collaboration for everyone on the team
3. Catching Problems Early
4. Helps morale to not be dragging things along
5. Better overall output in the end

This is all about knowledge is power.

Setting meeting times allows a more efficient start time.  Creating a list of questions or doing the background research beforehand can help start things off at a more accelerated level. Understanding and assigning roles allows fewer problems to arrive in the future. Overall just brings in more productivity and creates a happier team.

*Similarly related, a small New Zealand company, Perpetual Guardian that permanently adopted a 4 day work week after a successful trial. The company reported a remarkable 20% increase in productivity and improvements in work-life balance, leading to reduced stress levels and higher job satisfaction among employees.*

This concept wouldn’t have been possible without preparing for meetings and projects in advance. It offers a range of tools to facilitate continuous feedback, goal setting, and performance reviews, empowering managers and employees to stay aligned and focused on key objectives as a team unit. When a group plans ahead of going into a decision this allows for quicker meetings and more work to get done.

So After All That Prep, What’s Next?

When starting a meeting it’s good to promptly get to know each other and assign roles to play on everyone’s strengths. Use “ your talents, time, and energy to their best use,” and take big challenges and break them down. Everything is doable when you work together as a team.

What Are Different Roles in a Meeting Setting?

(The names that I have come up with and what I believe they do within a group)

1. The Main speaker

This is the person who just has a welcoming presence, like a teacher. Who has this ability to explain things well and also bring others into a conversation. This person can sometimes over-talk but it’s only because they are so passionate about what they are speaking about. 

2. The Listener/Note Taker

This person might be on the quieter side but is a crucial part of the dynamic. Having a reference point on what goes on during meetings is everything, people have such short memories and if they aren’t actively listening they might miss something. Having something to reference later is what they need. Since this person is actively listening, the group does need to make space for them to be included in the conversation, so don’t forget about them. 

3. The Organizer

This person is great in the preparation but also is important during the meeting. This is the person checking the lock to make sure we aren’t running out of time. This person is sharing documents they have ready to assist in the conversation topic. And overall this person helps keep people on track allowing them to reach a decision or end goal.

4. Everyone else

In the end these are the people that bring up the good questions that weren’t thought about or a logical perspective that help stop forward movement in the wrong direction. These people are all about really listening and reacting. The others do their jobs so that this group of people can be more free thinkers.

I believe you can have more than one of each of these roles but it will only work with great communication and understanding of each other.  This plays into the group dynamics overall.

Do you know what role you play?

I think my biggest tip for successful group work is communicating wants and needs, understanding that you might need to lead sometimes and follow others, and make sure you are active listening.