November/December 08 Groups/Cohesion - Introduction Every team needs a Hero … Every hero needs a Team …

November/December 08 Groups/Cohesion “The creation of team spirit and the building of ‘the good team’ is one of the coaches most important jobs …”

November/December 08 Group Dynamics of Sport Performance A group involves 2 or more people who are interacting with one another in such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by the other(s) Carron (1980) has identified that a ‘group’ has the following characteristics: A collective identity A sense of shared purpose Structured patterns of communication A successful team, is one that maximises all these characteristics

November/December 08 Cohesion is the motivation that keeps group members together and inhibits the break up of the group Group members may be motivated to be in the group because of the success it brings them or because they value the relationship within the group Carron’s (1982) Conceptual Model for Cohesion (p.194-diagram) Four major factors can affect the development of cohesion: Environmental Personal Team Leadership

November/December 08 Characteristics of a Cohesive Team A cohesive team has: ☺Well defined roles and group norms ☺Common goals ☺A positive team identity/Unity ☺A good working relationship/positive energy ☺Shared responsibility/Willingness to cooperate ☺Respect/Trust ☺Good communication ☺Pride in membership ☺Synergy

November/December 08 Cohesion - Group Dynamics An indicator of the a amount of cohesiveness is the frequency of statements of “we” or “our” in contrast to statements of “I”, “me” and “mine” The dynamic process and tendency of a group of individuals to stay together and combine their efforts in order to achieve a task, objective or goal Cohesion identifies: The motivation which attracts individuals to the group The resistance of those members to the group breaking up

November/December 08 Cohesion The level of cohesiveness can depend on a number of factors: The situation Member characteristics Levels of motivation Leadership style Success The more cohesive a group, the better the performance ……. True or false?

November/December 08 The level of success of a group can depend on 2 aspects: Task Cohesion: How well the group works together to complete the task – eg, winning the match Social Cohesion: How well the group interacts and supports each other Task cohesion is more important to the successful completion of a goal. Eg:

November/December 08 GROUPS Why is group behaviour important in Sport/PE? Situations where participants and spectators operate within these groups The more common form of a group in sport is the TEAM Why is it important that a team works well together? To achieve goal For individual to perform to potential Maximise expertise/specialists within group

November/December 08 Group Dynamics and Sports Performance By studying group dynamics, a coach can try to identify factors which affect cohesion and take measures to improve cohesion Cohesion has been defined as the extent to which members of the group exhibit a desire to achieve common goals and group identity In order to identify cohesion a coach will need to assess interaction:

November/December 08 Carron’s diagram of assessing Interaction Group purpose/goal

November/December 08 The Ringlemann Effect When does this arise? When the average individual performance decreases as a group size increases Eight people pulled only four times as hard as one, NOT eight times as hard This loss of performance was due to both co-ordination and motivational problems Mainly due to individuals within the group losing motivation

November/December 08 Sporting Examples: Hockey team penalty corner drill continues to break down because the timing of the players involved does not match Losses in performance due to co-ordination fault A water polo team are not playing very well because one particular player is not trying very hard Losses in performance due to motivational fault

November/December 08 Social Loafing Latane (1979) also studied group performance He also found that group performance suffered as groups got larger – due to motivation and coordination problems When individuals lose motivation when in a group situation” It is undesirable in teams – therefore if present – should be eliminated Social loafing is caused by an individual losing their identity when placed in a group Individuals may feel their efforts are not being recognised – by spectators or team mates

November/December 08 How can Social loafing (motivation) be avoided? Individual performance should be highlighted Credit given to team situations – make individuals feel important –“Tackle counts” - Rugby –“Assists” – Basketball Feedback to individuals about performance can help to combat social loafing Support from team mates – referred to as “social support” “Peer pressure” will aid elimination of social loafing and can serve to reinforce individual effort

November/December 08 How can Social loafing (co-ordination) be avoided? Individuals should be selected on their interactive skills Teachers/coaches should emphasise that good coordination will eventually lead to better performance Games using small teams may help to coordinate the actions of different sets of players within a team

November/December 08 GROUP DYNAMICS A group is constantly developing and changing when Interaction takes place Tuckman suggests there are 4 stages of group development: FORMING – development of relationship STORMING – conflict between group members establishing roles NORMING – group gains stability and cohesion PERFORMING – individuals work together towards a collective goal

November/December 08 Eg: Cricket team at start of season has a new coach, captain and several new players During practice/warm up matches discussions take place as new members establish themselves Roles are formed – contribution to teams potential productivity

November/December 08 Group Performance The best individual performers together are going to create the best team ……. or are they? Steiner (1972) created a model to link the relationship between the individuals in a group and group performance: Actual productivity = Potential productivity – Losses due to faulty process

November/December 08 Potential Productivity – the best possible performance of the group This must take into account the resources available to the group and the abilities of the individual members Steiner’s model proposes that ‘process faults’ are responsible for groups falling short of their potential: Co-ordination problems – amongst team members (team strategies that depend on them will suffer) Motivation problems – if individuals are not motivated – potential of team will not be realised. (Pulling in diff directions)

November/December 08 Jan 06 Question 5 – Exam Paper

November/December 08 Jan 06 Question 5 – Mark Scheme

November/December 08 Jan 06 – Question 4

November/December 08 Jan 06 – Mark Scheme – Q4

November/December 08 Key Revision points – GROUPS Groups are characterised by individuals within them interacting and sharing common goals A sports team is a typical group and those within it have a: - Collective identity - Shared purpose - Patterns of communication and interpersonal attraction A team that is cohesive is one where members are motivated to work together Team cohesion depends on the motives of team members Some may be task motivated, some may be socially motivated

November/December 08 A team can become cohesive because of good performance or a cohesive team can help to produce good performance Group performance depends on team coordination and motivation The Ringelmann effect and research by Latane shows that losses in team performance increase as team size increases Motivational losses can be due to social loafing, which is caused by a lack of identity of individuals within a team Strategies should be developed to limit the effects of poor coordination and lack of individual motivation