People work in teams brought together by common goals, shared knowledge, and task interdependence. Team diversity brings more significant sources of creativity for completing goals. Some teams work loosely together, with each person individually fulfilling goals shared as team goals. Other teams depend on each other and share workloads to accomplish a common task.

            Team leaders create cohesiveness by focusing the members' vision on the shared goal. Leaders should protect teams from developing groupthink and encourage individual expression. Conflicts may arise, and leaders can use those conflicts to generate more discourse on ideas (Hu N. et al.,2017). Personality or politically motivated conflicts can break teams apart. Shared goals ease conflict and tension.

            Conflicts, lack of motivation, social loafing, and wasted time by not coordinating efforts are examples of hindrances to team success (Colquitt, J.A. et al., 2021, pg.987). Leaders can motivate teams by reminding them of the value of the reward after the task. Reminding teams to stay focused during brainstorming sessions will help teams accomplish goals promptly. Communication processes such as email and Zoom help with the coordination of efforts.

            Cohesive teams work well together and trust each member to accomplish their share of the tasks. Picking members for the team who can be trusted and whose personalities blend well is essential to creating a cohesive team. Members in cohesive teams may develop groupthink, which stifles creativity. Leaders should encourage members to share new ideas. Cohesive teams are effective in increasing organizational performance.

References:

Hamish (N.D.) Photo by Hamish on Unsplash

Colquitt, J. A., LePine, J. A., & Wesson, M. J. (2021). Organizational behavior: Improving performance and commitment in the workplace (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Hu, N., Chen, Z., Gu, J., Huang, S., & Liu, H. (2017). Conflict and creativity in inter-organizational teams. International Journal of Conflict Management, 28(1), 74-102. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-01-2016-0003