In: Operations Management
We have all been there...assigned to that perfect group or team that works like a well oiled machine, or assigned to the team from places too hot to mention that doesn't seem to function at all. With those experiences in mind, please discuss the relationship between team cohesiveness and performance.
Teams are the primary building blocks to organize projects, tasks or activities that in turn organizations help gain a competitive edge over the others. The need for a High performing team cannot be empahsized, but it does take time to build such a team that works towards a common unified goal.
Cohesiveness is a factor by which one measures the teams ability to stick together as a unit, on the basis of inter personal connections so established. Some of the factors that contribute to team cohesion are:
A team with greater cohesiveness have a better sense of belonging, they get well together and the participation is high since the members trust each other.
In my past experience the teams that have functioned well are the ones where each member has a mutual respect for the other, the members were approachable with no prior baggage due to their knowledge or experience and were willing to listen to others opinions as well. However not all the teams had these at the very beginning of the team formation. There were some cases where these bonding were gradually shaped and with passage of time the team emerged stronger and better. On a personal level I have witnessed that teams that are not too large in size have better sense of choseiveness as compared to the ones with large group of people. Also with each success the cohesiveness improved, the members had better sense of satisfaction and teams performed better in time to come.
However in addition to cohesiveness there are other factors as well, since at times while a team may get well along none of them would have the same inclination towards company goals. Also there have been teams that as a whole are too inwards focussed, not willing to share information with the outside world and are thus an impediment to growth. Team based rewards and trainings may help to fill these voids.