Growing up, schoolteachers have been espousing that students must learn to get along well in order to have a cohesive and stress-free educational environment. This enables everyone, including teachers and students, to focus on their work and produce good results. While the concept of learning to work well has been instilled in children's minds ever since they were small, the irony of the situation is it seems harder to apply in adulthood. Considering that people are made up of different degrees, experiences, and titles, among others, when it comes to working together in teams, a lot of people struggle with it. Some even question the importance of team dynamics, even when deadline are met and projects are completed. But is team dynamics really important? What is its role in the successful completion of projects? What changes need to be done in order to have a cohesively working team? Team dynamics is essential for the success of a team in order to develop a climate of trust and open communication, which stimulates employees to work constructively with one another.
The success or failure of a group depends on several factors that affect the performance of a team. The size of the team has something to do with the effectivity of the group's performance. For instance, a group may be comprised of two or three individuals only or may be as big as 500 individuals. Depending on the size of the project and the skill sets required to complete a task, the size of the group should be taken into account when forming a team. In some instances, a smaller group proves to be more effective than a big one especially when the people involved in the group have the qualities needed for the job. What leaders may ask themselves include, the purpose of forming the group, the expectations for the group and the team members, the roles each member plays in the team, and the activities and goals of the team, among others (Heathfield).
In addition, a larger group opens doors for team conflicts to occur because of the various personalities and credentials that having a bigger group offers. This could also lead to a "variety of viewpoints, few opportunities for the development of social relationships, a decrease in participation levels, and lack of opportunity for individual recognition" (Group Dynamics, p. 2). In larger groups, it could be difficult for the silent but steady workers to get noticed if they are surrounded by more vocal individuals who do not actually complete their assigned tasks. Banking on reputation and social status, these individuals can easily overshadow the former, and could lead to problems in retention of qualified individuals. Not clearly defining the roles and responsibilities within the team becomes fodder for conflict to occur. This is primarily due to people's inherent territorial attitudes toward work, especially when the individual feels threatened that one's boundaries are crossed (Sullivan). Conflicts of interests also becomes a source of problem when individuals tend to think more about their personal goals and how these goals fit in the overall vision and goals of the company (Sullivan). The same is true on the team level, where groups may begin working in silos to control the outcome of the goal. In addition, personality clashes could occur especially when team members opt to bicker, argue, point fingers, and blame instead of finding solutions to issues. When these problems are present in the team, then it would be difficult to retain people. Thus, instead of maintaining the high quality of people in the team, the organization could begin losing its key players and gravitate towards the lesser qualified and average performers.
This is where team dynamics comes into play. Through activities that help build the team, employees feel motivated and happy to work every day as they learn to trust each other. Likewise, as the environment within the organization begins to be more competitive, managers and leaders focus on team performance and output when evaluating results. Thus, working harder no longer becomes the norm, but "working smarter". Through everyone's team effort, the group ultimately determines the outcome of the project. Thus, recognizing the values of interdependence and sense of ownership for their tasks and team goals helps in the establishment of team spirit and improvement of team dynamics (Duggan). These are crucial for the success of the team, which strives to attain a climate of trust and open communication. As each employee works constructively with one another, their team dynamics improve and an encouraging environment ensues, where everyone inspires a proactive spirit among each other.
Working in teams may sometimes stall the progress of a project considering the number of stakeholders involved. However, this only happens when people are not working together or have their own personal agenda. When a team is formed correctly and each role required for a project is properly staffed, then issues regarding completing tasks within a team environment is properly addressed.
In all team set ups, almost all team leaders are faced with individuals who refuse to be led by a manager, employees who prefer to work alone, have attitude problems, and are very difficult to work with (Group Dynamics, p. 5). Tolerating these behaviors can have negative effects within the team and the organization especially if the company's thrust is to have a congenial working environment and retain the key people. If a leader fails to address this situation, others within the group will notice how standards are being lowered in order to accommodate another individual's unconventional behavior. Thus, leaders and managers must confront the behavioral problem in order to maintain the positive dynamics within the team. Manager may opt to talk to the employee and describe specific situations that depict the behavior being questioned, explain why it concerns the manager, and express the desire to change the behavior. The manager must also listen to the employees reasons for exhibiting such behavior and ask the employee if he or she thinks the behavior must be changed. Then, the manager must ensure to get the individual's ideas and commitments to help solve the problem and offer support and encouragement. Finally, they must agree to an action plan and check the progress. When other employees see that steps are being taken to improve the situation, then they become more confident in their leader and have confidence in the group as well.
In our workplace, there was a time when the manager resigned from her position without proper turnover, leaving the team without someone to direct our activities. These began a series of doubts and questions among members regarding the sudden change as well as the stability of the company, as everyone thought it could affect their standing in the company. Because of the distraction, the employees became unfocused with work and deliverables were not met. Thus, the Human Resources manager stepped in and announced that they will be getting someone from within the team to lead the group on a temporary basis until a new manager is hired. This again led to questions as to why the company should hire a manager instead of promoting someone within the group. As the agitation rose, some key players within the team left and thus, the team was left with the new hires and the average employees to run the group.
If I were a member of the team and I was considered a key person in the team and the organization, I would have risen to position by volunteering to oversee the team's deadlines and activities until management has decided whether to hire a manager from outside or promote someone from the team. I would suggest that management promote someone from the team so that the team members know that they are being valued as a member of the group and that there is indeed a future for them within the organization. Hiring from outside could give the impression that management does not trust or have faith in the remaining members of the group, which, in turn, could lead to de-motivation and dissatisfaction among the team members.
In addition, I will talk to the team and get their opinions about the recent change (resignation of manager) and how they think it would affect their work. Then, I will assign someone to help me review the team's deliverables and deadlines, including the individual goals set for the team member. During instances such as these, what team members need is someone who can reassure them that despite the change, things will get back to normal. They just need someone to direct and assign the activities for them.
Therefore, when dynamics within the team is positive and everyone feels valued, no matter what changes occur in other aspects of the company, the team remains strong, motivated, and unaffected by situations. When this happens, the team opens itself up to change and a climate of trust, understanding, and open communication ensues.
References
Duggan, T. (n.d.). The importance of team dynamics in project management. Azcentral.com. Retrieved from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/importance-team-dynamics-project-management-21016.html
Group dynamics. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.ibrd.gov.nl.ca/regionaldev/CCB/Group_Dynamics/CCB_GroupDynamicsGuide.pdf
Heathfield, S. M. (n.d.). What team size is optimum for performance. About.com. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/teambuildingfaqs/f/optimum-team-size.htm
Sullivan, J. (n.d.). Four types of conflict in organizations. Chron. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/four-types-conflict-organizations-174.html
