Understanding workplace team dynamics

14 Jan, 2022 - 00:01 0 Views
Understanding workplace team dynamics The human resources department has a critical role to play in building the team through recruitment and selection

The ManicaPost

Sifikile Tsongo
Post Correspondent

A TEAM is a group of people with a common goal.

 

The members are dependent on each other for success.

Team dynamics describe how people interact and perceptions that arise within that group.

The human resources department has a critical role to play in building the team through recruitment and selection.

Team dynamics can be positive or problematic and this has a bearing on the profitability of the organisation, employee satisfaction, staff retention rates, as well as team and individual performance.

Team dynamics are unconscious, psychological forces that give direction to a team’s behaviour and performance.

 

According to Lewin (1943), team dynamics are based on processes that develop within a group that are not present in a random collection of individuals.

Team dynamics deal with the attitudes and behavioural patterns of a team.

 

It is concerned with how teams are formed and the interactions and forces operating between groups.

 

It describes the way people interact with one another.

How team dynamics are created by:

The nature of the team’s work

The personalities within the team

The working relationships with other people

The environment within which the team works.

Establishing an effective team

First, it is crucial to establish great leadership.

 

Foster trust through honesty and transparency.

 

Employees need to trust their leader’s judgements for them to work effectively in their absence.

You then need to establish a relationship with each employee.

 

Learn more about each member in your team, their skills set, their likes and dislikes.

 

This enables you to match each employee’s expertise and competencies to specific problems which helps to increase their productivity and job satisfaction.

Give employees the autonomy to open-ended projects and allow them to determination the best solution.

 

Brainstorm solutions to help empower your employees as this may lead to new solutions to the problem.

 

This will encourage them to co-operate and develop problem solving skills.

Take steps to improve communication and solve conflicts amicably.

When you have positive team dynamics, team members trust one another.

 

Team members work towards a collective decision and they hold one another accountable for making things happen.

 

In such a scenario, team members are nearly twice as creative as an average group.

On the other hand when you have problematic team dynamics, there is distrust between team members.

 

There will be plenty of resistance to change due to the distrust and lack of communication.

 

Team members will disrupt work due to failure to explore options.

 

They will also make wrong choices when it comes to making decisions.

Causes of poor team dynamics

Weak leadership: If a good leader is missing, more determinant leaders take charge, thereby leading to infighting, lack of direction and focus on the wrong priorities.

Group think: This prevents members from fully exploring alternative solutions.

 

This creates a desire to reach a consensus than the desire to reach the right decision.

Excessive difference to authority: A team member holds back from expressing their own opinion.

Blocking: Disrupting the flow of information in the group through an aggressor that is disagreeing with others or inappropriately outspoken.

 

If a team member is boastful or dominates sessions or is overly critical of others ideas, they cause the blockage.

 

A member who introduces humour at inappropriate times or does not participate in discussions precipitates also causes blockage.

Evaluation apprehension: Team members hold back their opinions when they feel harshly judged by their team member.

When this happens, analyse the actions of individuals.

 

Watch out for aggressiveness in communication, going against team decisions and showing up for meetings late.

Once such things are noted, it is time for a conversation to iron out the animosity.

 

Encourage proper communication and show the team members how their actions are impacting on the business.

 

Kindly but firmly ask them to change.

Let the team work out its differences and offer your support.

 

They should also reflect on their differences by using leadership assessment.

 

Make a commitment to be aware of your own biases and stop them from getting in the way.

Impact of team dynamics on performance

Incompatibility between the personalities of senior management, a customer or a supplier may lead to deteriorating perception of the service provided by the whole team.

 

The customers may withdraw.

 

This requires the organisation to work on their client and supplier relationships.

A multi-cultural team with poor team dynamics may cause employee dissatisfaction.

 

Thus, it is essential for the organisation to re-design the organisational structure of the team to create better team dynamics and a more motivating working environment.

Therefore, team dynamics have an impact on the profitability of the organisation, whether people enjoy their work or not, staff retention rates and company reputation.

 

Team and individual performance have an effect on the efficiency and effective of the organisation.

How to encourage positive team dynamics

A change of organisational structure and re-assignment of personnel.

Personality workshops that increase awareness of interpersonal dynamics.

A cultural change programme to introduce new types of attitudes and behaviour to the organisation.

Stakeholders’ workshops to give the team a wider perspective or understanding of each other’s views.

Introduction of new processes, tools or technology to facilitate better communication.

Sifikile Tsongo is a psychologist and lecturer at the Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences. She writes in her personal capacity.

 

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