According to Loren Belker, Jim McCormick, and Gary Topchik in their article on the American Management Association titled Team Dynamics, team dynamics refers to "...the willingness and the ability to work in an interdependent fashion where team members need to rely on other team members to accomplish their work or to achieve the goals of the team." (Belker et al., 2019) Team dynamics are based on how well each individual team member follows the norms and unspoken rules of the team as well as how trust-worthy each team member is. Positive group dynamics shift the environment into a collaborative environment where the work flow is running smoothly. As I've said in previous core competencies, collaboration drives an increase in team mood and morale, an increase in productivity, a decrease in mistakes and errors, and more importantly, profits for the organization. Daniel Levi and David Askay describes one way organizations can benefit from collaboration in their book Group Dynamics for Teams, "In many organizations, fixed hierarchies and bureaucratic separations obstruct creative problem solving. If you were ordered to solve a problem that you did not participate in defining, or handling a solution you did not assist in creating, you would most likely react with resentment, apathy, cynicism, resistance, or rebellion. But, if you participated actively in defining the problem, search collaboratively for solutions, and agreed on a unified approach to implementation, you would be more likely to respond with enthusiasm and eliminate a significant source of impasse." (Levi & Askay, 2021)
Team Dynamics & Collaboration in Leadership
Team dynamics and collaboration depend on one another from my perspective. When team dynamics are positive and motivated, team members are more apt and willing to collaborate with others on their team. However, if team dynamics shift towards more of a negative tone, collaboration will fall short, and team members may start working against each other rather than with each other. It is the leader's responsibility to ensure that if negative tones start to arise in team settings, to figure out what is causing them, and correct them as soon as feasibly possible. From my experience, this negative tones arise when there is human conflict, unclear objectives arise, scarce resources, or communication is not clear. Of course, there are certainly more variables and factors that can arise to try to work against team collaboration; therefore, as a leader, I will have a critical job of identifying what the team needs to succeed.
Artifact
The Imagined Communities discussion board in Module 6 of OGL340 - Digital Citizenship is the artifact I have chosen to showcase Team Dynamics and Collaboration. In this discussion board, I discuss the concept of Imagined Communities, and what they mean to mean to me. Imagined communities are all about the ideas we, as a society, have about communities, and what we imagine them to look like. I think imagined communities showcase the goal of what a positive team dynamic with high collaboration.
Reflection
Project Management & Organizational Leadership
The goal of team dynamics and collaboration in project management and leadership is to create positive dynamics that enhance collaboration within the organization. From my experience in the workplace, the more hands on deck, the better. The more ideas and perspectives go into decision-making, the more diverse the ideas are, and working collaboratively as a team creates something than any one single person could have. When I worked at Starbucks and everyone found their rhythm during our. peak period, we would get some of our lowest drive through times, we would all be in a good mood just doing our own thing, communicating effectively, and strengthen the team's relationship and dynamic by just doing the daily tasks. When peak was over, we would all give each other high-fives, celebrate with each other for a second, and just take a second to breath together after a rush.
Personal Growth & Development
Every single person views the world through a different perspective, and I think it is important to celebrate that within teams and organizations. When diversity is celebrated, it brings in a team dynamic that brings in honesty, transparency, and collaboration that strengthens teams and relationships within teams. I use collaboration as much as I possibly can in my personal life. There are many times where I don't know the answers to some of the questions my friends and family ask me, so we will work together to research the answers or find someone who does know the answer. My family takes a family vacation every year, and we all collaborate to come up with a plan that fulfills everyone's wants and needs of the vacation. I have found that collaboration not only increases the flow within organizations, but it, also, increases the flow within friendships as well as family relationships.
Reference: Belker, L. B., Topchik, G. S., & McCormick, J. (2019, June 24). Team Dynamics. American Management Association. Retrieved April 26, 2023, from https://www.amanet.org/articles/team-dynamics/ Levi, D., & Askay, D. A. (2021). Group Dynamics for Teams 6th Edition. California: Sage Publications, Inc. PERUSALL VERSION.