Team Development

Team cohesion

Team cohesion Team cohesion is the process of team bonding.

It is what makes the team stick together and achieve their goals even when everyone is tired, under pressure or experiencing difficulties.

Features that encourage team cohesion:o Clear vision and team understandingo Clear goalso Role satisfactiono Positive work environmento Positive and cooperative relationships

Features that encourage team

cohesion Clear vision and team understandingo The team needs a clear idea of why it exists and how

they are indented to work together.o With out this it is aimless and it will be harder to bond.

Clear goalso Must have SMART targets which it will strive to achieve

in unity.o Each member should have individual targets to.o This makes sure all team members pull their weight and

contribute equally to the team. Roles satisfaction

o You must have satisfaction in your role and feel valued and needed.

o Roles should be clear or this can hurt team bonding.

Features that encourage team

cohesion Positive work environmento The team environment should be positive and happy.o You need a keen sense of humour to work in teams and

there should be the opportunity for socialising and laughter.

o Some teams like having a unique identity within a larger organisation.

Positive and cooperative relationshipso Team members need to rely on and trust each other.o Personal respect and trust can promote team cohesion.o If team members genuinely like each other then they

will preform better and there is a better chance of less conflict.

Team cohesion Team cohesion has several key features to it:

o Defining team goalso Resolving conflicto Group turnovero Opportunities for career progressiono Recognition of contribution

Defining team goals A team must have clear goals so they have

something to aim for and each member will know what their role is.

Group conflict Conflict is unavoidable in any team. There are many different types of conflict:

o Interpersonalo Choosing a goalo How to resolve a goal

Conflict is not always a bad thing.o Conflict can be a tremendous help to some teams as it

can challenge old ideas and bring forward new and innovative ones.

o Resolving conflict can sometimes make a team stronger.o It is always better to resolve conflict rather than to leave

it to harm individuals or the team.

Resolving conflict positively

This can have several benefits for a team, including:

An increased understanding of other team memberso Using constructive discussion can help improve an individuals

awareness of the points of view and needs of others. Improved team cohesion

o If problem can be resolved constructively it can strengthen the team. Individuals can develop more respect for each other and have faith in each others ability to complete a task.

Increased self-awarenesso It can help people to explore their own motivation and help

them to understand why they behave in a certain way and how this affects performance.

Group turnover People can and do move teams.

Low turnover will allow a group to bond and learn about each other, thus creating team cohesion.

However, new members bring in fresh ideas that others may not have considered.

Opportunities for career progression

Individuals can be motivated by knowing there is a promotion at some point.

Rewards also help motivation and team rewards can help cohesion.

Recognising contributiono No one like to thinks that their hard work goes

unnoticed. The leader should recognise hard work and reward the individual / team accordingly.