Team Dynamics & Conflict Resolution

Team Dynamics are the unseen forces that operate in a team between different people or groups. Team Dynamics can strongly influence how a team reacts, behaves or performs, and the effects of team dynamics are often very complex. Suppose in a small team of six people working in one office there are two people who have a particularly strong friendship. This friendship is a "natural force" that may have an influence on the rest of the team, and can be manifest in various ways, either positively or negatively. Other factors can also play an influence. For example, if a wall of cupboards were to be placed across the middle of the office, this would also form a 'natural force' that influences the communication flow and may separate the group into two further sub-groups. Sometimes, an "absence" of a natural force can also be a team dynamic. For example, if the leader or manager is permanently removed from the office, the group may be drawn into a change of behavior.

You [Word choice. "You" and "your" are second person pronouns that mean general humanity. In academic writing, replace second person (you and your) with a third person pronoun (he, she, it, one, and they) for more specific writing.] can recognize team dynamics by looking for the forces that influence team behavior. These forces might include:

Personality styles (eg: including or excluding people)

Team Roles

Office layout (eg: cupboards dividing teams into two)

Tools and technology (eg: email, bulletin board, information pool enabling hidden communication).

Organizational culture (eg: company cars acting as status symbols to separate groups of employees)

Processes/methodologies/procedures