Team Dynamics

VI. Managing Team Dynamics

a) Determine method of reaching a consensus

b) Utilize critical thinking in team environment

c) Problem resolution in team environment

d) Avoiding team decay

A. Reaching Consensus

Collaborative teams that are successful in accomplishing their goals must have the ability to reach a consensus among their fellow team members. A team consensus outcome usually goes beyond an individualÐŽ¦s vision. It normally requires a collaborative effort from all of the team members that contribute towards the shared interest or common goal. In order for a team to reach a consensus, the team must adhere to the following key initiatives in order to enhance communications and team harmony.

Open communication channels in order to allow all team members provide their input regardless of the individualÐŽ¦s position.

A team must develop pride by establishing a sense of collective identity through setting realistic team, individual and subunit goals.

The team must strive for common expectations on what types of behavior is acceptable and appropriate.

The team must value unique personal contributions and recognize excellence by rewarding exceptional individual performance.

The team must meet periodically to resolve conflicts. Many volatile issues can be resolved by encouraging open communications within the team.

Focus on the success of the team before discussing any failures of the team. Keeping a positive atmosphere at all times is a key for maintaining a productive and healthy team.

Overall the team must always strive for consensus and commitment by involving the total team in goal- setting activities and group participation. Without these key initiatives it is unlikely a team will ever be successful in coming to a team consensus and ever be able to attain the success needed to complete a project or an assignment.

B. Critical Thinking in a Team Environment

The critical thinking processes can be utilized in the team concept environment when attempting to reach a consensus or achieve a goal or objective by the team. The process steps that we have learned in the critical reading process can apply across the board when working within a team. The team must follow the critical thinking steps to identify and ultimately reach the completion of their project.

The following is a brief narrative of the processes a team should be used when utilizing their critical thinking skills during a team project. These excerpts were taken from the Keys to College Studying, Critical Thinking (2002) (pp. 90-91)

„X Identifying the problem accurately is an important step for a team. Without a full understanding of the root cause of the problem will likely cause issues ahead within the team.

„X Analyzing the problem and determine the cause and effects will bring unknown issues to the surface that likely would not be identified otherwise.

„X Brainstorming all possible solutions, regardless if they are good or bad is another important step.

„X The team should explore each solution and determine the pluses and minuses of each idea. This is very key step since it exposes the causes and effects and will also help to identify the right solution.

„X Choosing and executing the right solution is essential during the critical thinking process. The team must decide how to implement the solution and eventually decide how it should work.

„X Post implementation requires the team to evaluate the solution, decide if it is working, could it use some adjustments and determine any positive or negative effects. The team must continue to evaluate and enhance the solution for optimal results.

Altogether, a successful team must apply three general thinking processes that are solving problems, constructing and evaluating arguments and thinking logically in order to achieve a desired result for the team.

C. Problem Resolution in a Team Environment

A productive team is usually a collaborative team; however, in some cases problems arise and must be addressed by the team. The best approach is to directly discuss the problem with the team and decide the outcome by attempting to obtain a consensus from the team. In order to mitigate problems, a successful team should apply these principles in order to reduce conflict and potential problems within their team. The below excerpts were taken from Gardner (2005), Ten Lessons of Collaboration.

„X First, know thyself, is a very important part of working with in a team. We all bring a set of biases, values and assumptions to all situations. We have all been mentally mapped through