Group/Team Dynamics

Group/Team Dynamics

We’ve all come across this concept – Group/Team Dynamics.  But what does it really mean?

An excerpt from a blog Agile Literacy Jan 2016:

http://agileliteracy.com/team-dynamics-and-how-they-influence-performance/#.XKnfeJgzaUl

What are agile team dynamics in the workplace?

Agile team dynamics are the unconscious forces that influence team behavior, reactions and performance. Many people use the analogy of the undercurrent of the sea to describe team dynamics. Like hidden currents in the sea, you can’t always see the forces affecting team dynamics, but if you don’t pay attention to them they can steer you in the opposite directions to which you intended.

From:  https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Gr-Int/Group-Dynamics.html

A group can be defined as several individuals who come together to accomplish a particular task or goal. Group dynamics refers to the attitudinal and behavioral characteristics of a group.

Reflection:

There appears to me to be a general consensus, a group is a social group of people working separately towards a common initiative or goal and a team is a group working together towards a common goal.  I really do mean general consensus, as there are lots of definitions.

My question in this blog is about the illusive group/team dynamics.  Ask anyone about this concept and they will agree there is definitely such a thing as group/team dynamics.  The description in the first blog of dynamics as an undercurrent or hidden current concept is interesting to me.

After much reading it seems essential that we identify group/team dynamics and there are a lot of theories out there on how to do this, but it still remains a mystery often due to the complexity of the possible factors.

Paul Lawrence, in his book, The Three Dimension of Coaching, refers to group dynamics as an illusion.  We use it as a catch all for when things go wrong. Well, it was team dynamics!  Or as a catch all for problems with communication – well it was team dynamics!  Note, this is my interpretation of Paul Lawrence’s work. 

From a systemic approach, we could say Group/Team Dynamics is what happens between members of a group or team across the stakeholders in their organisations.

Team/group dynamics appears to be very complex in nature with many parameters to consider.

I am curious, what are your thoughts on Team/Group Dynamics?   How do you identify and deal with this complex, often hidden, dynamic with your team or group?