Group and Team Dynamics Pt 1

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What is a group?

• 2+ people who interact with and exert mutual influence on each other

• mutual interaction or interdepended for a common purpose

• purpose and goal not the same - together for class but different goals

What are some examples of a group?

classroom, fraternities, clubs, etc

What is a team?

• mutual interaction or interdependence with additional characteristics of:

  • collective sense of identity

  • distinctive roles

  • structured modes of communication

  • norms

What is the relationship between teams and groups?

• a collection of individuals is not necessarily a group, and a group is not necessarily a team, but all teams are groups

• if teams don’t have cohesion, they may feel like a group

What is the linear perspective theory?

groups develop in linear stages

What are the stages of linear perspective?

• Forming: familiarization, formation of interpersonal relationships, development of team structure

  • just getting to know each other: preseason

• Storming: rebellion, resistance to the leader and to control the group, interpersonal conflict

  • chaos figuring out roles; vote for captains and roles/positions

• Norming: development of solidarity and cooperation; group conflicts resolved

  • good development, happy/accept captain and roles/positions

• Performing: channeling of energies for team success

  • all figured out, performing well

What is the problem with the linear perspective?

it’s too linear, teams would probably eb and flow though these stages as opposed to one after the next

What is the cyclical perspective?

birth, growth and death cycle

• emphasis on terminal phase of group’s existence

• as group develops, it psychologically prepares for it’s own breakup

• relevant for groups/teams last 10-15 weeks

What is the pendular perspective?

shifts occur in interpersonal development; unresponsive to demands of the environment with 5 stages

What are the 5 stages the pendular perspective?

• Orientation: cohesion and feelings of unity are high

• Differentiation and conflict: teams subdivide into smaller groups and conflicts arise as player compete for positions

• Resolution and cohesion: cohesion increases as group members share common concerns and feelings

• Differentiation and conflict: team unity is weakened as some individuals are rewarded and others are punished

• Termination: with team success, feelings of cohesion are high; team was unsuccessful, feelings of cohesion are low

What is the simplified version of the pendular perspective?

feel good to conflict to chaos to feel good, etc

What are roles?

behaviors required or expected of a person occupying a certain position

not just leadership

What are formal versus informal roles?

• formal - dictated by nature and structure of organization (coach, instructor, captain)

• informal - evolve from group’s dynamic or interactions among group members (informal leader

What are some examples of non-formal roles?

team player, malingerer, cancer, enforcer, social convener, star player, comedian, spark plug, mentor

What is role clarity?

participants understand their role

What can get in the way of role clarity?

role ambiguity - participants are unsure of their role which can be detrimental to performance

not clear instruction of role, thinking role is something other than it is

What is role acceptance?

participants are okay with their role and are willing to play that role

• can be difficult if participant does not accept their role or if they feel their role is unimportant

What is role conflict?

participant doesn’t have sufficient ability, motivation, time, or understanding to achieve the goal

• could be a participant that has too many roles

• can’t do role - in captain position but is shy, quiet and timid on field

What are group norms?

a level of performance, pattern of behavior, or belief

different types of norms

• norms for productivity - standard for effort and performance accepted by the team

often initiated by leaders, not always

• important norms are positive ones (negative norms challenged and hopefully changed)

different roles have different norms

• team captain versus comedian

What are some examples of team norms?

team breakdown, habitual pregame team thing, picking up weight room, good grades, what is expected of players, etc

What are the gender differences with norms?

female teams better understanding of norms than male teams; possibly related to socialization and types of sports preferred

male teams may need more structured establishment of norms through team goal setting or team building activities

What is social support?

exchange of resources between at least two individuals perceived by the provider, intended to enhance the well-being of the recipient

How can you make social support effective?

• most beneficial when provided to individuals who currently perceive lower support

• match type of support to the situation

• match type of support to environmental context

• consider timing of support

• consider influence of individual giving support

What are the types of social support?

• listening support: listen without giving advice

• emotional support: providing comfort

• emotional-challenge support: challenge the participant to evaluate their attitudes, values and feelings

• reality-confirmation support: validation

• task-appreciation support: challenge the participant to evaluate their way of thinking about a take or activity

• person-assistance support: providing service or help

What does team support rely on?

individual interactions

What does creating an effective team climate rely on?

social support along with

• proximity: physical, promotes interaction to hasten group development

• distinctiveness: uniforms, etc: enhances feelings of unity and oneness

• fairness: enhances trust

  • doesn’t equal same treatment

• similarity: commitments, attitudes, aspirations and goals, also supports unity

• task interdependence: all group members benefit (or suffer) from group’s performance

What is Steiner’s Model of Actual Productivity?

actual productivity = potential productivity - losses attributable to faulty group processes

• potential productivity = team’s possible beat performance given each individuals’ ability, knowledge and skills and demand of takes

• motivation losses = when team members don’t give 100% effort

• coordination losses = timing between teammates is off or ineffective strategies are used

activities that require more interactions/cooperation = more susceptible to coordination losses

What are the effects individual skills on group performance?

• more cooperation and interaction are necessary, the importance of individual ability decreases and the importance of group process increases

  • groups of 2 work best when close in ability = more likely sully combined abilities

• Ringelmann effect

• Social loafing

What is the Ringelmann effect?

individual performance decreases as number of people in group increases

What is social loafing?

• individuals put in less than 100% effort bc losses in motivation due to diffusion of responsibility (expecting others to pick up slack)

• similar to bystander effect when people don’t help or act because they think others will

What are some methods to decrease social loafing?

• emphasize importance of individual pride and unique contributions

• increase identifiability of individual performances

• determine specific situations in which loafing may occur

• assign players to other positons

• divide team into smaller units

• attribute failure to internal stable factors