For teams to be successful they need to have a certain degree of cooperation and cohesion within the group, without these teams will be unbalanced.
The greater cohesion in a team is the better single members perform. If there isn’t a very good cohesion it can quite often prevent the team from reaching its potential. Teams aren’t exactly sure how to get good cohesion, some think it just comes naturally.
In some unsuccessful teams the reasons for failure can be down to social loafing. In the 1880s, French engineer Ringlemann done an experiment where in a group of men pulled together on a rope, each pulled considerably less hard than when they were pulling alone. When eight men were pulling on the rope, each person averaged half the effort they put in when pulling alone. There are two main factors that determine which response takes place by a member in a group, the complexity of the task and the possibility of observers (Coaches, Leaders, Crowd etc) successfully seeing and evaluating how much effort you are putting in. If your individual efforts can be looked upon easily, your natural response will tend to be highly aroused (thus inspiring you to put in that extra effort)
The coaching management and experienced players of great successful teams tend to be able to fix this dilemma. They may do this through a number of methods; showing their appreciation of individuals by highlighting their efforts/performances, installing them with much needed positive feedback (statistics, encouragement etc), setting them individual goals and making them feel as an integral force of the team. (Possibly giving them specific responsibility roles)
A lot of the framework that makes a team successful or unsuccessful is its level of group cohesion, without these teams will be unbalanced. If they tend to stick together outside sport because they have a vast amount of similar tastes and interests, there may be a total harmony, this is referred to as social cohesion. Never the less even if the members do not like each other they may join together in the pursuit of great success and share goals, thus producing task cohesion.
The things a cohesive team has are well defined roles and group norms, common goals, a positive team identity, a good working relationship, shared responsibility, respect, positive energy, trust, a willingness to cooperate, unity, good communication and pride in team. Another very big indicator of the level of cohesiveness in a team is the frequency of statements of “we” and “our”, in contrast to other statements of I, me and mine. Cohesion usually takes quite a long time but it us very valuable and worth achieving for any team.
To establish cohesion, everyone needs to be on the same wavelength when it comes to team goals. If everybody in the team is aiming towards the same goal then this will naturally help cohesion develop on to a greater level. Teams must set challenges and goals. It is important everybody in the team knows exactly what the individual goals are, for not only themselves but their team mates. If you know what your team mates are striving for you can help them with their goals, this causes bonding and good group cohesion. The sign of a strong cohesiveness team is when everyone knows each others goals.
Team meetings are a good way of group cohesion. This allows individuals toe express how they are feeling to everyone else. Team events are also good, for example football teams go on group holidays. This unites them and again aids group cohesion.
Roles of group cohesion in effective and non effective participation (M4)
Social loafing can be an ineffectiveness of group cohesion. Working in groups can affect motivation and some people may not work as hard in groups. For example, rowers in large groups might give less effort than rowers in small groups. They feel that if they are working in groups they won’t get the recognition and praise they deserve, they might also think that they don’t have to work as hard as their team mates will make up for it.
Effectiveness of group cohesion – If they bond well they can achieve good heights/goals. The team will respect each other and work well together. (Improving team work)
There are four key factors that contribute and determine group cohesion; situational determinants, personal determinants, leadership determinants and team determinants.
Personal Determinants (Social Cohesion) – The team member’s personal characteristics can play a huge influential part in the potential growing of cohesion within the team. Cohesion is much better when the team members are from a similar social background and share the same relative interests.
Team Determinants (Task Cohesion) – Shared team experience is relatively key to a group’s cohesion. A series of successes or failures can either bring a team together as a unit, or cause arguments and personal flair ups amongst the players. (Where the blame lies)
Situational Determinants – Such as living near each other, or rooming together on road trips etc. For example a group of basketball players assigned to teams of varying size playing over a 10 week season, developed more cohesion when they training in small number groups and less cohesion when in large number groups.
Leadership Determinants - The interaction between the coach and his team players can influence the development of cohesion. A democratic style of leadership works more effectively than an autocratic approach.
A lot of these determinants are the telling differences between teams that stay together and achieve and teams that fall apart and fail miserably.
Successful cohesive teams are likely to consist of players high on confidence who don’t blame themselves when their team loses and share in the creditably of victory.
Players who engage in behaviours that can potentially sabotage their own fitness and long term ability to function provide a convenient ready made excuse for bad performances, but then if the team is successful will gladly take credit. This self handicapping behaviour is most common with low task cohesion. (Unsuccessful teams)
Cohesion has a positive impact on each individual team member’s psychological state, leading to the individual’s satisfaction of the competitive experience will to become greater and leave them striving for more. With cohesion the team as a whole becomes stable, more organised and better structured.
For cohesion to be fully in place there needs to be two aspects which the team must have, player attraction and group integration.
