Team Cohesion and Group Dynamics BTEC National Diploma

Team Cohesion Learning outcomes • Tuckman’s Approach to analysing teams/groups • Factors effecting team cohesion • Steiner’s model of team performance and how this relates to sporting performance • Social Loafing and its effects

Defining sports groups • Teamwork is essential for groups/teams to be successful. We are going to examine the ways individuals work within teams to produce successful results. • Shaw (1976), defines a group as: “two or more persons who are interacting with one another in such a way that each person influences and is influenced by each other. ”

Example of a team • A Lacrosse team, the team’s common objective is to win the game, in order to win this game each player has to provide encouragement and support throughout the game and training to ensure they win. • On the other hand a group of people will go to Church, but do not necessarily need to rely on other members going for it to be successful.

Defining sports groups There are two characteristics linked to groups: • Interaction • Sharing of common goals

Tuckman’s Approach (1965)

Forming The forming stage: a group gets together and familiarise themselves with each other, finding out their strengths and weaknesses and deciding where they fit in within the group. Relationships may not be formed if a member does not feel that they fit in or able to identify within anyone else in the group.

Storming The storming stage: there may be heightened tension associated with role differentiation e. g. leader identification, competition for status, restructuring of the team and developing team rules. Storming needs to be kept to a minimum to move on to the next stage, so conflict needs to be resolved.

Norming The norming stage: Norm’s rules and standards of behaviour begin to stabilise and co-operation takes over to form a unity. Here the group begin to work as a team to achieve common goals. There is greater group satisfaction felt at this stage which is the underpinning of success.

Performing The performing stage: the group will now be able to work together effectively, there is little to no hostility with strong relationships built. To maintain the performing stage team leaders and coaches need to continually provide feedback on individual contributions and the group to persist with mutual respect within the team.

Team Cohesion Open new friendship groups. For example encourage players to socialise outside of the game Breakdown cliques. For example organise training to develop working with all team mates Use of attribution. For example attribute success to good teamwork Integrate outsiders. For example try to involve all players in team activities Issue shared problems. For example encourage team responsibility for improving performance Factors promoting team cohesion Promote team satisfaction in performance. Identify common team goals. For example the goal for this season is to win the league Reinforce team success. For example reward the team with win bonuses rather than individual players

Team Cohesion Many factors can affect team cohesion… • Communication • Difficulties with the coach/manager • Language difficulties • Payment of players • The introduction of new players • The influence of the media • Previous encounters at other clubs • The influence of the supporters • Athletes personal lives • Squad rotation

How to build greater Team Cohesion… Sven Goran Eriksson believed the following helps teams build better cohesion: • A common vision • Clear and definite goals which go hand-in-hand with this vision • Great inner discipline (meaning they act professionally together) • Players with characteristics which complement each other • A good division of roles among the players, with all members treated equally • Players who put the common good before their own interests • Players who take responsibility for the whole team, with everyone accepting mistakes as long as people do their best.

Interactive Group Example An interactive In Netball a Goal group is required to Attack and Goal work together and Shooter require their ensure codefenders, wings and ordination to centre to defend the ensure that they opposition’s goal and bring passes up court achieve their goal. on the attack so that they can score the goals.

Coactive Groups Example A coactive group Golf teams at the requires little co. Ryder Cup do little ordination between co-ordination when the team to achieve they are out their goal. playing their game.

Coactive & Interactive • Some teams require Example During a rounder’s both coactive and game, the fielding interactive groups team need good cowithin their team. ordination, however, this is not needed as much within the batting team.

The Ringleman effect/ social loafing • Group performance decreases with the size of the group. i. e. a group of 5 people will individually work harder than a group of 11. • Ringleman tested a rope pulling task and found that a group of 8 people did not pull the rope as hard as the results of one person x 8. e. g. 1 person pulls @ 10 Nm, 8 people should pull @ 80 Nm but in reality it was 50 Nm

Social Loafing This is when a member of the team is not putting in 100% effort

How to decrease Social Loafing… • Highlight individual performances • Monitor individual performances with feedback • Use positive reinforcement • Promote cohesion in the team • Set individual games • Give specific roles • Apply peer pressure within the group

Steiner’s Model of Group Effectiveness • Steiner proposed a model that the results of a group are based on the following formula. Actual productivity = Potential Productivity – Losses due to Faulty Processes

Actual Productivity Actual productivity is a result of group achievement – e. g. the actual score of the game, quality of skill, intensity of work rate on the day.

Potential Productivity Potential productivity is the group’s best possible performance depending on how individuals perform physically, mentally, technically and tactically on the day.

Faulty Processes Faulty processes are things that go wrong e. g. communication and interaction as a result there is a lack of coordination and motivational loss. Example Lack of co-ordination in a 5 member rowing team = losing as they are not working together. The more members of the team, the harder it is to ensure full co-ordination. Example Motivational loss occurs when not everyone within the team is working at 100%. If someone within the rowing team can not be bothered to work as hard as the others.

Example of Steiner’s Model

Assignment Three • You need to write a report on group dynamics and how teams form. • You will be using the Paintball Game as your example for your assignment. • You need to use the Report template that is on learnzone