A number of roles must be played in any group if it is going to get its work done, while at the same time keeping its members involved and committed. These roles generally serve one of two functions: Task and Process.
Although attention is almost always focused on the task functions, the presence or absence of process functions will often make the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful meeting. Knowledge of both task and process functions can help individuals become more valuable and useful meeting participants.
Simply put, task functions have to do with the content of the work itself.
When the purpose of the meeting is to convey information, then the data and information is the task. An example would be the weekly staff meeting, where the task might revolve around the sales department sharing the clients who will be visiting headquarters during the upcoming week.
In a meeting where the goal is to reach a decision, the task is related to the facts and figures being used to make that decision. For example, if the meeting is to decide where the company will hold its annual shareholder meeting, the participants should be prepared to come with information about possible locations, the number of attendees, and schedule availability of key stakeholders.
During a feedback meeting, the task is the actual feedback itself. For instance, a manager is meeting with one of her employees to share compliments from a customer. The task is the nice story that the manager is going to tell her employee.
The process function deals with the nature of working relationships in the group and the flow of communication between group members.
One of the first process dynamics that meeting participants need to conquer is the issue of trust. Regardless of the purpose of the meeting, participants will not open up and engage with the group if they do not feel they can trust the other participants. This has a direct impact on the effectiveness of the meeting.
Back in the 1940s, Kenneth Benne and Paul Sheats defined several different roles a person can play during a team meeting. Over the years, their work has been refined but here are a few of the most common meeting responsibilities related to task and process functions.