Explain the importance of team building, the stages in the development of team cohesion and analyse the impact of good and poor team cohesion on the British Army, with reference to relevant theorists.

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Joseph Whitelegg        Unit 2 – Task 6        43006701

Explain the importance of team building, the stages in the development of team cohesion and analyse the impact of good and poor team cohesion on the British Army, with reference to relevant theorists.

Whenever people are brought together as a team to accomplish a task, there are stages that they must go through in order to work together effectively. The forming of the team is the beginning of team dynamics and depending on how team members proceed after this initial meeting usually depends on how the team reacts to one another and how the team can overcome the conflict that will ultimately arise.

Very simply team cohesion is the ability of a team to stick together during a project or an exercise. According to Adair a team is: “an energetic group of diverse individuals who are committed to achieving common objectives, who work well together, enjoy doing so, and who produce high quality results."

Bruce Tuckman is one of the leading researchers in group development. Tuckman's model is a successive-stage theory and specifies the usual order of the phases of group development. He argues that these processes are paramount to a team’s success or decline. Each stage identifies major processes that a group goes through and the characteristics demonstrated by the group and its members.

The initial forming of a team involves the team members coming together, introducing one another and gathering information and impressions about each other to identify each individual’s qualities. It includes the primary development of relationships within the group and each team member cautiously assessing themselves in relation to other team members and where they feel they fit into the group structure based on other member’s strengths and weaknesses. By unconsciously evaluating the personality types of the group each member categorises other members into roles, i.e. who will lead and who will follow. Such roles have been classified by Dr. Meredith Belbin who identifies nine roles that team members may fall into. Such roles are usually assigned during the storming stage and will be discussed further on in this paper.

Whilst still at the forming stage, the team has little guidance and direction and is characterised by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose, structure and leadership. The team may still be seen as a collection of individuals and one could argue that it is not a team at all. Controversy or conflict is usually avoided; however the avoidance of conflict means that not much actually gets done as a result of team members becoming distracted with attempting to be accepted by the others.

Team members also experience many feelings during this stage; some of these feelings may include excitement, optimism, anticipation, suspicion, fear and anxiety. Members are also uncertain of their roles and there can be some amount of confusion within the group.  It is important that some rules are established at this early stage and that members are aware of the common issues and what they are each required to do or be capable of doing to achieve their objective.  Once the rules and roles have been agreed this can empower the team to work more effectively.

Fundamentally the forming stage consists of creating a framework for interaction.  Storming quickly follows, as these interactions are examined in more detail.

Storming is the second stage described by Tuckman where individual’s goals are revealed, examined and scrutinised. This is when conflict can often occur and it can be very uncomfortable for certain members. It is a period of negotiation and can often lead to the disruption of relationships that have been established in the forming stage. There can be resistance to leaders and to tasks, as well as some questioning of commitment. The key issues at this stage are the management of the conflict and the organisation of group objectives by the leader.

The challenging part of this stage is that problems begin to be faced more openly than in the earlier stage. Team members begin to question the task and may confront and challenge the leader about their choices. This is especially true if the team members realise that the task is more difficult than originally thought. Consequently, there is much blaming, defensiveness and confrontation.  Team members experience impatience, frustration, anger and some form of resistance.

Despite team members being infinitely more tolerant of the strengths and weaknesses of each other than they were earlier, they must also confront emotional issues between themselves and some members may even refuse to communicate with certain members of the group. Arguments about roles in the team may occur and one could argue that even at this stage of development the group may not show the characteristics of a team. However this may equally lead to a positive effect on performance as members battle for positions resulting in a higher work rate. On the other hand members may feel threatened and pressured by others and may be nervous in their performance in case they lose their position. Of course, whereas some may think it is good to get into the real issues, others may be more inclined to remain in the comfort and security of the forming stage. As a result of the conflict productivity is likely to decrease during this stage.

