Introducing group dynamics
The Dutch football team get ready for action at the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada. Image credit: IQRemix
What are the qualities of a successful team?
Have you been a member of a successful team or observed one? Can you put your finger on what makes a great team? Do they have something in common? Is individual talent within the team enough, or can a team be greater than the sum of its parts?
Take some time to think about the ingredients that make up a successful team. At the end of this module, you may have a clearer understanding on this subject, so revisit your thinking later.
What is a team?
Well, a team is an example of a group. Psychologists show an enduring fascination for groups and their effectiveness; in the workplace, in different cultural contexts, within a family, and in sport. It is generally agreed that the need to belong is fundamental for all human beings, and becoming a successful and valued member of a group is typically associated with positive mental health and well-being.
A team has a number of characteristics:
- Team members have a common identity.
- Team members have common goals and objectives.
- Individuals hold common perceptions about the structure of the group to which they belong.
- Members exhibit structured patterns of interaction and share common modes of communication.
Group dynamics
The relationships, interactions and processes within a group are collectively referred to as group dynamics, and include the composition and structure of the group, how members communicate and work together in the group environment, individual roles and leadership, and the way in which the group evolves:
- Group composition: This refers to the personal characteristics of group members, including their personalities, cultural backgrounds, values, skills and abilities. English Premier League football teams often include a wide range of nationalities, ethnicities, and languages. Moulding them together into an effective playing unit has its challenges.
- Group structure: This refers to such things as whether the group has a hierarchical or flat structure, who the leaders are and whether they adopt an autocratic or democratic style. A key consideration is that everyone understands individual roles and how they fit together.
- Group environment: This refers to matters such as group cohesion, which is the extent to which the group sticks together and continues to perform well in the face of adversity. A sports group can range from just two athletes, such as in tennis doubles or a rowing pair, up to a very large group of individuals, such as an American football team of more than 100 athletes, coaches and support staff.
- Group development: This refers to how groups evolve over time. Tuckman and Jenson (1977) proposed a popular 5-stage model of group development:- forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. This model is explained using clips from the movie Remember The Titans.
Group dynamics is a large and diverse topic in sport psychology and, in this module, we can only really scratch the surface. However, by the end of the module, you should have a better understanding of some of the processes that occur in a team environment and what types of interventions are possible to help build a more effective team.Activity
Watch Simon Rea of the UK’s Open University present a short video on team dynamics in which he explores three factors that may contribute to a team’s success.
MoreIt is interesting to note that bonds of friendship seem to be less important in determining team success than task cohesion – how the team members work effectively towards a common goal. In the next section, we will look at group cohesion in more depth.