COMMITTEE TALK: NEGOTIATING ‘PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT’ AT A TRAINING COLLEGE [1]

Abstract

An analysis is made of the interactional styles of a personnel development committee and its chairman. Beneath what is manifestly the negotiation of the meaning of ‘personnel development’ and how it might best be facilitated, transcribed extracts display members engineering a latent shift in the identity of the committee. A psycho-social explanation is offered for the observed patterns. This draws on both the actors’ definitions of the situation implicit in the talk and in their retrospective self-reports, as well as the dynamics of leader-follower relations evidenced in this small group. the case study is significant for the insights provided into the handling of transitional shifts in the developmental career or life-cycle of committees and the tensions inherent in participatory management.