Team, Assemble! : Get Your Team Dynamics Right
Software development is not just creating an effective program, but also depends on people, organization, and structure. Human factors are not only important to be considered in the process of software development, they are also a determiner in the project’s success. However, achieving and maintaining the positive dynamic inside the team, could be said as a challenge, especially in a team with few resources in terms of people, money, or time. Therefore in order to create a good product, the team behind it must have good dynamics that create a workspace that allows effective communication with one another. If the relationship within the team is not that good, it will disturb the development process because if the members do not commit to themselves nor others, the aim of the process will be hard to reach.
Team Dynamics describes the behavioral relationships between the members of a group. The dynamic between them includes how they interact, communicate and cooperate with one another. How well your team is able to do these things directly influences what it can accomplish. According to a dissertation from Dublin City University, titled “Dynamics of a successful Team. What are the enablers and barriers to High Performing Successful Teams?”, there are four characteristics identified in team dynamics: positive, negative, internal, and external team dynamics.
- Positive team dynamics is referred to as positive forces that could lead the team to create a high performing successful team. Good leadership is a key factor in making a positive team dynamic.
- Negative team dynamics is referred to as negative forces that could lead to the decrease of team performance and prevent people from contributing with their full potential.
- Internal team dynamics are referring to the forces that exist within the team itself. Team members will not cooperate if they do not feel that they are a part of the team.
- External team dynamics are referring to the present of external forces that beyond the team control and could impact the team performance.
As implied, a well focused directive and plan that come from good leadership results in a positive team dynamic. Good leadership itself can be formed by the commonly used leadership philosophy: Servant Leadership. A goal of a servant leader is to serve rather than to rule, achieve authority rather than power. A servant leader shares power, puts the needs of the members first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. This leadership style requires an individual to demonstrate characteristics such as empathy, listening, stewardship, and commitment to the personal growth of others.
Building team dynamics is not a simple task, but by acting as a servant leader that truly serves and prioritizes the team, motivating the team to create good dynamics could be done more easily. Here are some strategies to improve team dynamics :
- Know Your Team and Goal — Capacity Building
A leader’s main job is to guide the development of their group. To do that job, it is required to build trust and relationships within the team by getting to know each other and what they want to accomplish. This could be done by building team-capacity, that improves a team’s organization ability to fulfill its mission through good management, strong governance and dedication to achieving results.
Capacity building means the process by which individuals and organizations obtain, improve, and retain the skills, knowledge, tools, equipment, and other resources needed to do their jobs competently. With building team capacity, team members could get to know each other better and also maximize their performance at great capacity, in order to reach their goal.
- Tackle Problems Quickly
If a leader notices that one member of their team has adopted a behavior that’s affecting the group unhelpfully, they must act quickly to challenge it. These problems could be formed externally or internally, and no matter what problems that the team encounters, a servant leader must step up to help get rid of it. By providing feedback that shows the team member’s impact of actions, they could be encouraged to reflect on how they can change their behavior so a good team dynamic could be formed.
- Define Roles and Responsibilities
Teams that lack focus or direction can quickly develop poor dynamics, as people struggle to understand their role in the group. By setting each member’s roles in the project they are working on, the goal of the project could be faster and easier to reach. When the members understand their own responsibility, they will be more motivated to work on their task.
Meredith Belbin, a British researcher and management theorist known for his work on managing teams, has defined nine team roles based on his studies. They each describe a pattern of behavior that characterizes a person’s behavior in relationship to others in a team.
The nine team roles are divided into three roles types to create an overview and a deeper understanding of how the roles work. The Belbin roles are as follows:
Action Oriented (hands): Shaper; Implementer; Completer.
People Oriented (heart): Coordinator; Teamworker; Resource investigator.
Cerebral (head): Plant; Monitor; Specialist.
Each of the roles has some valuable contributions to the progress of the team in which it acts. They also have some weaknesses that may have an adverse effect on the team.
- Focus on Communication
Open communication is central to good team dynamics, so a leader must make sure that everyone is communicating clearly. Include all of the forms of communication that the group uses — emails, meetings, and shared documents, for example — to avoid any ambiguity and improve work rate. When communication within the team flows freely, it will ease the team to be on the same page, resulting in new ideas and better understanding on how to reach the goal.
References :
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/improving-group-dynamics.htm
