Waterline Model

Balancing Maintenance and Task 
cf.: Waterline Diagram

  • Structure
clarity about goals and roles, especially decision making authority in reaching goals; effective role organization
  • Group
team effectiveness; participation, influence, learning interactions, conflict resolution, membership, interaction patterns
  • Inter-personal
how two people communicate with the one another and how respond to 1-1 conflict
  • Intra-personal
how individuals experience the process working together and their effectiveness in learning from their experience

Paying attention to both task and maintenance

  • TASK … is above the waterline
  • MAINTENANCE … it below the waterline

Task Functions

  • Developing the agenda
  • Initiating
  • Information seeking
  • Information giving
  • Opinion giving
  • Elaborating
  • Coordinating
  • Evaluating
  • Energizing
  • Structuring
  • Summarizing
  • Consensus testing
  • Reality tester

Maintenance Functions

  • Gatekeeping
  • Encouraging
  • Harmonizing
  • Consensus seeking
  • Giving and receiving feedback
  • Standard setting
  • Tension reliever 
  • Expressing group feelings
  • Processing

Dysfunctional Behaviors

  • Blocking
  • Power Seeking
  • Recognition Seeking
  • Dominating
  • Clowning

Some things to look for in groups...


cf.: powerpoint slides suitable for presenting the model to others
cf.: Task vs. Maintenance Test

 


Ashley Guberman, Organizational Development Resources