The Importance of a Good Team Dynamic

Each team has a unique dynamic that will either lead it to success or to failure. Examining the relationships between team members is important because it will show you how they work together and what can be done to produce better results.

The key to a successful team is one that is able to cooperate to achieve the same goal while knowing their own role. Note though, that this is not the same as a homogenous team, where all the players share the same background. Teams comprised of introverted and extroverted, creative and analytical, detail and big-picture oriented players are beneficial because it leads to new perspectives and out-of-the-box thinking.

In order to understand just how much team dynamics affects performance, lets take Team 1. In this team, we have four members that have been put together to complete projects as they come in by the department.

When you view this team from afar, you may see a team that is consistently producing high quality work in a timely manner. But happens when you individually analyze each player?

• Jeff is a hardworking individual who likes to finish work right as it comes in instead of waiting until the last minute.
• Mike has just been transferred to this team and is not as comfortable with his colleagues.
• Kathy sees working on this team as an opportunity to prove herself and continue to move up in the company.
• Julie is not as passionate about the work that is being done and gets things done at her own pace.

You notice that Jeff and Kathy are doing most of the work and trying to push the team forward. The underperforming team members, Mike and Julie, are not as invested and because the work is getting done regardless, they do not try as much. Because of this, Jeff and Kathy of them are starting to feel overworked and stressed out. They don’t want a poor performance to reflect negatively on them so they continue to pick up the slack.

A poor team dynamic, such as with Team 1, will result in growing frustration and eventually, sub-par work. It is the team’s leaders job to identify the problems in a poorly functioning team and take action to fix them. To keep the morale of all your employees’ high, stress levels low, and projects successful, ensure that your team is one that is able to function well together.