The secret science of team dynamics: seven lessons for leaders
The concept of team dynamics refers to the relationships, dependencies and points of intersection that exist within a team, and between its members. These dynamics can have a significant effect on team cohesion as well as overall levels of effectiveness.
This blog takes and in-depth and counter-intuitive look at team dynamics. In doing so, it highlights aspects of this concept that are often overlooked or unappreciated. As appropriate and for emphasis, it shows where team dynamics can contribute to the development and deployment of dynamic teams. Furthermore, the insights shared describe how teams can develop, evolve and mature organically.
Set out below is: ‘the secret science of team dynamics: seven lessons for leaders’.
1. The motivation of want
Want is a far more compelling motivation that need. While need speaks to a culture of compliance and necessity, want speaks to a culture of discipline and choice. Teams that are purely based on the foundation of need last only as long as necessity dictates. Essentially, they are ‘held’ together, with their existence reliant on the exigencies of the situation. By contrast, want ‘keeps’ a team together. With its motivations predicated on will rather than compulsion, want taps into an entirely unique power of appeal. It is therefore essential that teams understand the drivers of both need and want.
2. Desirability of dependency
The notion of dependency can be seen as both a positive as well as a negative. For any team, there is a clear balance to be struck between the need for autonomy, where the emphasis is placed on independence of action and the necessity for joint enterprise, where utilisation of collective capabilities has primacy. The principle of ‘desirable dependency’ is that teams are more effective when they function as mutually affirming and symbiotic networks. This is not to imply that individuality should be frowned upon, but rather to emphasise that in team settings, the individual serves the group not themselves.
3. Internal combustion mechanism
In the context of team dynamics, ‘internal combustion’ speaks to the mix factors that produce the optimum or most desirable energy levels within team. With this insight, it is possible to harness the capabilities and competencies of the group to achieve the best results. The stimulants of ‘internal combustion’ are the personalities, behaviours, structures, decisions etc that contribute to optimum performance. Critically, knowledge of a team’s ‘internal combustion’ mechanism provides a deeper understanding of the type of leadership under which the team will be most effective.
4. Modularity
Modularity is a design principle that allows a system to be deconstructed into its component parts in a way that enhances development, maintenance, and overall flexibility. Applied to team dynamics, this principle facilitates a more in-depth appreciation of the constituent components of the team such as its skills mix and talent profile. From a leadership perspective, this information is essential as it provides an evidence-based understanding of relative strengths and weaknesses. It also makes it easier for leaders to consider the overall fitness for purpose of the group considering current and emerging challenges.
5. Adaptive hierarchies
At their very best, team dynamics reflect a sophisticated understanding of hierarchical structures in determining what is necessary and what may be surplus to requirements. An ‘adaptive hierarchy’ is agile and highly responsive to the conditions necessitating its deployment. While traditional hierarchies are vertical [top down or bottom up], a dynamic team utilises horizontal [side to side] and diagonal [slanting or angled] hierarchical models. Operating in this way, team dynamics can develop organically, with lines of accountability a function of convenience rather than convention.
6. Multiple frequencies
Frequencies are one of the least understood aspects of team dynamics. Developing organically, frequencies are the subliminal signs or signals understood by and indigenous to the group. With their ability to navigate these channels a team can better understand nuance, emphasis and contrast. The most effective teams operate across multiple frequencies [tactical, operational and strategic]. The factors, that contribute most towards their development are experience and intuition. Frequencies are a function of cohesion. Therefore, the more cohesive a team, the stronger its frequencies.
7. Tension strength
In team dynamics, tension functions like a ‘vaccination’. At an appropriate level and in the right measure, it enables teams to acclimate to the benefits of disagreement, conflict and even dissension. As teams become accustomed to how much tension is enough, they become equally familiar with how much is unacceptable. Managed in the right way, tension can promote mutual understanding and innovation. However, given the risks associated with unmanaged tension, there is a critical role for leaders in creating facilitative environments where it can be expressed productively.
A rounded understanding of team dynamics is the cornerstone of an effectively functioning organisation. When scaled up across different hierarchical layers, team dynamics empower leaders to harness the capabilities of their teams, deploy resources more effectively, and achieve better results. As this blog demonstrates, an enhanced understanding of team dynamics is not the same as the development of dynamic teams. While team dynamics describe the intricate relationships and structures that make things work, developing dynamic teams involves fostering the organic growth and adaptability necessary to thrive in an ever-changing environment.
Paul Aladenika is host of the 11th Thing Podcast