The team does slowly begin to interact more by sharing ideas but remains far from an effective team as there are no clear plans to take them forward. However, with good leadership internal conflicts can start to be managed constructively. In some cases storming can be resolved quickly but in others the team may never leave this stage or fail completely. The maturity and the willingness to compromise of some team members usually determines whether the team will ever move out of this stage.  

It is important for all teams to have some conflict as this maintains effective checks against over-consensus. “Conflict can be used as the spur to find the wider solution, the solution that will meet the mutual interests of the parties involved In other words; conflict should be embraced as a way to come to a mutually beneficial decision and understanding.

Constructive conflict occurs when the team reaches a solution, members learn from the situation, and it builds a stronger team. Each team is bound to have members that have different outlooks, priorities and interests, role conflicts, power struggles, and improper communications that can undermine the team’s process. It is important for team members to work together so that they can understand these barriers and overcome them as a team.

One view contends that the most common causes of negative conflicts within a group would include unresolved anger, low self-esteem or confidence, unclear or opposing views and miscommunication. Additional causes would include personality clashes, unyielding compromise and a lack of individual contribution and participation.

The most frequently cited factors that prevent group members from cooperating with each other are personality conflicts and egos; conflicting goals; reward systems based on individual performance; lack of unifying vision; and ineffective leadership from above. Hackman identifies the top ten effects of inadequately managed teams to be: communication breakdowns, decreased performance and productivity, wasted resources and effort, ill-will and, in some unfortunate cases ‘scape-goating’ individuals that are unlike them in some way, bad feelings, decrease in morale, loss of coordination and planning breakdowns, failing to fix problems and improve processes. 

A certain amount of frustration and conflict is normal. There may be times when the conflict does not immediately pose a threat to the team’s main objective and in such circumstances the team leader may choose to avoid dealing with it appropriately as they feel that it is in the group’s best interest to move on. At the same time, group members will be relating to one another interpersonally, and these relations can assist or slow down task performance. An effective team is one that accepts the strengths and weaknesses of its members and seeks to capitalise on each member’s strengths.

Once conflict has risen, it needs to be dealt with accordingly. In order for a team to be productive, all members must be on the same page. ‘The first attempt to conflict resolution should come in the way of negotiation.’ Some members have ideas which they think are better and maybe for very good reasons. Competitive conflict is common among teams and arises when a team member feels so strongly about their own perspective that they try to influence the other members to see things the same way. This is also a suitable reaction if a team member feels that the decision being made is impractical.

In the majority of these cases, the more communication there is within a team, the less chance there is for conflict to arise. Team members must communicate their ideas and feelings toward others in the group and address areas of disagreement in a respectful manner within the team to respect other’s opinions. It is essential to keep an open mind when listening to others and, in order to tackle conflict, there must be an open line of communication at all times.

According to McShane: ‘minimising dysfunctional conflict can be achieved through the emphasis of super-ordinate goals, differentiation reduction, improved communication, reduced task interdependence, increased resources and clear rules and procedures.’

Ultimately, in order for a team to be effective, all members must recognize conflict and move aggressively to correct it, before it becomes a deterrent to their goals.

Intra-Group Conflict is characterised by disagreement among team members about task content, different viewpoints, ideas, opinions, values and interpersonal incompatibilities including tension, animosity, and annoyance. However, if regulated and monitored correctly, conflict in a team is beneficial as it allows members to challenge one another’s thinking, develop a more complete understanding of the choices and make the kind of effective decisions which is necessary for a team’s success.

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Working in groups can sometimes be a difficult task, regardless of the background of each group member. Sometimes, during the process of working in a group, conflicts may arise which can cause a great deal of friction amongst group members. This conflict however, while it may create some animosity amongst members, if dealt with in the correct manner, could also provide beneficial discussion that may ultimately lead to a more successful group project. The key is to find a means of working through these conflicts before they become a hindrance to overall group performance. If members allow a conflict ...

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