The Team Essentials for Team Success

TEAM DYNAMICS: The Team Essentials for Team Success

The work place, social organizations, community groups and even sports use teams to accomplish goals.  The dynamics of teams will determine whether these goals can be achieve in an efficient manner.  Understanding positive and negative outcomes that occur due to the dynamics will assist in achieving team efforts.

The dynamics of a team depend on each team member.  Team Dynamics are the unseen forces that operate in a team between different people or groups. and can strongly influence how a team reacts, behaves or performs.  Many factors influence team dynamics, such as personalities of team members, how the team operates, how the team views itself and the team's organization.

The development of friendship within a team can have both positive and negative effects.  Friendship can foster more effective communication among members of the team.  This may lead to a positive social feel within the group and make members enjoy being a part of the team.  The good feeling can increase motivation and commitment to the team.

It is important to identify team goals before anyone starts doing the work or play the game.  A common mistake teams make is to assume that team members see tasks the same way and understand how everyone should be contributing.  Discussion should identify team mission, tasks and goals.  Avoid conflict and conserve resources by developing a plan and communicating as a team.

Each member of the team should be aware of her individual talents and weaknesses.  It will allow the team member to contribute to their maximum potential.  Individuals will be able to tap into other team members' strengths and talents, thus creating a stronger team.

The effects of team dynamics are often very complex.  Sometimes, an "absence" of a natural force can also be a team dynamic.  Team and group dynamics are influenced by many factors, such as the larger context in which the team operates, the organization, the team identity itself, and the mix of individuals within the team.  The country and geographic region form a larger culture in which the organization operates.  Main ingredients of ‘dynamics’ are:

• The kind of organization, such as business, or non-profit, along with the organizational culture will influence the team functioning just as much as the division of the organization
• Teams have an identity of their own. This identity stems from the interrelationship of the larger culture, the organizational culture, the team configuration, the nature of the work (purpose), and the qualities of the individuals.  Team dynamics is heavily influenced by the nature and purpose of the work to be done by the team.
• Individual members influence the team dynamics as well, so much so that when the composition of the team changes, the team dynamics will change.

There are five (5) essential issues of team dynamics:

1. Who Am I?-Who Are You?
• Team members are individuals first.
• They each bring different talents, perspectives, values, and experiences
• The more self-awareness each team member has, the more actively he or she can contribute.
• The more each team member knows about the other team members, the better she or he can tap into the talents and experiences of others for better team performance.
2. Who Are We Together?
• Involves the key aspects of relationships and communication.
• Individuals of different personality types are unique in the ways they build relationships and deal with conflict.
3. What Are We Here to Do?
• Teams often start right off doing the work rather than clarifying what the work is.
• They assume others see the assignments in the same ways they do.
• teams should spent time to be sure they all share the same view of what they are to be doing and what the outcomes will look like.
• Take the time at the outset to discuss what the goals, mission, or tasks of the team are so you all on the same page.
4. How Are We Going to Do It?
• It takes the form of who's going to do what by when.
• Often treated as the most important issue on a team.
• However, it involves both the processes and the production aspects of getting the work of the team done.
• People of different personality types will have different preferred approaches to doing the work
• We tend to expect others to do the work the same way we do.
5. How Are We Doing? Or How Did We Do?
• Each team must have some measure of how they are doing.
• People of different personality types will have different perspectives on what constitutes good and adequate measurement.

Effective teamwork starts with understanding ourselves and ways we are different from others.  When we know our own value to the team, we are in a better position to value and capitalize on the contributions of those who are different from us.  We are also better able to think in terms of the team as a unit, instead of only our own interests-to move from "I" to "we."

Social loafing is when team members do not work to their potential, with the assumption that other team members can make up for their laziness.  This phenomenon can be avoided by:

• Emphasizing the importance of individual contribution and pride within the group.
• Making members accountable for their effort by identifying individual contributions
• Breaking the team down into smaller groups when possible

Keep in mind the interrelated influences have on team dynamics and remember that we are each complex and adaptable.  Our behavior may not reflect our natural preferences, but instead, the demands of the situation and the ways we have developed.

References:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/354170-what-is-team-dynamics/

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/team-dynamics.html

http://www.bestfittype.com/Models/TeamEssentials.cfm

Linda V. Berens, Linda K. Ernst, and Melissa A. Smith, Quick Guide to the 16 Personality Types and Teams (Telos Publications, 2004) *Used with permission.