Leadership Factors.
A way in which cohesiveness may backfire is when a new coach is brought in. One of the effects of high cohesion is that there is an over estimation of members’ contribution to success. Non-members are considered to be irrelevant to achieving team goals.
This is likely when a popular and successful coach has been replaced. It is one of the main reasons why successful football, rugby and hockey teams tend to hire assistants as head coaches. A good example of this is the Liverpool “boot room” Roy Evans was the last example of this. They are part of the organization’s history already. Sometimes outside hiring results in the need to replace talented players who have been with the team for a long time.
Compatibility between team mates and the coach is a vital factor in team cohesiveness. Lastly, the more the coach allows his players to participate in decision-making, the greater the team will become united.
Team Factors. When you put the same people in a close geographic location over a significant period of time, a group is formed that has five significant components (roles, norms, stability, goals and rewards and communication). These parts become contributors to the success or failure of a group in meeting goals. This is as true for a sports team as another other type of group.
As a result of on-going interactions that take place among team members, Informal Roles evolve (team leader, enforcer, team clown, etc) examples of all of these are such as Roy Keane, Tony Adams, Paul Gascoigne respectively. If, for a period of time, someone who has played even an informal role, leaves the team, the management may have to hire a new player to fill the informal role. A team’s effectiveness is high when the players’ understand their roles (Role Clarity), accept their roles (Role Acceptance) and try to perform the roles to the best of their ability (Role Performance).
A coach can improve role clarity, acceptance and performance by making the behaviour requirements explicit, minimize the status difference between roles, and create an effective goal-setting program. The impact of an effective goal-setting program is to direct the player’s attention and behaviour, provide motivation to develop strategies for goal achievement, increase interest and prolong activity.
The presence of Norms is also associated with increased cohesiveness. Norms signal a team’s feelings about behaviours that are acceptable. When a new member comes to a team, it is the manager/player interaction norms that are confronted first. As cohesion increases so does conformity to the group’s standards of behaviour. If a player ignores norms, punishments are given. This is true even when a player performs above the standard expected.
The team’s productivity norm is a key factor in the relationship between cohesion and productivity. When cohesion is low and there is a high norm for productivity, that team will outperform teams with a low norm. If team cohesion is high and norm for productivity is low, the performance level will be low. And finally, if a team’s cohesion is high and the norm for productivity is high, performance will be high.
A norm that has been established on a team will last for at least four generations after the original players have left. This is an indication of the stability of a team’s norms. A problem exists when a manager takes over a team that has developed negative norms. Examples of such norms include abusive behaviour toward officials or other team members, a lack of commitment to team practices, and a focus on individual verse team goals. In such cases, the manager would have to enlist the formal and informal leaders to create a positive norm. Should these leaders not cooperate, the organization might need to replace personnel.
The modern day sports world offers much recognition and rewards to individual players. It makes the coach’s job of creating team unity more difficult. By emphasizing the group’s goals and objectives over a single player’s, the manager will create greater group cohesion.
As a team reaches higher levels of cohesion, communication also increases. On the other side of the same coin, the more task and social communications occur, the greater the sense of team cohesion is produced.
The manager can improve coach/athlete communications and team harmony in the following ways:
- provide opportunities for athlete input;
- build mutual respect;
- create realistic team, individual and sub-unit goals;
- specify objectives, strategy, operating procedures or means to achieve goals;
- emphasize the importance of all roles in achieving team goals;
- acknowledge outstanding performance of a role by a player;
- handle personnel conflicts in regular team meetings;
- maintain on-going communications with team leaders;
- before negative criticism is given, focus on positives;
- create an easier schedule, if possible, at the beginning of the season;
provide stability of personnel.
Examples of team cohesiveness, Manchester United. At least six of the main squad have played together through the development squads and have continued the relationship into the first 11. This relationship has given Manchester United a core of players which are able to play together and work well as a unit. Liverpool’s Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher and Steve Gerrard are also examples of players which have grown through the development academies giving them and understanding of each other. This also helps towards Liverpool’s winning performances. Redgrave and Pinsent are further examples of this. These are examples of teams with group cohesiveness, with positive results
However Chelsea are an example of a team with group cohesiveness and less positive results. They also have many players such as john terry and Jody Morris which have grown up together, many of their squad has remained the same for seasons, however they are unable to turn this into results.
Examples of teams that lack group cohesiveness but still achieve results must have talent. Real Madrid are the prime example of this. Individually the players are superb, and in theory when these players are put together they would make one of the worlds greatest teams. However they lack group cohesiveness for many of the above factors. It is only through individual skill that they are able to win games. However with the right coaching it is feasible that they could achieve much more. Teams that lack group cohesion and don’t get the results can be seen all through sport, especially ion the lower leagues
In conclusion, the more players and coaches understand the factors that contribute to cohesiveness, the greater the likelihood of success. No team is perfect and the way organizations stay successful is through the its appreciation of the development of a team concept, and the willingness to do what is necessary to maintain it.
