Tales From the Corporate Frontlines: Team Dynamics and Communication

This article relates to the Team Dynamics competency, which evaluates interpersonal communication, cooperation, and productivity between members of a single team, group, or department within your organization. In today's marketplace, in order for organizations to operate efficiently, it is essential that they understand how to create and utilize effective work teams at all levels of the organization. When well managed, teams improve productivity, innovation, and the likelihood of success. Ineffective teams lead to frustration and the loss of time and productivity. Evaluating this competency can be very useful if your organization is experiencing missed deadlines or low productivity levels.

This short story, Team Dynamics and Communications, is part of AlphaMeasure's compilation, Tales From the Corporate Frontlines. It explores the sensitivity of team dynamics and the importance of keeping balance among members.

Anonymous Submission

During the time spent with my current employer, I've always considered myself a restless worker. At the same company for ten years now, I have occupied three different positions. I like learning new skills, and feel that the job moves have made me a well- rounded employee. They've also helped me to understand the importance of team dynamics. Each team that I've been a part of had a different dynamic, but it was always easy to see how the behavior of team members affected the team's successful operation as a whole.

My second team displayed some really challenging dynamics. Composed of eight members, two of them had recently married. At first, we didn't think that would make much of a difference. As time went by, it became obvious that we were wrong. As these two team members confronted the challenges of married life, their disputes affected team communication and productivity in obvious ways----some team members felt strange or uncomfortable being included in their disputes, or excluded if the focus remained on the couple for too long. Some switched roles and others participated less in discussion and decision-making. The easygoing social atmosphere disappeared and was replaced with tension. Motivation and commitment among the members fluctuated wildly at times.

We tried to resolve the issues among ourselves at first. Our team leader made extra efforts to placate team members who felt left out or frustrated by the team's lack of focus. We made procedural changes in our meeting structure. We even made changes to the office layout in an effort to boost morale.

Around that time, our company conducted an employee satisfaction survey. One of the topics evaluated was Team Dynamics. The results of our team evaluation, to put it mildly, indicated that a more drastic solution was needed to adjust our dynamics. Our team leader conferred with management to come up with a solution. Ultimately----one of the married team members was offered a new position ---on another team.

I was that member. I was a little upset at first, but it turned out to be the right move for everyone. The dynamics of my old team went back to normal in time, and I enjoy working with my new team, in my new role.

The experience taught us that dealing with sensitive team dynamics is vitally important, and there will be a different solution for each team. We were lucky to find the right one, at the right time.

© 2005 AlphaMeasure, Inc. - All Rights Reserved

This article may be reprinted, provided it is published in its entirety, includes the author bio information, and all links remain active.

Measure. Report. Improve your organization with AlphaMeasure employee surveys.

Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc.

AlphaMeasure provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention.

Launch your employee surveys with AlphaMeasure.

In The News:

---

PRACTICE MANAGEMENT: What Brokers Should Know Before They Go
CNNMoney.com - 3 hours ago
( Kristen McNamara writes Practice Management, a column that looks at ways financial advisers can build and improve their business. ...

MedaSorb Technologies Corporation Announces Management Changes
CNNMoney.com - 3 hours ago
These statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. ...

Boston Globe
Lehman Private-Equity Arm Gains New Investment
Wall Street Journal - 21 hours ago
The business has $4.5 billion under management, and holds stakes in more than a dozen portfolio companies including a Spanish railcar manufacturer to a US ...
Lehman Deal Spins Off Part of Private Equity Unit Into Independent ... New York Times
Lehman deal on private equity close Reuters
Lehman Said to Be in Talks to Sell Fund to Managers, Reinet Bloomberg
FINalternatives - RTT Newsall 95 news articles

HE-5 Resources, Corp. Announces Reorganizational Changes Are ...
CNNMoney.com - 7 hours ago
New Management stated the following: "We are very pleased to begin our new operations and to share our visions and exclusive development program whit HE-5 ...

National Post
Management Consulting in the Government?
Newsweek - Jan 8, 2009
In the world of management consulting, high-powered and often expensive contractors infiltrate all levels of a company to determine how it can run more ...
Chief Performance Officer: Nancy Killefer TIME
Obama Appoints Government Performance Officer Washington Post
Obama's performance czar has tried to improve IRS The Associated Press
CFO.com Magazine - GovExec.comall 486 news articles

Amazon’s New Management Console Treads Lightly
GigaOm, CA - 3 hours ago
Today, Amazon ( s AMZN) Web Services announced a management console that illustrates how carefully Amazon is playing its role as a platform provider. ...
Amazon Web Services Launches Management Console CMSWire
Amazon Web Services releases web-based EC2 console CNET News
Amazon EC2 launches Web-based management console Examiner.com
ReadWriteWeb - PC Worldall 28 news articles

Peregrine management drops buyout plan, shares fall
Reuters - 8 hours ago
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 9 (Reuters) - South African wealth and asset management firm Peregrine Holdings Limited (PGRJ.J) said on Friday a management buyout plan ...

University of California regents may freeze management pay
Bizjournals.com, NC - 4 hours ago
A pay freeze for senior management of the University of California system will be considered by the UC Board of Regents during a Jan. 14 teleconference. ...

