Team Dynamis 1st Draft
Essay by 24 • October 27, 2010 • 547 Words (3 Pages) • 1,494 Views
Team Dynamics can strongly influence how a team reacts, behaves or performs.
The effects of team dynamics are often very complex.
Team Dynamics are the unseen forces that operate in a team between different
groups of people.
For example, in a small team of six people working in one office, there may
be two people who have a particularly strong friendship. This friendship is
a "natural force" that may have an influence on the rest of the team, and
can be manifest in various ways, either positively or negatively.
The positive effect of a strong friendship in a team might be:
a.. the friends communicate a lot together...
b.. ...which naturally results in other members being drawn into the
discussion
c.. ...which results in a good 'social' feel to the group
d.. ...which makes people enjoy being in the group
e.. ...which improves motivation and commitment
The negative effect of a strong friendship might be:
a.. to cause the other four people to feel excluded...
b.. ...which means they are less likely to include the two friends in
decision making
c.. ...which means that there are likely to be two sub-groups
d.. ...which means that information may not flow across the whole group,
but only within the subgroups
e.. ...which means that miscommunication may lead to misunderstanding and
poor collective performance
This friendship has an impact on the group's performance, and is therefore a
team dynamic. Whether it is good or bad depends on other factors. In the
first, positive, example, there is a natural force of "inclusion" which
results in people being drawn into productive discussions. In the second,
negative example, there is a natural force of "exclusion" which results in
communication between groups being stifled.
Other factors can also play an influence. For example, if a wall of
cupboards were to be placed across the middle of the office, this would also
form a 'natural force' that influences the communication flow and may
separate the group into two further sub-groups.
Sometimes,
...
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