Formation of a cohesive children's team. Psychology of personality and social organizations

High results require coordinated work of the entire team. If this cannot be achieved, it is necessary to identify pathologies of team building and eliminate them.

From the material you will learn:

  • How to find out what makes it difficult to form a cohesive team;
  • Where to start uniting the HR department;
  • How can constructive conflicts help in forming a cohesive team?
  • How to overcome employees' reluctance to work in a team;
  • What are the criteria for a cohesive team?

Questions that will help you understand what makes it difficult to form a cohesive team

By answering these questions, you will be able to understand what pathologies of team building exist and what prevents you from forming a cohesive team of like-minded people. The main five pathologies, which are highlighted by international expert Patrick Lencinioni.

Constructive conflicts as a condition for the formation of a cohesive team

Meetings should be lively and the topics discussed should excite and affect all participants. You can provoke a general discussion using one of the methods he suggested.

  1. Ask the employee who has already approached you with a problem to voice it at the meeting. This should be a question that in one way or another concerns the work of the entire service and that will be of interest to everyone. Organize brainstorming sessions, during which the search for the optimal solution will take place on a collegial basis. Employees should not be afraid to speak up, even if they are wrong.
  2. Act as a meeting moderator and bring issues to the attention of participants by inviting general discussion.
  3. If necessary, create project groups that will work together on a particular project you propose. To eliminate conflicts, decide by your decision who will be responsible for what and who will have what powers. Monitor the work on the project periodically and, after its successful completion, reward employees by noting the effective work of the team. A formed, cohesive team can be “diluted” with other employees so that they also develop a taste and desire for joint activities with colleagues.

How to overcome employee reluctance to work in a team

Since not everyone will want to work collectively, conflicts should also be expected to arise. They are inevitable, since there are people who are individualists by nature, and there are also those who do not want to work in a team for fear of revealing their unprofessionalism and laziness. All this can lead to both conflicts between employees and disputes with you, resistance to your decisions. The situation can escalate at any moment and you need to be prepared for it.

Observe the opponents of teamwork, try to understand the true reasons for this reluctance. Those subordinates for whom personal goals are higher than team goals should be worked on individually. Consider the roles of employees on the team. You cannot tolerate the fact that someone is indifferent to the results of common labor, shifting responsibility and work to others. A close-knit team is distinguished by a common interest in the results of joint work and one cannot allow someone’s destructive actions to discredit the idea itself.

Criteria for a cohesive team

But how do you understand that HR employees are ready for cohesive teamwork, that they are capable of solving complex problems that require teamwork and full dedication? There are several signs that can be identified as evidence of a cohesive team.

  1. Colleagues trust each other and are not afraid to admit that they may make mistakes. There is no unhealthy competition, in which everyone can turn to their colleagues for help, and is happy to talk about their area of ​​work, without fear of criticism.
  2. Employees speak up and debate openly, seeking optimal solutions and quickly resolving problems. All disputes are constructive and are not started in order to criticize a colleague, but to find an effective solution, the meetings are lively and all their participants show sincere interest.
  3. The entire team is responsible for the final results. Set specific deadlines for solving the problem and monitor intermediate results. This will help the team quickly adjust work taking into account the tasks being performed.
  4. Controlling functions are performed not only by the leader, but also by all team members. Since each employee is interested in the fastest successful achievement of results, team members are demanding of each other. None of them seek to shift their part of the work onto the shoulders of a colleague, and all work is performed with high quality.
  5. A common collective goal forms a cohesive team; this does not prevent ambitious employees from expressing themselves; the negative influence of individualists is minimized.
  6. The composition of the team is stable, even if someone quits, the majority of employees have been working for a long time. Thanks to this, colleagues easily adapt and interact with pleasure, clearly understanding each other’s capabilities and powers.

The work collective, like a living organism, is born, matures and develops. Depending on the stage of development, a certain degree of cohesion and social development is inherent in it. These processes are often accompanied by crisis phenomena of an economic, technical, technological, social nature and can lead to the destruction of social relationships in the team, its disintegration, which as a result can cause bankruptcy of the organization. To maintain high efficiency of a production and economic organization at all stages of development of the workforce, it is necessary to skillfully manage the processes of establishing cohesion in the team and its social development.

One of the most important tasks of a manager’s organizational activity is to unite the team, create a system of relationships within it that would unite the common labor efforts of all employees in achieving the goals of the organization.

Teamwork cohesion- the degree of strength of socio-psychological connections between team members.

Cohesion indicates that the team is a certain integrity within the organization, ensures its effective functioning, resistance to the destructive effects of external and internal conditions, and helps to unlock the potential of each employee.

The level of cohesion of the workforce and management features depend on the stage of the life cycle (Fig. 8.1).


