group dynamics

group defined

a collection of individuals that work together to achieve a common goal

team defined

a group of people using their particular skills to work together

how is cohesion determined?

how close a team is, both socially and in pursuit of common goals. A cohesive group can achieve performance goal with maximum efficiency, whereas a dysfunctional group can experience breakdowns in performance

what are the two types of cohesion

task

social

what is task cohesion?

the ability to work towards a shared goal - how united the group are in the pursuit of a common goal

provides motivation as all team members will work hard in the pursuit of a league title - in elite athletes this drive to win can often become more important than any social differences

what is social cohesion?

ability of a group to get on with each other and how close they are based on their social interactions

degree of trust one ahcothers ability an support for each member

may even socialise away from the game

which is more important?

both important, more TASK though

• it can override social cohesion problems - it is possible to win and hate each other

• social cohesion can increase how interactive a team is and improve team spirit and communication but can also be negative - cliques - means that some will not participate/ cooperate or at training Amy not contribute to team questions or suggestions on tactics

what do group members need other be to be successful

• highly motivated

• to have strong communication skills

• ability to work well in a team

• to have a shared goal

group formation 4 stages (Tuckman 1965)

forming

storming

norming

performing

suggested 4 stages group must pass through to start working as a unit

forming

short stage

group comes together and gets to know each other, individuals find out about how they feel about the team and whether or not they will fit in

an assessment is made on the strengths of the individual compared to strengths of others in the group

storming

potential conflict as individuals may compete with each other to establish position, status or role in the team - position wise too

coach and captain should resolve such issues as quickly as possible to ensure players may accept an alternative

Wayne Rooney 2015 - striker who accepted midfield roles to allow new strikers to play their preferred position

norming

once the conflicts have been resolved, the team settles down and begins to cooperate

the set standard are accepted and followed and cohesion in the team builds

they settle down with the intention of achieving their goals - group standards are accepted and and the cohesion of the team develops

performing

all members are interactive and working towards a common goal

there is an understanding and everybody is aware of their role - the team members support each other

each inidivudal performing successfully in their own role

factors which affect formation

numbers in the team (group size)

time available

comminuctaion between group members

the motivation levels in the performers

the experience of performers

the behaviour of the leader

the group goals

representative teams take longer than established clubs - established welcome new players quickly, going through stages in in short time span - representative = players may have to learn unfamiliar tactics and new roles within a limited time

superstars placed in a team will not always work

leister winning the league …. players working together, motivated, well integrated as a team

characteristics of a team

a collective identity - team recognised easily usually wearing same colour kit - gives motivation and sense of belonging - sense of pride when wear team clothing

interaction - team members should operate their own role successfully and also be able to link this role with other members of the team - also seen as the way that team players work together to complete a task

communication - to help interaction, teammates should talk to each other and communicate non verbally in the way like hand signals and coded calls

a shared goal or purpose - prospect of achieving success is what often keeps callers in the team and working for each other. all players should want to aim for maximum motivation to achieve the same goal

co action

rowing - working hard at the same thing, all the crew must pull together

steiner model of team performance (1972) equation

actual productivity = potential productivity - losses due to faulty processes

actual productivity

looks at the performance of the team at a given time at the end of the game which ultimately focuses on the outcome of the group performance

e.g whether a football team won/ lost or drew to the opposition

potential productivity

the best possible outcome that could happen if everything went perfectly during the game - the best performance based on player ability and group resources that could happen in team

example = 2014 football World Cup - England team hopefully selected the best placers and faced tough opponents in Italy, but were still expected to qualify - however the team did underperform and didn’t live up to the expectations or potential by failing to win a game

losses due to faulty processes

the things that go wrong to reduce group outcomes and prevent group potential being reached

e.g falls into two categories - coordination problems and motivation problems

e.g two rugby defenders going in to tackle the same player, leaving another attacker free to receive a pass because they did not tell each other which player to defend against

The ringlemann effect

when group performance decreases with group size

fro example this effect was studied through a game of tug of war and found that individual effort of a person decreased with increasing the group size - individuals tried hard on the rope to pull when their efforts were highlighted but tended to reduce their effort in a team of 8

what methods could a coach employ to overcome the losses caused by the ringlemann effect (coordination losses)

coach could use goal setting strategy, setting goals that are realistic and specific and not just based on results

coach could have structured training with small sided games to ensure avoidance of social loafing or maintain communication with open discussion

coach could use team meetings to resolve conflicts

give specific roles within the team and make sure this role is clear and accepted, e.g specific responsibility marking a specific player on the opposition

ensuring tactics are clear to the whole team

faulty processes

coordination problems

• tactics

• strategies

• communicatuon

• interaction required in sport

motivation problems

• social loafing

• ringlemann effect

social loafing

individual loss of motivation in a team player due to lack of performance identification when individual efforts are not recognised

what causes sports people to loaf?

• lack of confidence when the player does not believe in their ability to compete with the opposition

• players may not understand the role they need to play in the team/ may not accept the role with enthusiasm (or may lack fitness to meet criteria of the role)

• the coach/ captain may have displayed poor leadership by not offering incentives and reinforcement, such as player of the match

• player may have developed a negative attitude, perhaps not liking the position they have been selected to play in

what methods could a coach employ to overcome the losses caused when a sports performer is ‘loafing’ (motivation losses)

• coach could use statistics such as tackle counts, number of assists or pass completion rates to highlight individual performance

• coach might use video analysis, a form of sports analytics to highlight the performance of the individual and use the feedback to evaluate and assess that performance

• promoting motivation with rewards for example man of the match

• setting individual goals for the performer

• punishment

• attribution retraining - can results be attributed to internal/ controllable factors

• setting role models

• effective communication