DesignSurfer > Teams > Roles


Responsible Roles in Teams
   To be effective, teams meetings require a variety of roles to be played out by team members. These roles are usually adopted informally - individuals tend to take to one or more of these roles naturally. make sure your team has all role functioning.

Typical roles could be: -

  • Agenda fixer
  • Chairperson
  • Timekeeper
  • Monitor
  • Summariser
  • Note Taker

    Typical interventions for each role might be:
    Agenda fixer ‘From what you have said there seems to be four main things to discuss: 1, 2, 3, 4. I suggest that we take them in order and start with 1, if that’s OK’
    Chairperson: ‘Thanks for that contribution, John. What do you think Anne?’
    Timekeeper ‘We’ve spent about 20 minutes on this point. Shall we move on?’
    Monitor‘I’ve noticed that contributions to the seminar have been uneven so far: some people have spoken a lot less than others. What do you suggest we do about it?’
    Summariser ‘So it looks as though we’re agreed that...’
    Note taker ‘Hang on Anne. Can I just get written down, before we go on?’

    Which of these roles have you observed in your team?
    These notes were originally prepared by Dr. Michael Emmison and Dr. Jim McKay of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at The University of Queensland for use by student-led groups in SO104 - Introduction to Australian Society.
    Last updated 1st January, 2000; ©The University of Queensland , 1997-2000