Unit - III Team Dynamics

UNIT III-TEAM DYNAMICS
Prepared by
Dr. Murali Vemula
Associate Professor of English
VJIT
1
drmuraliku@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION
 Team dynamics are unconscious, psychological forces
that influence the direction of a team’s behaviour and
performance.
 They are like undercurrents in the sea that can carry a
boat.
 TDs are created by the nature of team’s work,
personalities within the team and their working
relationship with other people and environment
 TD can be good-for example when they improve overall
team performance.
 TD can be bad-for example, when they cause
unproductive conflict, demotivation, and preventing
achieving goals. 2

TYPES OF TEAMS
 Teams can be formed anywhere, anytime whenever the
task is difficult and complicated. Types are ….
1.Permanent Teams: These teams perform on a permanent
basis and are not dissolved once task is accomplished.
Work or no work, they stand united always.
2.Temporary Teams: Unlike 1, these lose their importance
once the task is accomplished. They are usually formed
for a sojourn purpose.
3. Self-managed Teams: These teams are individuals work
together for a common purpose but without
supervision. Every individual is accountable for their
work.
3

TYPES OF TEAMS
4.Virtual Teams: They consist of individuals who are
separated by distances and connected through
computer.
 Individuals communicate each other online.
 All work for a common objective.
 They support everybody online whenever they want
form their end.
5.Committee: These are generally formed to work on a
particular assignment either permanently or on a
temporary basis.
 Individuals with common interest form a committee and
work on any matter.
4

ROLE OF AN INDIVIDUAL
 Introduction:
 Building effective team typically involves
establishing clear responsibilities.
 Work flows smoothly and few conflicts erupt
when team members reside in different
locations.
 Conducting team building exercises to improve
communication, will establish cultural
awareness and rapport.
 Team members create a successful team
dynamic by committing to their roles.
5

ROLE OF AN INDIVIDUAL: ROLES
1. Responsibility: Team members contribute to the
team dynamics by how they react , behave and
perform. Management expert Meredith Belbin
defined roles in terms of team behavior related to
actions, thoughts and people.
 When a project leader assigns tasks to the team
members, he indicates which team members have
responsibility for contributing to task completion.
 They agree to work on the task, adhere to quality
criteria and meet the deadline. If they disagree
with the strategy or approach, they need to
discuss it with their peers or a positive team
dynamic falters.
6

2. Accountable:
 making only one person on the team accountable for a
task’s completion.
 Ideally, individual has skills, knowledge and experience
to complete the task. If a team member lacks skills and
doesn’t perform his work, he risks delaying the work of
other team members as well.
 The overall team dynamic suffers from poor
communication.
 Each team member should be valued for his different
talents, perspectives, values and experiences, but for
each task, one person must accept accountability and
address problems should they arise. Without
accountability, dysfunction occurs.
7

3.Consulted: Team members who have specific skills,
knowledge and expertise usually function as subject
matter experts or consultants.
 They contribute to a positive environment by
coaching and mentoring less-experienced team
members and providing information, materials and
other resources to the team members who have
responsibility and accountability for task completion.
 These consultant team members must respond to
requests for reviews in a timely manner. They need to
provide constructive feedback that doesn’t adversely
impact the scope of the project.
8

4. Informed: Project sponsors and stakeholders
typically need to stay informed.
 They provide business requirements, funding
and inspiration to project team members.
 This contributes to productive working
conditions and a successful team dynamic. If
the project leader neglects to get sponsorship
for projects or he poorly communicates the
goals and objectives, confusion can ensue.
(Tara Duggan)
9

HOW TO IMPROVE TEAM
DYNAMICS
10

HOW TO IMPROVE TD?
Introduction:
 TD is complex and multi-layered being the
result of interaction of many factors(viz,
personalities, roles, structure, culture etc.)
 To improve TD, it needs to diagnose first to
identify the type of intervention that will have
right impact.
 In diagnosis stage, the current team dynamics
are investigated to identify factors for
problems.
There are many types of interventions affect TD
 A change of organizational structure,
reassignment of personnel or office layout. 11

HOW TO IMPROVE TD?
 Bespoke team development workshops designed to address
specific work or team performance issues.
 Personality workshops that increase awareness of
interpersonal dynamics.
 Change workshops, aimed at addressing latent fears
and resistance to the work of the team.
 Stakeholder workshops, to give the team a wider
perspective or understand others’ views of the team’s
performance.
 A cultural change programme to introduce new types
of attitudes and behaviour to the organisational
norms.
 New processes, tools, or technology, e.g. to facilitate
better communication.
12

TEAM DYNAMICS
Introduction:
 Team Dynamics is defined as the motivating
forces that propel a team towards its goal and
mission.
 Team dynamics are observed by the interplay of
the team member, the task the team is
completing, and the team as a whole.
 There’s a lot of research regarding what works
in team building and team dynamics. The
challenge is using what works for the team at that
time.
 The list below highlights some things that happy
and productive teams share. Through the team
dynamics, you can better connect work works
and what is not working to support the team’s
13

TEAM
DYNAMICS
14

TEAM DYNAMICS ARE….
1.) Identify a leader
 A common mistake is the failure to recognize that any team
endeavor requires the identification or emergence of a leader.
This person isn’t there to tell people what to do, but to guide the
process, ensure a steady supply of resources, coordinate efforts,
and assist in cross-functional-teamwork.
2.) Establish roles and responsibilities and discuss what each
person “brings to the table”
 Understanding the various functions and responsibilities of the
team is critical to success. Taking the time to understand the
expertise and special interests of team members will allow you to
match people with their capacity to complete the project tasks.
15

