How do roles, responsibilities and relationships shape how a team functions?
Roles and responsibilities, relationships and etiquette as features of the social factor: how defined roles keep a team organised, how relationships affect morale and conflict, and the place of etiquette and environmental considerations in performance.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on roles and responsibilities, relationships and etiquette as social factors, covering how defined roles keep a team organised, how relationships affect morale, and the place of etiquette and the environment in performance.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this dot point is asking
The SQA wants you to explain roles and responsibilities, relationships, and etiquette and environmental considerations, and to link each to performance. These features explain how the structure of a team and the quality of its relationships affect how it functions.
The answer
Roles and responsibilities
How roles affect performance
Relationships
Etiquette and environmental considerations
Examples in context
A rugby team late in a match shows roles, relationships and etiquette together. Clear, accepted roles mean the forwards commit to the breakdown while the backs hold their defensive line, so the structure holds. Strong relationships mean a missed tackle is met with a teammate covering and a word of encouragement, sustaining effort in the final minutes. Good etiquette, not reacting to provocation, keeps the team's discipline so they do not concede a penalty in a kickable position. A team with poor relationships and weak discipline does the opposite: players blame each other, a frustrated forward retaliates and concedes three points, and the structure falls apart. The social factor, not fitness alone, decides the close finish, which is why the SQA examines it.
Try this
Q1. State what is meant by roles and responsibilities in a team. [1 mark]
- Cue. Each member's defined job in the team and the duties that come with it.
Q2. Explain one way poor relationships can have a negative impact on team performance. [4 marks]
- Cue. Blame and weak communication after a fall-out, so players stop covering for each other and the team loses its shape under pressure.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher 20204 marksExplain how clear roles and responsibilities can have a positive impact on team performance.Show worked answer →
A -mark explain question rewarding developed cause and effect.
Clear roles mean each player knows their defined job, so in netball the goal shooter stays in the circle while the centre links defence and attack. The team is organised and no two players try to do the same job.
Develop the impact: defined, accepted roles keep the team's shape, ensure every area of the court or pitch is covered, and let players focus on their own task, which raises the team's effectiveness. The marks come from the explained outcome.
SQA Higher 20216 marksExplain how relationships within a team can have a positive and a negative impact on performance.Show worked answer →
A -mark question wanting both sides, anchored in a named activity.
Positive: strong relationships build trust and morale, so after a mistake players encourage rather than blame, heads stay up and effort is sustained through a difficult spell.
Negative: poor relationships, a clique or an unresolved fall-out, cause blame, weak communication and division, so the team stops covering for each other and loses its shape under pressure. Explaining how the relationship changes behaviour and the team's performance is the discriminator.
Related dot points
- The social factors that impact on performance, including their features such as team dynamics, cooperation, roles and responsibilities, relationships and etiquette, and the positive and negative effects each can have on performance.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on the social factors impacting on performance, covering their main features (team dynamics, cooperation, roles and responsibilities, relationships and etiquette) and the positive and negative effects each can have on a performer or team.
- Cooperation, communication and team dynamics as features of the social factor: how members work towards a shared goal, the role of communication, and the approaches used to develop cohesion such as team-building, set plays and shared goals.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on cooperation, communication and team dynamics as social factors, covering how members work towards a shared goal, the role of communication, and the approaches used to build team cohesion.
- Approaches to developing performance, including how a performer selects approaches that match the factor and the stage of learning, principles such as progression and specificity, and examples of approaches for the physical, mental, emotional and social factors.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on the approaches to developing performance, covering how to select approaches that match the factor and stage of learning, principles such as progression and specificity, and examples for each of the four factors.
- Evaluating performance development and identifying future development needs, including comparing results against the baseline and targets, judging the effectiveness of the approaches, and justifying decisions about what to develop next.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on evaluating performance development and identifying future development needs, covering comparison against the baseline and targets, judging the effectiveness of approaches, and justifying future development decisions.
- Tactics and composition as an area of the physical factor: how tactics outwit an opponent in games and how composition structures a performance activity, the strengths and weaknesses they target, and how good and poor tactics affect performance.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on tactics and composition as a physical factor, covering how tactics outwit an opponent in games, how composition structures a performance activity, and how good and poor tactics or composition affect performance.
Sources & how we know this
- SQA Higher Physical Education Course Specification — SQA (2019)