1. Group and Team Cohesion

2. What Is a Group? Group: A collection of interacting individuals who share a collective identity, a sense of shared purpose or objectives, structured ways of communication, personal or task interdependence (or both) All teams are groups, but not all groups are teams.

3. How a Group Becomes a Team: Linear Model Familiarization; interpersonal relationships formed; team structure developed. Forming Rebellion; resistance to the leader and control by the group; interpersonal conflict. Storming

4. How a Group Becomes a Team Solidarity and cooperation develop. Norming Energies channeled for team success. Performing

5. Other Models Cyclical - “Life Cycle” Pendular

6. Group Structure Behaviors required or expected of a person occupying a certain position. Group roles

7. Group Structure are dictated by the nature and structure of the organization. Formal roles (e.g., coach, captain) evolve from the interactions among group members. **Role clarity and role acceptance are critical for team success.** Informal roles (e.g., enforcer, mediator)

8. Group Structure A level of performance, pattern of behavior, or belief. Leaders need to establish positive group norms or standards (especially standards of productivity). Group norms

9. Creating an Effective Team Climate Social support: Mutual respect and support enhances team climate. Proximity: Closer contact promotes team interaction. Distinctiveness: The more distinctive the group feels, the better the climate. Fairness: Fairness—or a lack of it— can bring a group closer together. Similarity: Greater similarity = closer climate.

10. T.O. Status was just upgraded from Suicidal to Questionable… Would you, or would you not, want him on your TEAM?

11. Defining Cohesion The degree to which group members work together to achieve common goals and objectives. Task cohesion Social cohesion The interpersonal attractions among group members.

12. Task Demands and the Cohesion–Performance Relationship

13. Guidelines for Building Team Cohesion Leader-Coach Strategies Communicate effectively. Develop pride within subunits. Set challenging team goals. Explain individual roles in team success. (continued)

14. Guidelines for Building Team Cohesion Leader-Coach Strategies Encourage team identity. Avoid excessive turnover. Discourage formation of social cliques. (continued)

15. Guidelines for Building Team Cohesion Leader-Coach Strategies Conduct periodic team meetings. Know relevant, personal things about each team member. Treat as individuals; know how far each can be pushed... Know the team climate.

16. While individual ability is important, the individual abilities of team members alone are not good predictors of how a team will perform. Basic principle Individual and Team Performance in Sport

17. Actual productivity = potential productivity – losses due to faulty group processes Losses: Steiner’s model (1) motivation (2) coordination

18. How Individual Skills Relate to Group Performance The more that cooperation and interaction are necessary in a task, the more that the importance of individual ability decreases and the importance of group productivity increases. Teams with players of equal ability tend to play best.

19. The phenomenon where individual performance decreases as the number of people in the group increases. Ringlemann effect Social loafing Individuals within a group or team giving less than 100% effort due to motivational losses.

20. Eliminating Social Loafing Emphasize the importance of individual pride and unique contributions. Increase identifiability of individual performances. Determine specific situations where social loafing occurs. (continued)

21. Eliminating Social Loafing Conduct individual meetings to discuss social loafing. Walk a mile in a teammate’s shoes; switch off assignments. Break down the team into smaller units.

22. Team Building Action research model Initial discussions with coaches Education and contracting Data collection and analysis Presentation of data to coaches and players Designing and implementing step-by-step intervention…leading to final action plan and “exit” interviews Ongoing monitoring and support