Strengthen Your Team by Improving Team Dynamics
A team can be comprised of all-star players, but that alone doesn’t lead to a successful outcome. Several factors can hold the group back and hinder creativity and decision-making.
Think of all the teams you’ve been part of in your career. If you reflect on the ones that weren’t that productive, it’s often possible to see common themes. Perhaps there was one person who dominated the conversation, or someone who was consistently negative, shooting down all potential ideas. Maybe there was a team joker, who continually drove the conversation off-topic.
Being aware of group dynamics can help to improve your teams and make them more productive going forwards.
What are group dynamics?
The term, group dynamics, was coined by social psychologist Kurt Lewin, who undertook research post WW2 on group decision-making. What Lewin noticed was that various social processes affected the group. For example, members vying for social status, pressure on individuals to conform to group thinking, conflict, having to give and take to sustain collaboration.
These complex factors play a huge role in our behavior in groups and our ability to make collective decisions. If we consider the different personalities and approaches in any given group, it’s no wonder that teamwork isn’t always easy.
Strategies for Improving Team Dynamics
According to psychologist Bruce Tuckman, a group goes through four stages as it evolves from a collection of strangers to a cohesive team with a common goal. The stages are: "forming, storming, norming, and performing." As a leader, you must be aware of these stages as they necessitate adjustments in your leadership style.
Stage 1: Forming
In this first stage, team members are a bit overly polite and enthusiastic. People are just getting to know each other. Roles and responsibilities are still being defined. As a leader, you will play a more authoritative role as you set guidelines and expectations.
Stage 2: Storming
Much like a relationship, this is the stage where small things you didn’t previously notice about a loved one, start to annoy you. This second phase often starts where there is a conflict between team members based on different work styles or opinions. This stage is essential, as ignoring or avoiding conflicts isn’t useful in the long run.
Disagreements are to be expected. As a leader, it’s good to remind people of that. We are all unique, and we work in different ways. Frustrations will occur, and you need to have mechanisms in place for dealing with conflict. Your role in this stage is to help deal with disagreements.
Stage 3: Norming
In this stage, team members begin to appreciate each others’ strengths. Having gotten through the storming phase, the team is now more cohesive. Everyone is embracing their role and contributing. Some conflict will still occur, but the team now has the tools to deal with it.
Stage 4: Performing
If your team reaches stage 4, that is a great accomplishment. Many teams fail during the second storming phase. You have taught your team to overcome conflict, and everyone is on the same page, working collectively towards a common goal. Your team is self-motivated and can work without supervision. This allows you to delegate and to focus on coaching team members.
Understanding the different stages makes it possible to adapt your leadership style to help the group with the problems they are facing. Managing conflict is a crucial skill, which will help your team to flourish.
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