L1 Team Dynamics And Team Building

Question 1

Define Team

Answer 1

A group of people working together towards a common goal.

Question 2

Team Dynamics

Answer 2

Unconscious, psychological focus that influence the direction of a team’s behaviour and performance.

Question 3

What are team dynamics created by (4)

Answer 3

1. The nature of the teams work.
2. The personalities within the team.
3. Their working relationships with other people.
4. The environment in which the team works.

Question 4

Good team dynamics

Answer 4

.improving overall team performance/goals.
.get the best out of individual team members.

Question 5

Bad team dynamics

Answer 5

.causing unproductive conflict.
.demotivation.
.prevent the team from achieving its goals.

Question 6

Team Vs Group Dynamics

Answer 6

Team: instance of people with a common goal.
Group: a social community of two or more people with just something in common.

Therefore team members depend on each other for success.

Question 7

Psychological models, Lewin
Three group dynamics in action

Answer 7

Time1: Convergence.
Time 2: Cohesion.
Time 3: Conformity.

Question 8

Explain the three group dynamics in action: CCC

Answer 8

Convergence: initiates norms by shifting individual assumptions and behaviour into a uniform group pattern that every member shares.

Cohesion: is the phenomena of people in groups congregating around common interests and values.

Conformity: the phenomenon that leads group members to maintain an established group norm, often without thinking about why.

Question 9

List the 7 Psychological Models of Team Dynamics

Answer 9

Group dynamics
Psychoanalysis
FIRO/Human Elements
Tuchman
Team Roles
Personality Type
Team Islands

Question 10

Explain what these are about:
Group dynamics, Psychoanalysis, FIRO.

Answer 10

Group: by Lewin…how people interact and the common perceptions that arise within a group.

Psychoanalysis: is concerned with the natural defensive behaviours of team members

FIRO: considers the compatibility between people using behaviour, feelings, and self-concept, and how those behaviours relate to each other

Question 11

Define these psych models :
Tuckman, Team roles, Personality Type, Team Islands

Answer 11

Tuckman: considers four stages of development for a team - forming, storming, norming, performing, and fifth adjourning.

Team roles: MTR-i or Belbin examine how team performance is related to nine psychological roles taken by different team members.

Personality type: considers how the different preferences of team members affect their interactions and team performance.

Team Islands: shows how subteams can form as a result of members having different characteristics or being separated by a geographical boundary.

Question 12

Non-psychological models

Answer 12

Are not typically included in definitions of group dynamics.
▪ These are relevant to team dynamics because they can all have a hidden but significant impact on the way a team interacts and performs.

Question 13

Organisational culture Hofstede which considers five
cultural factors:

Answer 13

▪ power distance
▪ uncertainty avoidance
▪ individualism/collectivism
▪ masculine/feminine
▪ short-term/long-term focus.

Question 14

5 Non-psych models relevent to team

Answer 14

Organisational culture
General leadership management processes
Methodologies for different aspects of team functioning.
Various types of organisational structure.
Stakeholder models

Question 15

Team dynamics can make a significant difference to team performance through:

Answer 15

▪ unproductive conflict,
▪ mistrust,
▪ demotivation,
▪ the loss of skilled staff, and
▪ the loss of revenue.

Question 16

Team dynamics are complex and multi-layered
▪ = the result of the interaction of many factors:

Answer 16

▪ personalities,
▪ roles,
▪ structure,
▪ culture, etc.

Question 17

How to improve team dynamics

Answer 17

there needs to be a diagnosis first, to identify the type of intervention that will have the right impact.
▪ We need a diagnosis
▪ Investigate current team dynamics to identify the primary factors causing any problems or the lack of team performance
▪ Team Health Check
▪ Individual structured interviews in a private, safe, and
confidential environment.
▪ Might also include people from the outside e.g. senior
management, significant customers, or other stakeholders
▪ Team Health Check’s outcome determines intervention

Question 18

The Team Health Check

Answer 18

▪ Itself can have a cathartic or therapeutic effect
▪ It gives individuals the opportunity to air their views openly in a consequence-free environment.
▪ In most cases, the Team Health Check enables the independent Team Consultant to identify how the team can make progress.

Question 19

Examples of intervention that can affect team dynamics:

Answer 19

▪ A change of organisational structure (restructuring)
▪ Team development workshops
▪ Personality workshops
▪ Change workshops
▪ Stakeholder workshops.
▪ Cultural change programme
▪ New processes, tools, or technology

Question 20

What is team building?

Answer 20

Team Building is the process of enabling a group of people to reach their goal.

a management issue, and the most effective form of team building is undertaken as a form of management consultancy, rather than seen as pure training (though there is a role for training within a programme of team building).

Question 21

stages involved in team building are:

Answer 21

▪ To clarify the team goals
▪ To identify those issues which inhibit the team from reaching their goals
▪ To address those issues, remove the inhibitors and enable the goals to be achieved
▪ Refer to Tuckman’s model