JPMorgan Asset Management's Bull SA Stake Falls To 1.72%
CNNMoney.com - 4 hours ago
PARIS -(Dow Jones)- JPMorgan Asset Management's stake in French IT company Bull SA (BULL.FR) has fallen through the 5% threshold to 1.72%, according to a ...

Helios High Income Fund, Inc. Monthly Dividend Declaration
CNNMoney.com - 38 minutes ago
Helios High Income Fund, Inc. is managed by Hyperion Brookfield Asset Management, Inc., a registered investment advisor located in New York City. ...
Pimco Pays Seven Dividends It Postponed Last Month Financial-Planning.com
PIMCO Municipal Income Fund and PIMCO New York Municipal Income ... Trading Markets (press release)
Western Asset Income Fund Declares Monthly Dividend Distribution PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung)
MarketWatch (press release)all 62 news articles

management - Google News

Four Corners of a Triangle: Why Organizations Succeed or Fail

When we want to hire people for a corporation or non profit organization, we follow certain rules and look for appropriate qualifications and expertise so that we... Read More

Integrity... Should It Matter?

In our fast paced work culture, manned by technology savvy generation in a globally competitive environment, quality and productivity became the battle cry of corporations to stay... Read More

The Leaders Fallacy May Be Howard Deans Undoing

Howard Dean's tenure as chairman of the Democratic National Committee will be fleeting unless he avoids a common leadership trap I call it, the "Leader's Fallacy".Leaders adhere... Read More

Six Reasons to K.I.S.S.

Six Reasons to K.I.S.S. "Very often, people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most." - Clement Mok, Chief Creative Officer, Sapient We've all... Read More

Burger on a Bun Decision Making

When approaching any decision, it's important for individuals to maintain the healthy state of openness called for by WYSINWYG (what you see is never what you get).... Read More

Employers - Protect Yourself from Custody Battles that Hold Your Company Hostage

Child custody? How'd that get to be an employer's concern?When an employee faces child custody litigation, it will effect their ability to do their job. And it... Read More

DIVERSITY is a BIG word -- With A HUGE Business IMPACT

Second thought! Just in case. YOU or someone you personally know may fit the following picture of success which may carry too much risk for comfort.You can... Read More

A Facilitators Guide to Running a Stakeholder Analysis Workshop

This facilitator's guide to running a stakeholder analysis workshop is for people whose success depends on getting other people involved with their objectives.It contains two exercises, one... Read More

Are You At The Mercy Of Computer Geeks?

Many business owners are sabotaging their business without even realizing it. They are completely out of the loop when it comes to all technology aspects of their... Read More

Managing Meetings

Plan/prepare - lack of purpose causes aimless meetings. Know why you're there - what the meeting is for.Unnecessary meetings waste time, and regular meetings, e.g. weekly, become... Read More

Business Innovation ? Organizational Culture

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this... Read More

Employee Orientation: The 90 Day Difference

Why do some new managers succeed while others fail? It all depends on the first three months ? the critical time when the new hire is learning... Read More

The Email Trap

If you sit at a computer for most of the day, it's tempting to constantly check your email to see what's new. But that's a time management... Read More

Dividing The Loot

It is when the going gets better, that the going gets tough. This enigmatic sentence bears explanation: when a firm is in dire straits, in the throes... Read More

Influencing Change - A Guide for Sellers, Coaches, and Supervisors

When people or groups make a decision to purchase something, they go through the same decision cycle that an individual goes through to decide upon a personal... Read More

People Literacy

Every Manager has experienced the frustration of not understanding why one management approach that works beautifully with one employee is ineffective with another. That's because what we... Read More

New Leadership For A New War

Military analysts call this "asymmetrical" war (as if war has a terrible symmetry); and we know that it will be as different from conventional war as three-dimensional,... Read More

Credibility - A Golden Key to Becoming More Influential

You have been named a new leader in your organization, or you are a long time leader with some new people in your organization. Or maybe you... Read More

Use QA As Your First Step To Outsourcing

Quality Assurance, or QA, is often given short shrift in a software development organization, especially when budgets are tight. When debating the software development budget at one... Read More

Bolster Credibility with Investors--Avoid These Phrases in Your Business Plan

Remember Papa John's commercial on TV with the slogan "Better Ingredients, Better Pizza"? Well its nothing more than puffery: general, non-provable, inane claims. The problem is puffery... Read More

Bringing Ideas to Life: Seven Principles for Pulling Together

You're so excited you're practically bouncing off the walls. This idea-your best ever-is not only going to save the company tens of thousands of dollars this year,... Read More

How to Create Trust

People buy from you, offer help, and grant rewards based on trust. Here are ways to increase your success by creating trust. While we do most of... Read More

Designing Your Healthy Administration - A Management Overview

Management or Leadership?Simply stated, management ensures that things get done, in accordance with accepted policies, based on the reality of a situation. It involves deciding the how,... Read More

Motivating Employees - Ten Ways to Start You Off

Yet there is a place for those external 'raft-build's', 'away days' and 'paintballing'! Just get them in context; there is work to do up front to leverage... Read More

Blame Culture Blues - How the Language of Blame Manifests Organisational Underperformance

If you have ever worked within a large organisation then you are sure to have heard the term 'we will not have a blame culture' at some... Read More

Overcoming Resistance

Virtually any type of organizational change involves role transitions of some type. In light of role transitions, it is almost natural for employees to resist major changes... Read More