Rice. 8.1. Stages of the life cycle of the workforce

On stages of formation of the labor collective workers are not yet united. The formation of a workforce begins with the decision to create an organization or structural unit. Then a manager is appointed, the functional structure of the work team is outlined, heads of structural divisions are selected, as well as the duties, rights and responsibilities of each employee are determined. Over time, some of the newly appointed leaders will retain their status, while others will have to be replaced.

At this stage, there is still only a nominal group of people who will work together in the future. These people do not yet think in terms of the criteria of their collective as an integral entity. The appointed leader is perceived as an external factor relative to this group. His first task is to determine the lines of communication between team members, distribute tasks between them, train workers, plan, organize and mobilize common activities in the labor process, monitor their work, study the professional and personal qualities of group members. At first, he uses a predominantly authoritarian style.

On stages of formation of the workforce an active core is formed from individuals who are imbued with its goals, actively act towards achieving them and influence other employees. The leader's task is to form this core as quickly as possible.

A characteristic feature of this stage is the formation of microgroups within the team, which differ from each other in their attitude to its goals. It occurs in the process of labor contacts, during which people accumulate information about each other, which becomes the basis of mutual interest, sympathy, antipathy or indifference.

Mutual interest people means their friendly attitude towards each other according to the corresponding external manifestation (in gestures, facial expressions, words, expressive movements). In a work team, mutual interest between people arises on the basis of their psychological compatibility and is the key to the unity and cohesion of its members. Mutual interest most often develops into sympathy.

Sympathy - this is an unconscious, irrational favor towards another person. People who like each other work more cooperatively and efficiently. The emergence of sympathy and antipathies(hostility) perception determined by patterns, the degree of unity of basic life interests, goals and values, and the behavior of people. Based on sympathy, certain stable relationships arise.

Indifference - a person’s mental state, which is characterized by dullness or complete loss of interest in other people and the world around them. If individual members of the team at the stage of its formation are in a state of indifference, it is necessary to find out the reasons for its occurrence: physical or nervous illnesses, overwork, mental trauma, dissatisfaction with work, etc. As a rule, the main reason for the occurrence of indifference among people in the work environment is dissatisfaction with working conditions, tasks in the workplace, relationships with others. It is clear that, having identified the causes of indifference, they need to be eliminated.

During this period, it is desirable to provide everyone with the opportunity to voluntarily choose partners in the labor process based on a feeling of sympathy.

Having analyzed likes and dislikes, we can identify people and groups whose norms of behavior, views and interests are accepted by others as standards, and with whom they try to cooperate. Taking this information into account, the formal structure of the team is re-structured, promoting informal leaders to leadership positions. To identify such individuals, you can use the sociographic method. To this end, each member of the work group is asked to choose two people with whom they would like to work together. Based on the survey, they build sociogram(Latin zosіeіaz - society and Greek £gatta - dash, letter) - a graphic representation of connections within a social group based on the likes (dislikes) identified by its members, positive (negative) assessments of their colleagues according to a certain criterion. It is represented by a set of specific symbols with the names or assigned numbers of each member of the group and lines that display elections (Fig. 8.2). In the above sociogram, the leader of the team is employee number “3”.


Rice. 8.2 Sociogram of the team

A type of sociogram is matrix of mutual benefits. To compile it, each member of the team is asked to evaluate their attitude towards others: -1 - negative; +1 - positive; 0 - indifferent. Then all estimates are entered into the matrix (Table 8.1).

At the end of the formation stage, the team removes those employees who could not fit into the formed coordinate system according to professional or personal parameters. Risks at this stage are associated with the processes of dismemberment and disunity of the team.

Table 8.1

Benefit Matrix

Team dismemberment- identification of privileged and non-privileged groups within the team due to the subjective assignment by the manager to individual of them of the status of leading in achieving the goals of the organization. Team disunity- the emergence of a “power party”, “opposition” and “center” in the team as a result of the struggle for leadership. Often the leader does not notice this process, treating favorably those who support him (“the party in power”), negatively towards the “opposition” and not noticing that the values ​​and norms of the team are concentrated in the “center”. Depolarization of the collective helps solve this problem.

For stages of team stabilization It is characterized by the formation of common goals and norms and the establishment of cooperation. With the development of the team's potential, the question arises of how to use the available human and other resources. This encourages a review of work methods and experimentation in order to increase productivity. Compared to previous stages, the results are significant. Cooperation of microgroups arises, which identify the goals and objectives of the team with their own. At the same time, the behavior of some employees may deviate from intra-collective norms of relationships.

By many criteria, this stage of development of the team can be compared with a person who is on the age border between youth and maturity: adult, sober thinking is sometimes combined with youthful “antics.”

At this stage, the manager tries to develop cooperation in the team, transferring some of his powers to subordinates. The team's prospects are linked to the implementation of a program for advanced training and retraining of personnel, and management of employee careers.

The leadership style at the stabilization stage is predominantly democratic.

