team - organization

Understanding team dynamics

What are team dynamics?

Team dynamics refers to the way a group of different individuals works to achieve business success.

A knowledge of team dynamics will help everyone work together to make the best use of their

abilities.

Team dynamics covers areas such as:

 The way people communicate with each other,

 The way decisions are made,

 The type of leadership,

 Whether people work collaboratively, or more as individuals,

 The various roles and responsibilities within the team,

 The relationship between individual and business goals, and

 How the team adapts to change.

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How do teams develop?

Teams tend to go through stages, and it is useful to think about what stage your team is at so you can

encourage further development.

The stages of team development are:

 Forming. Getting to know each other – people are quite guarded and reserved with each other.

 Storming. The conflict stage – people are starting to assert themselves and are reacting to the

different preferences people have for how to get things done.

 Norming. The rule development stage – the team members are setting some team rules and

agreeing how they will operate in a way that meets everyone’s needs.

 Performing. The team is performing well and everyone respects the team rules.

Staff turnover can change the team dynamics, and it is important to be quite deliberate in the way you

manage the departure of staff and bring new staff on board.

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This factsheet will help you to:

 Know what team dynamics are and why they are important

 Recognise the different stages of team development

 Gain ideas on how you can encourage and grow your team for success

How can I help my team develop?

Your team consists of individuals who have different abilities, values and experience. These things

will not necessarily change, but you can follow a process that will encourage positive team dynamics

and team development anyway.

Start by having a meeting to discuss how the team currently communicates and interacts with each

other. Allow each person to state their preferences and gradually draw up a set of team rules that

everyone agrees to abide by. Write these rules up and put them in a visible place. They can be very

useful to refer to if someone is breaking the rules.

Make sure everyone knows your business goals, and work with each team member to help them set

their own goals for their future within your team.

Allow for the many different ways people prefer to work to achieve their goals. Imposing too strict

rules on how to get the job done can be demoralising.

Measure and acknowledge team successes. You can even include teamwork as part of your

performance review measures.

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Tip for team development:

The key to having a good team is to pay attention to what is going on. Watch how the farm tasks are

being done, but also watch how your staff interact with each other. Be ready to meet with the team

and work together to solve any problems that arise.

Nobody’s perfect, but a team can be. A high performing team makes everyone’s life so much easier,

as well as being great for the bottom line.