Group Dynamics For Teams Sage Publications

Communication and interaction pattern

Discuss About The Group Dynamics For Teams Sage Publications?

In today’s competitive world, teamwork or group in the workplace has become an important and common activity. Working in groups is challenging because different individuals have different personalities and opinions. The companies are fostering team work because it creates a healthy working environment and people are inspired to work and contribute more in their work. I am working as a team leader of a global IT company. There three different teams in my company. As the company is a start-up venture, the employees has to give their innovative ideas and work dedicatedly for the development of the company. The group in which I am involved consists of 12 members. There is an assistant team leader in every group who assist the members. The members in my group are every co-operative and they always support the team in difficult times. Though the team has emerged recently with 12 new joinees but the employees are very friendly and support each other in their work. Meetings are held in different teams from time to time to discuss the different issues which are faced in the team. The employees also give their required feedbacks and opinion which will help to develop and improve the group (Silk et al., 2014).

Whenever people are together in a group, they communicate and share their ideas. This communication may be helpful as well as harmful to the group. I communicate with my team members on a regular basis and this helps me to understand their problems and solve their problems. This also helps me in maintaining proper relationships with my team members. Proper communication and interaction pattern has also helped me to present a unified image in the group. The best way which I adopt is to observe, assess and understand my team members. Proper communication and interaction is vital so as to understand the goals of the group. It also helps in enhancing proper relationship among the group members. As I am the team leader of a small group, communication makes it easier for me to co-ordinate their efforts. Moreover, the other members who have joined the team recently also feel motivated and satisfied of working in the group. It also becomes easier to share information for me if all the members communicate properly in the group. I can also analyze the personal contribution of the employees and understand their problems through proper communication. If there are more than 12 members in my group, it will be difficult for me to manage the entire team as I cannot personally interact with the team members. I will have no time to appreciate or motivate them. Thus, the relationship will get distorted if there is no proper communication and interaction among the employees (Schänzel & Smith, 2014).

Group cohesion

Cohesion includes the degree to which the individuals in a group will work to achieve the goals. The members in a group must have a common goals and visions. They must also have common interest. The members must have constant touch with each other and there must be effective interpersonal communication within the group members. It is also important that the members interact with each other in a group. In may team, it can be said that we had close relation with each other. It was not only my duty to understand the problems of the team members but there were senior members who also helped the junior team members.  We always tried to work towards the common goals and aims of the company. This has helped and motivated us and thus helped my team members to perform better(Mulvey, Rizzo & Killen, 2016).

Social integration is the status, role and norm of group dynamics that helps the members to stay fit and be accepted in the group. These norms, rules and status helps to avoid personal conflict between the members in the group. The group cannot function effectively and fairly if there is no proper social integration within the team members. Moreover, social influence may have both normative and informational influence. Normative influence helps in fulfilling the desired requirements of the team member’s whereas informational influence is accepting and persuasion of the information which is provided by other members in the group. If there is too much compliance and conformity within the team, it results in strong social influence in the hierarchies and roles and thus affects group work. This can also have negative influence on the team members because the members cannot contribute their ideas and creativity for the development of the team(Kolstad, Pires & Wiig, 2017). There is also certain accounting of predictability, compliances and conformity which is necessary to help the members to understand their desired goals and objectives. In case of my team, it can be said that there is proper social integration among the members. The senior members with the assistance of the team leader and the assistant team leaders influence other members and help them to achieve their desired goals. As the team leader of the group, I personally interact with each member and try to handle their queries and problems. I also take care that there is no individual conflict between the team members so that their work life does not get affected. There should be a competitive spirit in the team which will motivate other members to perform better. Moreover, the company in which I work develop the norms which help the team members to be comfortable in their job role. The employees must feel that their perception and ideas are valued and this will motivate them for further group interaction (Levi, 2015).

