This exercise combines role playing and group problem solving-an excellent method for helping students experiences the power of their own feelings and attitudes, as well as the pressure and process imposed by the group. Explain the task and its purpose to students. After a group problem solving session, students will be asked to consider what happened in the group process. 

Directions:

1.  Students should take a few minutes to read the material on Johnny Rocco. 

2.  Students work in groups of eight. 

3.  Each group should choose one person to be chairperson; the chair, in turn, will assign roles to each of the other participants. The chair is Johnny Rocco's supervisor. Each group has seven other members: shop steward, head of production, Johnny's co-worker, director of personnel, social worker, and two observers. 

4.  After the roles have been assigned, each role-player should complete the personal preference part of the worksheet, ordering the alternatives according to their appropriateness from the vantage point of his or her role. (As a courtesy, it would be helpful to have copies of the Johnny Rocco material and the worksheet to distribute to the class.) 

5. The chair calls the meeting to order, remembering these rules and goals: 

a. The group must reach a consensus ordering of the alternatives. 

b.  The group cannot use a statistical aggregation, or majority vote in its decision-making. c. Members should stay "in character" throughout the discussion. 

d.  Observers should pay attention to the communication and decision-making process, but not participate in the discussion. 

6. Groups must work together until they have completed the assignment. 

7. When all groups have completed the task, they should begin the process of answering the Group Process Diagnostic Questions. 

8. As a final step in the exercise, reassemble the entire class and asked them what they learned from the experience. Students will have many insights, including those related to leadership, perception, communication, roles, conflicting points of view, conflicts, feelings, attitudes, task performance, group effectiveness and many other subjects already covered in the course. Challenge students to try to relate what they have learned through the experience to the course material. 

9. Some instructors might ask students to write a brief paper reflecting on the experience to help them place it in a broader context. Suggested topic: Did the group decide to do what you initially thought should be done? If you changed your thinking about what should be done, why did you change? Are you satisfied with the group's decision? With the group process?