Group Dynamics & Cohesion

Groups VS Teams

  • Groups

    • collection of interacting individuals

    • collective identity

    • structured communication

  • Teams

    • people whos success depend on each other

Theories of Group Development

Linear Perspective

  1. Forming

    1. people begin to interact and develop structure

  2. Storming

    1. team starts having conflicts and controversy, resistance to leader

  3. Norming

    1. team members accept roles & move forward to developing solidarity

  4. Performing

    1. team is functioning at maximum

Cyclical (Life Cycle) Perspective

  • development of groups is similar to life cycle (birth, growth, death)

  • emphasize terminal phase

  • as group develops is psychologically prepares for breakup

  • relevant for groups/teams that last 10-15 weeks

Pendular Perspective

  • shifts occur in interpersonal relationships during growth & development

  • groups do not progress through linear phases

  1. orientation

  2. conflict

  3. cohesion

  4. conflict

  5. termination

can go through stages of conflict and cohesion many times

Group Structure & Team Climate

  • Group roles

    • behaviors required/expected of a person occupying a position

    • roles can be informal or formal

  • Group norms

    • level of performance, pattern of behavior or belief

    • leaders need to establish norms/standards

Creating an Effective Team Climate

  • social support

    • mutual respect & support

    • stuff we do to make a teammate more comfortable

  • proximity

    • closer contact promotes interaction

  • distinctiveness from outsiders

    • more distinctive group = better climate

  • fairness

    • fairness or lack of fairness towards the group brings them closer

  • similarity to each other

    • greater similarity = closer climate

Individual & Team Performance

Ringlemann Effect (social loafing)

  • phenomenon where individual performance decreases as the number of people in the group increases

  • social loafing is when effort decreases as group members increase

Steiners Model

  • Actual performance = potential productivity - losses due to fault group processes

    • losses: motivation & coordination

How to reduce social loafing

  • break group into smaller groups to make sure slacking off can’t go unnoticed

  • pick team members based on roles

Cohesion

Cohesion: tendency to stick together and remain united in pursuit of goals

  • task cohesion: cohesion is based on the fact that the team is good at accomplishing goals

  • social cohesion: cohesion is based on the attractions built among the team & social harmony

Cohesion-Performance Relationship

  • increased cohesion = better team performance = increased cohesion

  • Co-acting teams: teams who perform individually (wrestling, bowling, skiing) are easier to coach & require less cohesion

  • Mixed co-acting-interacting: American football, relay teams, etc. require moderate amounts of cohesion

  • Interacting: basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc. require high amounts of cohesion