Social integration and influence

Culture in a group is defined as the customs, beliefs and traditions. It is also the preferred way of doing business in the group in such a way so that the aims and goals in the business are commonly understood. The interpersonal styles of the individuals, values and preferences that come from different cultures and groups must be blended in such a way so that the group develops further (Jackson et al., 2017). It is also important to value each member in the group and thus it involves facilitating and exploring the ideas of the group members. In case of my team, it can be said that all the members in the team adhere to the common goals and objectives of the group. There are certain other organisations that have provided sponsorship to our company and thus it has helped our company to expand further. Moreover, proper interaction within the team members also facilitated group work. Multicultural differences also play an important role in group culture. As the members in the team come from different cultural background, it is necessary to respect their ideologies and thus help them to attain their specific goals (Hou et al., 2013).

There are certain important factors which are affecting group dynamics and it is essential to understand them for the development of the team. Leadership is a vital factor which is playing an important role in group dynamics. It is often seen that the members in a group imitate the team members. In case of my team, it can be said that leadership plays an important role. The team members try to imitate the ideologies which we follow and thus contribute accordingly in the group (Dunlop, Falk & Beauchamp, 2013). In certain cases, it can be said that communication plays an important role in group dynamics. In order to understand the problems of team members in the group, it is necessary to communicate and respect their ideologies so that they will feel motivated and work for the business development of the team. Moreover, as a team leader it is vital that I do not misuse my power to dominate the team. However, I must try to understand their problems and try to solve it so that they do not feel disappointed or distressed. They must be inspired so that they can contribute for the development and betterment of the company (Beauchamp & Eys, 2014).

To improve the strength to team dynamics, there are certain strategies and steps which must be followed. It is important to stay focused and pay more attention to communication. Moreover, to hold a responsible position, it is necessary to define the roles and responsibilities so that the team members can follow them accordingly. It is also necessary that the team leader respects the ideologies of the members so as that they do not feel disappointed or distracted. It must also be checked that the competition among the different team does not get too serious or else it will affect the team members. Competition must be healthy and the leaders must not disrupt the competition. Moreover, loyalty also plays an important role in group dynamics and this helps the team to develop. It is also important that the personal efforts of the team members get recognition so that they will be motivated and work for the development of the team (Hogg & Terry, 2014). .

Reference List

Beauchamp, M. R., & Eys, M. A. (Eds.). (2014). Group dynamics in exercise and sport psychology. Routledge.

Dunlop, W. L., Falk, C. F., & Beauchamp, M. R. (2013). How dynamic are exercise group dynamics? Examining changes in cohesion within class-based exercise programs. Health Psychology, 32(12), 1240.

Hogg, M. A., & Terry, D. J. (Eds.). (2014). Social identity processes in organizational contexts. Psychology Press.

Hou, A., Parker, L. C., Balogh, M. L., McGee, S. L., Wilman, D. J., Connelly, J. L., … & Finoguenov, A. (2013). Do group dynamics play a role in the evolution of member galaxies?. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 435(2), 1715-1726.

Jackson, J. C., Bilkey, D., Jong, J., Rossignac-Milon, M., & Halberstadt, J. (2017). Strangers in a Stadium: Studying Group Dynamics With In Vivo Behavioral Tracking. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1948550617709112.

Kolstad, I., Pires, A. J. G., & Wiig, A. (2017). Within-group heterogeneity and group dynamics: Analyzing exit of microcredit groups in Angola. Oxford Development Studies, 45(3), 338-351.

Levi, D. (2015). Group dynamics for teams. Management.

Mulvey, K. L., Rizzo, M. T., & Killen, M. (2016). Challenging gender stereotypes: Theory of mind and peer group dynamics. Developmental science, 19(6), 999-1010.

Schänzel, H. A., & Smith, K. A. (2014). The socialization of families away from home: Group dynamics and family functioning on holiday. Leisure Sciences, 36(2), 126-143.

Silk, M. J., Croft, D. P., Tregenza, T., & Bearhop, S. (2014). The importance of fission–fusion social group dynamics in birds. Ibis, 156(4), 701-715.