Team Dynamics

Because lack of communication or no communication at all can create a large amount of frustration within a group, communication plays an important role when working, motivating and expressing with the team.

Working with the team

When you are in a team, you are not alone. Commit to your team and team leader; let them know you are there to help the team success on their goal. Planning is very important to make sure the team’s goal is well organized. You have to be aware that some members might have doubts or questions so, when planning a goal, the team leader has to be sure he/she is being clear on what each member has to do and also be able to answer any question they have, but the team have to ask questions; we are not mind readers. Maybe one member is good memorizing, but the others are not so good. By this I’m trying to emphasize thinking as a team. So when you have a goal well organized, write it on a paper and give a copy to each member so that they can read it whenever they want. Help each other with anything that might need to be explained better. If you are a team leader, remember to communicate outcomes of the team, like Steve Hill (2007) say, “The team leader who fails, perhaps due to being too busy or maybe because they can not be bothered, to communicate the outcome of this pay review is basically a poor team leader and will result in his/her team losing all respect for them.” If on a virtual teamwork experience, remember this tools to help organize better: Say hello, build trust, recruit with care, don’t rely on email, encourage dissent, use technology thoughtfully and measure outcomes ("Crash Course in... Managing a virtual team.(business communication).", 2007). Once again, you are not alone, work together as one and you will find success.

Expressing with the team

Expressing your feelings, ideas and thoughts with the team is a powerful and bonding tool. By expressing your feelings you are letting your teammates know what makes you comfortable or uncomfortable, what you like and what you don’t like. If you talk to your teammates not just things from the team, but out-of-work things, you create a friendly and relaxed atmosphere and are building a closer, better team. While you are expressing to the team members you are opening yourself to new thoughts and ideas that will eventually help you out in the long run. Listening your team thoughts, feelings and ideas opens your mind to a whole new level, while at the same time you are making a better job as a team for the company, class, or sport. For example when expressing with the team, you might notice something that the other team members haven’t seen or thought of, and so could they. That creates a wider view of any task, mission or goal of any team. Remember that you are all different, so listen to each opinion your team member has to give and make sure you understand what he/she is saying. It doesn’t matter if you express with a song, with a letter or even a drawing; the important thing is that you express yourself to the team. Expression is a human right (Waltman, 2006) so enjoy it.

Motivating with the team

Motivation is the key! Never forget that. Motivation is an extremely important tool if you want to success with a team. It’s normal to feel frustrated and tired of a task sometimes, but you have to get over that and fast. This is when team motivation starts to work. You have to keep