Seminar 8 - Team Building & Group Dynamics Flashcards
What is a team? (Carron & Eys, 2012, p. 14)
“a collection of two or more individuals who possess a common identity, have common goals & objectives, share a common fate, exhibit structured patterns of interaction & modes of communication, hold common perceptions about group structure, are personally & instrumentally interdependent, reciprocate interpersonal attraction, & consider themselves to be a group”
What is group cohesion? (Carron, Brawley, & Widmeyer, 1998, p. 213)
“a dynamic process which is reflected in the tendency for a group to stick together & remain united in the pursuit of its instrumental objectives &/or for the satisfaction of member affective needs”
What are the types of group cohesion?
Group integration (individual perceptions about the closeness, similarities, bonding within the group - consists of we/us evaluations) - task & social
Group attractiveness (individual motivations that act to retain them to a group - consists of I/me evaluations) - task & social
Task - reflects the degree to which members of a group work together to achieve common goals.
Social - reflects the degree to which members of a team like each other and enjoy one another’s company (interpersonal attraction)
How can cohesion be measured?
- Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ, Widmeyer, Brawley, & Carron, 1985)
Distinguishes between the individual and the group and between task and social concerns. - Has been successfully used in both sport and fitness settings, demonstrating reliability and validity.
What are the correlates of cohesion in sport teams?
Environmental factors
Team factors
Leadership factors
Personal factors
(Carron & Eys, 2012)
Correlates of cohesion in sport teams
What are the environmental factors?
- Proximity — being in close physical contact increases opportunity for interaction and communication.
- Size — follows inverted U relationship
Correlates of cohesion in sport teams
What are the personal factors?
Satisfaction — can be derived from several sources, e.g., opportunities to feel valued and competent, social relation to others, recognition from others.
Competitive state anxiety — Athletes who perceive their teams to be higher in task cohesion experience less cognitive anxiety and are more likely to view their symptoms of both cognitive and somatic anxiety as facilitative.
* Wolf, Sadler, Eys, and Kleinert (2012) proposed that athletes feel like they have more resources at their disposal, and feel less pressure, when they are members of cohesive teams. Appraisal of situation is challenge instead of threat.
Social loafing - the tendency for individuals to decrease the amount of effort they expend when completing a group task compared to the amount of effort expended when alone.
Personal factors
When does social loafing occur?
Occurs across a range of tasks, including physical, cognitive, perceptual, and
evaluative
* Generalises across culture and both sexes
Social loafing increases when:
* The individual’s output cannot be independently evaluated.
* The task is perceived to be low on meaningfulness.
* The individual’s personal involvement in the task is low.
* A comparison against group standards is not possible.
* The individuals contributing to the collective effort are strangers.
* The individual’s teammates or coworkers are seen as high in ability.
* The individual perceives that his contribution to the outcome is redundant.
* The individual is competing against what she believes to be a weaker opponent.
Correlates of cohesion in sport teams
What are the leadership factors?
Interrelationships— complex relationship between coach, athletes, cohesiveness and performance
E.g., mutiny
* Some times coach does not play a role in team cohesion (Widmeyer & Williams, 1991)
Coach’s decision styles — can have impact upon team cohesion, e.g., providing autonomy
Transformational coaching — has positive association with cohesion based on 4 influential behaviours:
* Idealized influence
* Inspirational motivation
* Intellectual stimulation
* Individualised consideration
Correlates of cohesion in sport teams
What are the team factors?
Roles
Norms
Group processes
Performance outcomes
What are the two types of roles in sport teams?
Formal - Dictated by nature and structure of organisation
Informal - Evolved from interactions among group members
What are the important elements of formal roles in sport teams?
Role Ambiguity
Role Acceptance
Role Conflict
What is role ambiguity?
- Scope of responsibility - information about the extent of an individual’s responsibilities
- Behavioral responsibilities - information about which behaviors are necessary to fulfill an individual’s role responsibilities
- Evaluation of performance - information about how an individual’s performance of required role responsibilities will be evaluated
- Consequences of not fulfilling responsibilities - information about the consequences of failing to fulfill requisite role responsibilities
What is role acceptance?
based on 4 conditions:
* opportunity to use specialized skills or competencies
* feedback and role recognition
* role significance
* autonomy (the opportunity to work independently)
What is role conflict?
- exists when the role occupant doesn’t have sufficient ability, motivation, time, or understanding to achieve that goal despite the presence of consensus on a desired goal or outcome.
What are norms in sport teams?
Is a level of performance, pattern of behavior, or belief
Can be formally established or informally developed
Pressure to adhere to their group’s norms, whether the norm is seen as relevant or irrelevant
In sport can take the form of:
* Practice behaviours
* Dress and hairstyle
* Interaction betweens rookies and veterans
* Who takes control in critical situations
Deviation from the expected behaviors might result in informal or formal sanctions.
What are the different types of norms in sport teams (Munroe et al., 1999)?
Competition
- Maximum effort towards the task
- Supported other members of the team
Practice
- Maximum effort towards the task
- Supported other members of the team
Off-season
- Continual training and development
- Maintaining contact
Social situations
- Expected to attend social events
- Respect for each other
How do norms in sport teams affect group cohesion?
It is a bidirectional relationship
Norms for productivity
- The standard for effort and performance accepted by the team
Stability
- Norms can persists for generations even after original members are gone
- Important to set positive norms
Correlates of cohesion in sport teams
Team factors
What are the group processes?
Group goals and rewards — managing this in the presence of individual goals and rewards is paramount to maintain unity
Communications - cohesion increases as level of communication relating to task and social issues increase
Correlates of cohesion in sport teams
What are the performance outcomes?
Linear relationship between cohesion and performance outcomes
Meta-analysis found (Carron et al., 2002):
* Both task and social cohesion positively related to performance
* Cyclical relationship
* Relationships exist equally across teams, regardless if they were team-based or individual in nature
* Present across all spectrum of skills and competitive level
* Stronger in female teams
What is team building?
- “team enhancement or team
improvement for both task &
social purposes” (Carron & Eys, 2012, p. 368) - Ideally, individuals put their
personal agendas aside.
Team building uses strategies to help members
work together more effectively and provides
meaningful experiences that ultimately lead to a
greater sense of unity.
What are the stages of team development?
- Forming — coming together, becoming familiar
- Storming — resistance to leader/group, interpersonal conflict
- Norming — cooperation, solidarity, conflict resolution
- Performing — working together to achieve success
(Tuckman, 1965)
What are the four stages of the team building approach by Carron, Spink, and Prapavessis (1997)?
- Introductory - Present overview of benefits of group cohesion
- Conceptual - 3 purposes: (a) facilitate communication with coaches about complex concepts, (b) highlight the interrelatedness of various components, & (c) identify focus for interventions
- Practical — Have coaches in an interactive brainstorming session regarding potential strategies
- Intervention — Protocols & strategies are conducted
Why is coach involvement critical in team building interventions?
- Coaches differ in personality and preferences, so a strategy that might be effectively implemented by one coach might not be by another
- Given that groups differ, an intervention strategy that is effective with one group might be ineffective with another. Coaches are the individuals most familiar with their groups and will have a sense for the most appropriate strategies.
- Coaches have control over the protocol, which leads to increased coach investment and commitment to team building.
