Let’s go Dream Team!
No, this article is not about the Korean TV show. HAAAAA I’m so funny. You’ve baited yourself into this article. Please just continue to read. #BismillahArtikelNilai3 #AbisItu4
You started a project by recruiting the smartest people in their sectors. You are very sure that this project will succeed because of the people you’ve chosen. But then, every time you held a meeting, your group cannot come into a conclusion/decision. Why is that? That’s a sign that your team lacks Team Dynamics.
Team dynamics describes the behavioral relationships between the members of a group (Kurt Lewin, 1940s). The dynamic between them includes how they interact, communicate and cooperate with one another. How well your team is able to do these things directly influences what it can accomplish.
The most important aspect in team dynamics is human behavior that is very unpredictable and mostly uncontrollable. But, you as a leader of this startup must have the ability to be able to control your team’s behavior. No team is perfect, so you need to adapt to your teammates.
Bad Team Dynamic Factors
Any people in a group, starting from its leader to its members can contribute to a bad team dynamic. Based on mindtools.com, there are some factors:
- Weak leadership.
- Excessive deference to authority. This happens when people always seem to agree with the leader, while holding back their opinion because of this.
- A free riding member. A member that leave his/her teammates to do all the work.
- Evaluation apprehension. Evaluation apprehension happens when people feel that they are being judged excessively harshly by other group members, and they hold back their opinions as a result.
What can you do to improve your team dynamic? I will give you an example that my group has applied to the 3 months of our software engineering project.
When a member has a problem, he will chat to our Discord/Line group to ask for help.
But, remember even when your friend ask something very easy for you, don’t mock them. Just at first help him, then if you feel that he’s still not at the level required, ask them to try to improve themselves. The benefits of this is that you may get closer friendship, something I am grateful from my group ❤
Another example is tackle problems quickly. If you notice that one member of your team has adopted a behavior that’s affecting the group unhelpfully, act quickly to challenge it. In my experience, I am a little crazy about video games, such that I often ignore my tasks to play. One of my team members told me about that, and I quickly started to work again and thank him for the reminder. Provide feedback that shows your team member the impact of her actions, and encourage her to reflect on how she can change her behavior.
Then, my group uses Agile Framework, so we have someone who is called ‘Scrum Master’. The Scrum Master is accountable for the Scrum Team’s effectiveness. They do this by enabling the Scrum Team to improve its practices, within the Scrum framework.
Reference:
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/improving-group-dynamics.html
