Communication and Groups, Essay Example

First of all, an individual should communicate with all the relevant members in a group or team and provide them the opportunity to openly express their ideas and opinions. This creates an environment of equity in which the group or team members feel valued for being listened to.Another strategy to build cohesion is to make sure that all group or team members have common interests and goals. This prevents waste or duplication of individual members’ efforts. Individuals should also make sure that all members feel welcome and hostile environment is not created. Similarly, groups or teams with strong identity also enjoy high level of cohesion.

One should also make sure that no single team o group member becomes too dominating or powerful because it also negatively affects group cohesion and may discourage some from fully participating. Group or team cohesions can also be improved through decentralized communication patterns because it promotes interaction among members. Similarly, teams and groups should also have conflict management mechanisms at place to prevent conflict from becoming too big and negatively affecting group cohesiveness. Individuals should also ensure that personal attacks do not take place or are discouraged in a group or team environment because they take away attention from the important issues and lead to personal politics. Group or team cohesion will also improve if members take time to understand each other’s personality and communication style. Teams and groups also benefit when leader/s emerge who ensure that teams or groups remain focused on the main issues, members feel encouraged to express themselves, and conflicts are managed effectively. A great example of a team that maintains cohesiveness while also allowing constructive conflict is U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers. Council members may have different opinions and may give different advices to President Obama but their objectives are similar such as low inflation, low unemployment rate, and high economic productivity. The members ensure their focus remains on the main issues and the differences do not become personal.

Karlene Sugarman focuses upon the importance of cohesion within sports teams in an online article. Sugarman states that successful teams are those where members find strengths in cooperation and take responsibility for fellow teammates. When sports teams lack cohesiveness, they fail to realize their true potential. Sports teams are said to be cohesive when members get along, are loyal to each other, and united in the pursuit of goals(Sugarman).

There are many characteristics that point towards cohesiveness in a team. A cohesive sports team usually has well-defined roles, group norms, positive team identity, good working relationship, shared responsibility, respect, good communication, pride in membership, and synergy among other things. Another indication is the frequency with which members use ‘we’ and ‘our’ in place of ‘I’, ‘me’, and ‘mine’. Teams with high levels of cohesiveness has members with no hidden agendas and they believe that what’s good for the team is good for all of them and vice versa(Sugarman).

The cohesiveness in a team can also be determined through the views of individual team members. How a player views the inner workings of the team is a useful indicator of cohesiveness within the team. The members have respect for each other, engage in open communication, and their trust for each other time again and again passes the test. The players treat each other as they would like to be treated themselves and understand each other’s needs(Sugarman).

Reference

Sugarman, Karlene. Cohesion. 25 November 2011. 11 November 2012 <http://www.psychwww.com/sports/cohesion.htm>.