IMPORTANCE OF ROLES
In order for team meetings to be effective and efficient we must define the roles and responsibilities of team members.
Roles are as significant as norms or agendas in ensuring meetings are effective. Shared roles help ensure all members take ownership of the group’s work. If a person has a job to do, they are more likely to be engaged, and to support decisions and products of the group.
Identifying, explaining, assigning, and executing roles is important to collaborative organizations.
Collaborative teacher teams, any successful organized team, require players to understand, assume and execute their roles and responsibilities. Establishing, practicing, refining and sustaining the practice of roles on a team will make it part of your collaborative culture; the way we do business.
OVERVIEW OF ROLES
Clearly assigned roles and responsibilities:
- clarify expectations for those in the meeting.
- increase the engagement of all members.
- help the team build internal capacity for planning and holding effective focused meetings.
UNPACKING ROLES
Steps for Establishing Roles
Establish the roles teams need.
Those described below are the most fundamental and are suggested as a starting point for teams beginning the collaborative team process. Based on the purpose and desired meeting content, roles may need to be added or eliminated. Team roles must have a purpose or the value of the strategy will be lost.
Make clear the responsibilities of each role.
Roles should be defined at the first meeting with all members of the team having a clear understanding of each role. Assuming a role on a team in name only can cause confusion and frustration in a beginning team. For example, the role of “team facilitator” may have many different meanings to people on the team. Clarify the meaning and describe the responsibilities of each role for the team. Practice using roles in a safe environment with an easy topic.
Post and review reminders of roles on the agenda at each meeting.
Roles should be defined at the first meeting with all members of the team having a clear understanding of each role. Team members can commit to a role per month, semester, and year. It is important to actually record who has each responsibility for each meeting.
Rotate roles on a consistent basis to build capacity.
Build further capacity in your team by sharing roles. The same person need not be the time keeper all the time or the facilitator, or any other role.
Types of Roles
This list of roles is an example. In small groups, a norms-minder may not be an assigned role, but rather the responsibility of all participants. In two person teams, roles may be very simple, but both members should predetermine how the responsibilities for their meeting work will be divided. On larger teams, other roles may be needed – particularly as the work of the collaborative team becomes more focused. Additional roles might include: “Expert Witness” when a teaching/learning practice is being reviewed in greater detail, or a particular common formative assessment is showing greater results by one teacher. Besides a recorder taking electronic or paper and pencil minutes for meeting minutes, a “Chart Recorder” may be needed to display meeting details or talking points on large chart paper. Another option would be to have the principal or instructional coach may be assigned a role as the “Guide on the Side” with the expectation of leading a discussion on a particular practice. Because these positions will serve on many collaborative teams, they should not run nor facilitate the meeting. Define their role and expectation appropriately.
Facilitator
Focuses group energy
Keeps group on task
Encourages everyone to participate
Helps set agenda for next meeting
Recorder/Reporter
Records basic ideas/input from meeting
Uses participants language
Asks group for feedback on accuracy of what has been recorded
Communicates final record to group and others, as necessary
Norms Minder
Ensures the group follows its norms (with fun and respect)
Facilitators are not expected to
Serve as pseudo-administrators
Shoulder the responsibilities of the whole team or department
Address peers and colleagues who do not want to cooperate
Evaluate colleagues’ performance
Data Manager
Collect/retrieve data by an identified date
Provide graphic representations or data summaries when appropriate
Timekeeper
Divides time to tasks and gets approval of group
Gives periodic signals as to how time allotment is progressing
Engaged Participant
Collaborates with others;
Seeks and provides data/input;
Monitors own and others’ adherence to the norms;
Is an active part of the collaborative team;
Supports the work of the team by staying focused on the agenda, purpose, and goal of the team;
Actively engages in the team’s work and monitors their own behavior(s) so that they adhere to the team’s agreements; and
Assists the facilitator and other team members to accomplish the work of the team, recognizing that they have a responsibility for the team’s success (Collaborative professional learning in school and beyond: A tool kit for New Jersey educators, p. 90-91).
ROLES IN PRACTICE
ROLES IN ACTION
Think about the purposes and context of your meetings… what roles are essential?
Will all teams have the same roles? Which roles need to be kept by the same person, and which will be rotated among members?
Articulate a plan for the use of roles within your teams. Each action plan should include answers to the questions on this slide, at a minimum, and may also include information about timelines. For example, the Data Manager may have that role at all times, but will need a person to back them up in case of absences. The recorder is a role that may be more easily rotated. Action plans will need to be shared with administration for feedback.