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Roles in the Workplace

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Submitted By alishamenzie
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There is many different types of roles people portray in both personal life and in a work place setting. Some of the different roles are, The Joker or the class clown, they tend to keep the mood light and jokes flowing, even sometimes when they really shouldn’t. The devil’s advocate or instigator which can sometimes be similar to the Joker but tends to create problems in the good setting just to get a rise out of people. The Critic or backseat driver is always the first one to point out the issues going on or to say his or her own negative opinion but never offers a good suggestion on how to fix the problem. There’s always the cheerleader or supporter that will just cheer about anything in general it might not even be good process being made but something is going on so the cheerleader is cheering. The outsider or rebel typically sits there alone not joining in, doesn’t try to fit in to the group or conversation. The leader or Alpha is the one the final decision has to be approved by. They might not always be the spear head of the situation but before anything gets decide they need to give their approval for it to happen. Those are only six of the roles you can find yourself in, sometimes it’s based on your personality other times you’re just put in that role and just forced to make it happen.
There sometimes can be more than one person in that role such as the joker or cheerleader they typically even find themselves becoming closer since they have that in common. However you can have more than one leader and usually if there is more than one critic they will just start attacking each other and brining even more of a conflict in the group. Just the same with trying to have more than one leader, there can always be a vice president but trying to have two presidents will always create some sort of division among the people in the group. Out of the roles I choose to explain I would definitely say that the leader is the most important role, every group needs the sense of decision making and direction taking even if it’s something to go against they still need that setting of what to rebel against. The next important I would say is the joker they keep the mood light and a fun environment, sometimes they can get a little carried away but for the most part when in stressful or tense situations the joker keeps everyone in a good mood. Out of a 10 person group there will be at least one person who will cave and laugh at the jokes or personality of the joker and in turn lighten up everyone else around them. The devil’s advocate can sometimes be a good thing, they can push the group to new heights and help them achieve a better level of what project they might be working on. On the flip side of it though they tend to be anticlimactic and just create issues within the group and situations at hand. The least noteworthy person is the cheerleader, its good to have someone there to show support for what is going on in the group but they show no contribution or creativity normally they are just there to motivate those in the group by cheering them on. When the leader should be the one showing the support for the group as well as keeping them balanced. The outsider doesn’t really have much of an effect on the group since they are anti-social and don’t really contribute to anything. I tend to play more than one role in a given group, I’m the joker in ways that I don’t like tension or anything to serious and everyone should have fun with what you are doing. I am also the leader not necessarily by choice I am usually put in that role because I’m calm in stressful situations and just have natural leading abilities. I have always enjoyed being the joker more than anything else but it’s a double sided blade because I am also very OCD and like things done a certain way so it’s hard for me just to sit back and let someone else be a leader when it might not be my way of doing things. By being the joker you can just have fun and make everyone else be in a good mood by lightening the situation and at the same time be serious when you need to be. I don’t entirely believe that anyone is just playing strictly one role.
Everyone have characteristics of more than one. If you’re a leader you could also potentially be an outsider since you’re in a leadership role and try to keep things unbiased but by doing that you tend to isolate yourself. Just like being the cheerleader could be a lot like being the mimic you’re never really saying anything of your own ideas you’re just saying what’s already been said just like the cheerleader cheering for someone else’s ideas. Being in the military I tended to be the outsider in a lot of situations without really even having another option. I was always the youngest or the newest person in the group so I had to overcome it in a few ways. The Main way to overcome that is to wait it out and wait for someone else to come in and be the new person. The other way to get away from being a role you don’t want to be in specially in my case is to just be who you are, I am the joker not the outsider so I just do what I know how to do but at the same time since I am new I needed to show to my peers that I can be serious and a hard worker. Depending on the situation you might need to bite the bullet and take on the role you’re given, even though you may not like the role you’re in you might be the one playing it the best and it’s the most beneficial for the group as a whole with you being that specific role. By putting the needs of the group above your own it will work out better because the better the group works together the better you feel while at work. No one wants to go to work when there is a problem or not having cohesion like there should be. So when the group works together and is in a good place you’re more likely to be happy and excel better at your daily tasks even if you don’t like the job you are doing.
There is good points and bad point with having group roles, some of the good point is since you know what you’re supposed to be doing or who you are in the group you can either embrace that role and do it the best you can since you can a specific role to live up to or if you know you’re the outsider try and fix it by being more social and putting yourself out there more so you can overcome your role as the outcast or if you are the mimic then you can sit there and actual think of things to say yourself and become part of the group easier and have more respect by those who consider you the mimic. Some of the constraints would be the fact since your put in the role or even if it’s a role you put yourself in you may grow and change and no longer fit the molds in the role and sometimes you are unable to get out of the roles your already in. When it comes to knowing your roles it will help the group communicate by knowing who your leader is you are able to respect that position they hold and if you are trying to be the leader yourself or if you think you’re the leader when really you’re the consensus builder you can focus more on the role you are doing since you obviously are doing it well enough to be put in that position and so you don’t disrupt the cohesion of the group you can help to make the leader better but instead of continuing the challenge of being the leader you can boost the group and embrace your own role.

References:

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Hattersley, M. (2007). Management Communication: Principles and Practice [VitalSouce bookshelf version]. Retrieved from http://digitalbookshelf.argosy.edu/books/0077383176/id/ch10lev1sec3
http://digitalbookshelf.argosy.edu/books/0077383176/id/ch10lev1sec3

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