Team
Goffman expounds, “A team, then, may be defined as a set of individuals whose intimate co-operation is required if n given projected definition of the situation is to be maintained. A team is a grouping, but it is a grouping not in relation to a social structure or social organization but rather in relation to an interaction or series of interactions in which the relevant definition of the situation is maintained.” Cooperation is imperative among the team members; without cooperation, the team would disintegrate because members would not be driven by similar goals. A team’s character is influenced by its objectives and the core activities which it engages in. Team members are expected to uphold the secrets of their teams.
“Ecological Sorting”
Goffman observes, “In our society the decorator’s art often does this for us, apportioning dark colours and open brickwork to the service parts of buildings and white plaster to the front regions…(This involves a kind of ecological sorting that is well known but little studied.) And often it is expected that those who work backstage will achieve technical standards while those who work in the front region will achieve expressive ones." The decorations which are utilized when beautifying work fulfill the objective of performance. Expressive decorations optimize the performance by appealing to the audiences. 'Dark colours' are reserved for the backstage where the audience will not view. The performers dwell on the front section because it offers the first impression to the viewers. Using dark colors in the front section would put off the potential audience.
“Inside Secrets”
Goffman elucidates, “There are what might be called 'inside ' secrets. These are ones whose possession marks an individual as being a member of a group and helps the group feel separate and different from those individuals who are not 'in the know .’ ” Inside secrets give objective intellectual content to subjectively felt social distance. Almost all information in a social establishment has something of this exclusionary function and may be seen as none of somebody’s business.” The ‘inside secrets’ contribute to the strategic edge of a group. Disclosure of such secrets would imperil the group and threaten its objectives because outsiders would be privy of the secrets which have been offering the group a competitive edge. Moreover, the secrets enable teams to put up impressive performances which convince desired audiences.
Non Person
Goffman expounds, “And in each case we deal with someone who may participate in the actual interaction between the performers and audience. A further discrepant role may be considered, that of the ‘non person’; those who play this role are present during the interaction but do not, in a sense, take the role either of performer or of audience, nor do they (as do informers, shills, and spotters) pretend to be what they are not.” Nonpersons are intermediaries who contribute immensely to the success of a performance. However, the audience does not recognize the non-person as it recognizes the performer. Accordingly, the nonperson is not required to put up impressions like the performer. Essentially, the nonperson is invisible to the audience.
Specialists
Goffman elaborates, “Many women, it seems, go to beauty parlours to be fussed over and called madam and not merely because they need to have their hair done. It has sometimes been claimed, for example, that in Hindu India the procurement of proper service specialists for ritually significant tasks is of crucial significance in confirm one’s own caste position… Similarly, in America, an individual involved in unseemly entanglements may take his troubles to a Negro lawyer because of the shame he might feel before a white one.” In the context of salons, being addressed as ‘madam’ mollifies the women’s desire for superiority; they feel superior to the salonists who address them in a way that affirms their superiority.
Moreover, specialists, in the Indian setting, are used to portray the social standing of the Indians searching them. Individuals from superior castes would not seek the same specialists as those sought by the lower castes. Moreover, seeking a black lawyer would enable a white client to get the services without demeaning himself before a white lawyer (whom they are equal in terms of race): the black lawyer would affirm the white client’s perceived superiority. Accordingly, specialists are used to enhance clients’ performances.