3.) Create goals and objectives
 In any team, recognizing and understanding the goal is
paramount. All organizations have long-term goals, and project
teams must set and understand technical and process goals.
4.) Establish an agenda for managing time to complete tasks
and meetings
 Teams that effectively manage their time achieve better results.
5.) Develop a method to determine how your team will reach
agreement
 Every day people make decisions quickly – from what to wear to
what to have for breakfast – individuals use rational and irrational
methods to make decisions. However, when two or more people
(any team or committee) attempt to make the simplest decision
without an agreement, chaos results.
16

6.) Establish ground rules for meetings
 “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” As it relates to teams,
no truer words apply. When teams meet, there should be a set of
standards that establish how team members behave toward one
another. This will not only ensure courtesy, but also an adequate and
productive use of your team’s time together.
7.) Ensure proper and timely use of quality tools
 Teams must have knowledge (and accessibility) to utilize and
comprehend the quality tools needed for each project or task.
8.) Immediately deal with maladaptive behaviors, with consequences
included
 No matter how well a team prepares for maladaptive behavior and
attempts to prevent it, such behavior will occur. This is particularly the
case on teams! When these maladaptive behaviors are ignored and left
to fester, they’re like a dead body left to rot in the living room. It looks
and smells progressively worse, and no one will want to deal with it.
17

9.) Quickly start each project or task
 Teams waste a lot of time before the actual work
gets done. Better results in project teams can
come in the initial phase if project teams have
project management expertise.
10.) State what’s working, as well as how to
improve what’s not
 Teams need to understand that problems don’t
equal solutions. Teams must quickly
acknowledge problems when they exist, then
work to determine what will take the place of the
problem.
18

CHARACTERISTI
CS OF
TEAM
DYNAMICS
19

CHARACTERISTICS OF TD
1. Shared Purpose
 The difference between a team and a group is that a
team has a shared goal. When a group of people
work together, it is crucial that everyone is clear on
what that goal is. If your team has trouble making
decisions and seems to battle itself at every critical
point, it’s time to do some digging to find out whether
or not everyone is on the same page.
 A popular method for goal-setting uses the acronym
SMART. Effective goals should be Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.
Our course on setting “SMART goals” will help you to
focus efforts, keep you accountable, and help you
attain your goals.
20

2. Trust and Openness
 Team members need to feel safe to share information
and ideas without fear of punishment or
embarrassment. Trust opens the door to dialogue that
can lead to better ideas and more creativity. Team
members must also be able to trust that everyone will
meet their deadlines, carry their weight, and do their
part of the work. As the leader, it is your responsibility
to build accountability.
 If you are in a leadership position, ask yourself “Do
my team members trust me?” Our course on
“Building Accountability: Trust and Performance at
Work” addresses the trust in leaders. It also explains
how to build accountability among the team through
honesty, transparency, and openness.
21

3. Willingness to Correct Mistakes
 An important aspect of accountability is the
willingness to acknowledge and correct
mistakes. When success is dependent on results, a
productive team must establish the appropriate
processes for measurement and evaluation. Track
your work and be willing to change course if results
are not where they should be.
 Our course on "Surviving Poor Decisions” will walk
you through the three steps of acknowledging the
issue, identifying corrective action and moving
forward. A successful team will look for opportunities
to learn from the situation. They will not let past
mistakes limit their future success.
22

4. Diversity and Inclusion
 Winning teams leverage the different thoughts and ideas held by
each member to come up with more innovative and creative
solutions. If you find that your team comes up with ideas
unanimously quickly and often, your team might be experiencing
groupthink, which is death to creativity. Be sure to encourage
diversity within your team so it can settle on the best idea, not the
easiest one.
 In a cross-functional team, you may achieve diversity simply by
mixing members from different departments with different skills and
perspectives. If you are building a departmental team, you can
achieve diversity in your hiring practices by expanding your recruiting
sources to attract diversity in age, sex, ethnicity, and sexual identity.
It offers a series on "Unconscious Bias." It will help you better
understand how you formed prejudices and how you can become
more aware so you can change moving forward.
23

5. Interdependence and a Sense of Belonging
 Each team member should know why they are part of the
team. They should understand their value and responsibility.
If your onboarding is rushed or disorganized, you may miss
this. If a new team is created for a special project, the team
leader must establish this up front.
 Think about how much more productive your team would be
if each member had the sense of ownership for the work of
others as they did for their own work.
 Members of such a team could lean on each other for ideas
and assistance-- after all, two heads are better than one.
When a team is focused on fulfilling its purpose, members
can work together to make it happen without keeping tabs on
how much they give or take.
24

6. Consensus Decision Making
 Harnessing the power of the team can result in innovative and
out-of-the-box solutions. Having more people involved in decision
making can channel the creative power of multiple minds. The
key is consensus decision making which requires the right
processes to be in place. A few strong personalities might
dominate the discussion. You want to avoid decisions by peer
pressure. Of course, there will be times when members will have
to compromise and come up with the best blend of an idea, as
long as they don’t feel coerced.
 Our course on “Making Group Decisions” explains how to take an
organized approach to group decision making to gain consensus.
Decision-making meetings must begin with a clearly defined
desired outcome to focus the group. Designate a facilitator and
timekeeper. The process continues with information gathering,
analysis, brainstorming, and evaluation.
25

7. Participative Leadership
 There is nothing worse than a micro-manager.
Not only do they stifle creativity, but they often
undermine an employee’s sense of ownership,
confidence and sense of trust by encouraging a
climate of fear. Participative leaders step back
and give members the space to work
autonomously. Instead of controlling their group,
they provide resources, guidance, and
information.
26

THANK YOU
27

Unit - III Team Dynamics

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