Goals

^? To acquaint the participants with the four essential elements of group work.

^? To explain how these elements interact and how people’s preferences for particular elements affect group functioning.

^? To provide an opportunity for the participants to increase their awareness of which of the four elements they prefer, which their organizations prefer, and the implications of these preferences.

Group Size

Between thirty and forty participants.

Time Required

Approximately one hour.

Materials

^? One copy of the Four Corners Theory Sheet for each participant and one for the facilitator’s use.

^? Four signs, each listing one of these terms: Meaning, Structure, Action, and Caring (see the section entitled “Physical Setting”).

^? A newsprint reproduction of the following figure (prepared by the facilitator prior to the activity):

^? Masking tape for posting.

Physical Setting

A room large enough that the four subgroups can work without disturbing one another. The four signs referred to in the Materials section should be posted in the corners of the room.

Process

1. The facilitator introduces the activity by stating that there are four essential elements of group work—meaning, structure, action, and caring—and that individuals usually have a preference for one of the four.

2. The facilitator points out the four signs in the room and asks each participant to go to the corner of the room that represents the element that he or she feels is most essential in group work.

3. Each of the four subgroups formed in step 2 is instructed to spend a few minutes ascertaining why the members believe that their chosen element is important to group work. Each subgroup is also asked to select a spokesperson to summarize and report the results of the subgroup discussion to the total group. (Ten minutes.)

4. The facilitator calls time and asks the spokespersons to take turns reporting. During the reports the facilitator writes important points on newsprint. (Ten minutes.)

5. The facilitator posts the prepared newsprint figure and delivers a lecturette based on the Four Corners Theory Sheet, connecting the figure with the theory. The facilitator then leads a discussion of the lecturette, eliciting and answering questions as necessary. (Twenty minutes.)

6. The facilitator leads a concluding discussion by asking the following questions:

^? How did the explanation of the four elements fit with your reasons for choosing the particular element that you preferred?

^? What does the distribution of choices in this room say about how this group would go about planning? What would be the group’s strengths? What would be its blind spots?

^? How does this group’s profile with regard to the four elements of group work compare with what you would assume to be the distribution of preferences in your organization?

^? How could you use your preferred element to improve your work group’s functioning or your organization’s functioning?

^? What is the element that you as an individual need most to emphasize to compensate for the fact that you are not drawn to it? How could you try to emphasize it in your daily work?

Variations

^? In step 2 if one of the elements is not selected by any participants, the facilitator may place particular emphasis on the importance of that element during the lecturette. If any element is represented by only one participant, the facilitator may join that participant in the discussion that takes place during step 3.

^? This activity may be used as an icebreaker at the beginning of a workshop. In this case a second task should be assigned during step 3: to share expectations for the workshop. Subsequently, a discussion of similarities and differences in expectations should be added to step 6.

^? After the theory discussion, the participants may be put in either homogeneous or heterogeneous subgroups to complete a hypothetical planning task.

^? The participants may discuss in their subgroups how their organizations fit the ideal model (as shown in the newsprint reproduction of the figure) and may draw individual models of how the figure would be changed in accordance with what their organizations tend to emphasize.

The Individual

Carl Jung (1923) explained that people are equipped with four mental functions: two contrasting ways of perceiving (sensing and intuition) and two contrasting ways of judging or coming to conclusions about what is perceived (thinking and feeling).
People perceive the world through their five senses and through their intuition. From childhood people begin to rely on either their senses or their intuition more than the other; the one that an individual relies on becomes dominant in his or her life. Sensing people pay close attention to data provided by their senses. They are interested in immediate experience, literal facts, and concrete realities. Action is what drives them. Intuitive people need to find associations or connections among things and are interested in theories and imagined possibilities. Meaning is what drives them. People who prefer sensing develop differently and are motivated by needs different from those of people who prefer intuitive perceptions. Sensing people tend to want things to happen now, whereas intuitive people tend to wait until they are clear about why.
All people judge or draw conclusions about what they perceive. There are two ways of coming to conclusions: (1) “thinking” judgment, which is an impersonal process and is logical, orderly, and analytical; and (2) “feeling” judgment, or appreciation, which is a more personal, subjective process. Feeling people tend to be interested in human values and harmony and to be motivated by caring. In contrast, thinking people tend to like structure in their lives. As is the case with perception, each person starts to prefer one kind of judging over the other; and this mode of decision making becomes dominant.
Because each individual may prefer either of two kinds of perception and either of two kinds of judging, all individuals can be classified under one of four categories: (1) sensing thinkers, who need action and structure; (2) sensing-feeling people, who need action and caring; (3) intuitive thinkers, who need meaning and structure; and (4) intuitive-feeling people, who need meaning and caring. In addition, people are usually drawn especially to one of the four driving forces (meaning, structure, action, or caring).

The Group

Meaning, structure, action, and caring are also the four essential elements of group work. When we consider that each of us especially needs two of these elements and is particularly drawn to one of those two, it is no surprise that the differences among people in terms of their needs and preferences can cause problems and conflict in the work setting. Thus, it is important for leaders and members of groups to be aware of these elements and to consider them when planning group activities. When all four of the elements are included in a group process, each person is able to have his or her dominant needs met.
Group task functions and maintenance functions are key dynamics that help a group to satisfy individual needs. Task behaviors include initiating, seeking information, giving information, clarifying and elaborating, summarizing, and consensus testing (Schein, 1976). Group members who become skilled in these behaviors can help to meet the needs of the sensing and thinking members.
Maintenance behaviors include harmonizing, gatekeeping (facilitating the participation of others), encouraging others, compromising, and setting standards or group norms (Schein, 1976). Acquiring and using these skills provide the group with the means to help satisfy the intuitive members’ needs for meaning and the feeling members’ needs for harmony or caring.

The Organization

An organization’s strategic planning process is critical in meeting the needs of all four personality types. An important part of strategic planning is to define the mission or purpose of an organization, that is, its reason for being, the meaning behind its existence. Involvement in the process of agreeing on the mission or purpose of an organization assures that the intuitive types are able to have some of their needs met.
The long-range goals and shorter-term objectives (the statements that provide future directions for the organization and allow it to accomplish its mission) furnish structure for the thinking members. Action plans, or the actual work steps to achieve each objective, supply action for the sensing people. The overall maintenance or harmony within each individual work group in the organization provides the feeling people with a value structure that can create a caring environment.
An awareness of these connections among individual personalities, group dynamics, and organizational planning can help establish for each group a cohesiveness that will promote organizational effectiveness.

PREFERENCES THAT AFFECT GROUP WORK