A group is not just a collection of individuals, it is an organism, and rather complex, functioning according to its own laws and unwritten scenarios. Not only the well-being of its members, but also people outside this collective depends on group cohesion.
Signs of a close-knit team
What primarily distinguishes a friendly team from a scattered one is mutual support and empathy. The second is a favorable psychological atmosphere, a fair distribution of freelance duties, full-fledged joint leisure, low staff turnover, participation in professional or artistic competitions, well-coordinated fruitful activities of all group members.
A close-knit team is the key to success
There is nothing better than feeling like a necessary part of something bigger than yourself. If each member of the team is a valuable link in the process, then the productivity of the team will be at the highest level. This applies to both children's groups and adults.
Cohesion is manifested when there is a strongemotional connection between its participants. It can arise as a result of many years of "grinding", in the course of solving a common serious problem, and also be evidence of psychological compatibility.
Groups that are not only driven by the achievement of the goal, but also united by friendly relations, will show much better results than those teams where everyone is dry in their duties.
Methods for diagnosing team building
An outsider can determine this fact in several ways: in the course of observation or by becoming part of a team. But what if he has too little time? To do this, psychologists have come up with several methods, for example, to determine the Sishore group cohesion index.
This test consists of only five questions with 4-6 possible answers. The survey participant must choose one based on their own opinion. It turns out that the final result is the statistical average of the totality of opinions.
Leaders' answers will always differ from outsiders' opinions, and many factors can affect the outcome of the result: the presence of conflicts during the procedure, the temperature in the audience, the mood of the participants, the personality of the psychologist or the presence of other unauthorized persons.
Disadvantages of methods
Tests that ask for the subject's opinion will always be subjective, as opinion is the most subjective thing. And even a set of opinions does not always give an objective result.
In addition, their outcome can be influenced by the situation, physical indicators, temperature in the audience, lighting, time of day and much more.
For example, if you conduct a method for determining group cohesion in the class in the last lesson before the holidays, then the index will be much higher than if the same methodology is carried out in the first lesson before the test on Monday after the holidays.
This means that the result of the technique is not the ultimate truth.
The impact of team cohesion on personal development
If the team is friendly, then the productivity and development of individuals in it takes leaps and bounds. You don't need to do a lot of psychological techniques to understand what kind of atmosphere reigns in a group and how its members are set up in relation to each other.
Even at school, activist children usually come from a tight-knit class. They participate in all kinds of competitions, matinees, evenings, they are trendsetters at school and the rest of the students are equal to them. Despite the heavy workload, they are not as mentally tired as schoolchildren in less cohesive classes.
The same situation carries over into adulthood: if the atmosphere at work is friendly, then the likelihood of emotional burnout is sharply reduced, since the potential is spent on achieving common goals, and not on sorting out relationships.
Factors of group cohesion
Cohesion stands on several pillars: individual personality, interpersonal contact and general emotionalcompatibility. One person can become the cause of a close-knit team if he has diplomatic and leadership qualities. In the same way, one person is able to destroy the friendly atmosphere of the team or prevent it from developing.
Do not forget that the team is not even a training group, but a set of interpersonal contacts. In a group of 30 people, 15 acts of communication can occur simultaneously, the content of which will not be known to the rest of the group.
General emotional compatibility is seen when team members get together. These moments are very important, as they make it possible to trace possible conflicts, resolve them or prevent them.
However, the absence of conflicts is not evidence of a close-knit team. In a friendly atmosphere, they arise, but they are purely constructive in nature and do not drag out in time.
What positively affects cohesion
- Positive and favorable psychological atmosphere;
- The authority of a boss with leadership qualities and the ability to act constructively.
- The similarity of goals, life priorities and views of team members.
- Representatives of the same generation find a common language more easily.
- Approximately the same social composition of the group.
- The presence of a competitive moment between teams.
- Fair remuneration of team members.
- General desire to develop.
- Joint achievement of the goalsgoals.
What negatively impacts cohesion
As mentioned earlier, a big responsibility lies with the official or unofficial leader of the team. He can create a favorable atmosphere in the team if he chooses a democratic style of management, turn the group against himself if he is an adherent of the authoritarian style, and thereby rally it against him. Liberal management style often results in the "birth" of an unofficial leader.
Lack of proper rewards at work, which leads to lack of initiative of employees, sluggish development of production, which affects interpersonal relationships and the eternal search for the "extreme".
The breakup of a team into small groups with different goals, performance levels and moment of competition often leads to staff turnover, employee burnout and group fragmentation.
A previously close-knit team can also undergo disintegration if there is a change of leader or the group is diluted with new people who do not emotionally fit into the current situation.
Strong emotional ties among team members can in some cases undermine its integrity.
The work of a psychologist in team building
First, you need to diagnose possible problems that interfere with cohesion. This can be done using techniques, such as Seashore, in the course of observation or in a playful way.
The same game "Chair": participants are asked to stand in a circle, turn around90 degrees to the right and slowly kneel behind the person standing. If everything is in order with trust in the team, then this exercise will not cause any difficulties. In the place where there is a break in the circuit, and you need to look for a problem.
The "Rock" game is also used both as a diagnostic and as an exercise in developing trusting relationships. It is carried out as follows: a line is glued on the floor with colored tape, along which all members of the team stand. Each participant needs to "climb over the cliff", which symbolizes the colored line, holding on to other participants. It is important that he does not step on the adhesive tape, otherwise everything is repeated from the beginning.
Proper organization of leisure time for employees is also bearing fruit. The best thing is a trip to nature or organizing an excursion to another city. Weekend trips give people the opportunity to get to know each other better. The presence of a psychologist in this case is not necessary, it is enough to give the task to take a photo or video report.
Teams that travel frequently have been observed to be more cohesive.