Stages of team maturity inherent in rational problem solving and use of resources (problems are assessed realistically, resources are used effectively), search and use of production reserves. Objective is the evaluation of people and the results of their efforts. Employees feel proud to belong to the team. More and more management functions fall within the competence of subordinates. There are strong connections between employees, among which informal ones predominate; personal differences between them are quickly and constructively eliminated. With its cohesion, the team commands respect in the environment. He demonstrates remarkable results and has high standards of achievement. The leader gradually moves from a democratic to a liberal leadership style.

Stage of aging of the workforce occurs when, with changes in external conditions, the team continues to work to achieve goals that have lost their relevance. In this regard, the established structure, functions, standards, and work methods are not revised in light of new environmental requirements. The team is still holding on thanks to the previously created potential, but its development is stagnating, and its results are declining compared to its competitors. Employees are tired and prone to routine and formalized relationships. The leader uses a pronounced liberal style, registers problems without foreseeing or solving them.

Destruction of the collective occurs, as a rule, in connection with the reorganization or liquidation of an organization or in connection with the dismissal or death of an outstanding leader.

The duration of each stage of formation, cohesion and development of the workforce depends on the type of its economic activity, market conditions, incl. labor market, the availability of financial resources to ensure the functioning of the organization, etc. The determining regulatory factor of this process is the personality of the manager - one of the most important bearers and creators of the collective values ​​of the organization.

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From this article you will learn:

  • What are the conditions for forming a cohesive team?
  • What are the criteria for a cohesive team?
  • What events and games bring the team together?

Any manager cares about the microclimate in his organization. Nobody needs squabbles and discord that interfere with the effective functioning of the company. Team cohesion is very important both for management and for each employee. Agree, it’s nice to come to work and see smiling faces, solve all current issues in a team constructively and calmly, and in case of a difficult situation, know that you will not be drowned, but will be given a helping hand. A successful leader must have an idea of ​​how to unite a team, how to bring different people together, what methods of uniting people into a team are generally accepted, because very often it is joint cohesive work that leads a company to success. Read about all this in our article!

When it is necessary to create a cohesive team

  1. In the absence of necessary and truthful information, there is always someone who comes up with the missing information himself, screwing up the entire team, filling it with rumors and gossip. This situation is typical for organizations where there is corruption, abuse of power, opacity of the remuneration system, calculation of bonus payments, etc. An expert method that optimizes personnel policy can help achieve the goal of uniting the team in such a situation. The method, designed to unite the organization's staff, is based on systematic monitoring with the involvement of HR professionals.
  2. Discord in a team is most often caused by a virtual lack of control. Illiterate management makes possible the lack of a clear distribution of roles and responsibilities, discipline, order and mutual respect. There is no way to unite people. In such an environment, unspoken rules and codes of conduct in society are easily forgotten. Mini-groups appear with their own informal leaders who manipulate people and conflict with each other. The purpose of such behavior is not at all aimed at increasing labor efficiency and the success of the enterprise. They satisfy only their ambitions. All this leads first to a split in the team, then to disintegration and ultimately to a complete separation of the team.
  3. Illiterate team management gives rise to internal competition and dissatisfaction with each other. This is also impossible to unite the team. A successful team leader must understand that competition is only beneficial for the development of market relations, but not relationships between people working in the same team. This will not help unite the team. Working according to the “carrot and stick” principle, when the best receive bonuses, ranks, bonuses, etc., and others receive reprimands and fines, the team is deprived of basic trust in each other and mutual assistance, receiving in return hypocrisy, name-calling, and obvious “set-ups” and hidden sabotage. Many team members are forced under these conditions to forget about principles, just to get an unsurpassed result, better than that of their colleagues. Teams with such internal relationships have long forgotten about team spirit. Working together to resolve complex issues in a constructive manner is virtually impossible in such a situation.
  4. In the absence of existing strategies aimed at the formation and development of internal corporate culture, improving the microclimate in the group, uniting people with a common goal that is significant for each and everyone together.

Conditions for forming a cohesive team

Let's consider the basic conditions and criteria for forming a cohesive team. The team will become united if:

  • the interests, views, values ​​and worldview of a larger number of team members coincide;
  • The team is homogeneous in age. It is difficult to unite fifty-year-old and seventeen-year-old team members into one group, it is only possible on the basis of mutual respect;
  • the team should be dominated by goodwill, acceptance of the opinions of others, and general psychological safety;
  • the entire team must conduct active, emotionally intense joint activities aimed at obtaining a result that is significant for everyone;
  • the team leader or his leader represents a model of behavior for the most effective employee and colleague;
  • a successful leader is able to take special actions or events to enhance team cohesion;
  • there is another group of people or collective that can be seen as competitors;
  • in the team there is a person who opposes himself to the team and is significantly different from the main number of its participants.
  1. Focus. The goal orientation of a team is the desire for a common goal. unites group interest in the content of the goal put forward by this group, dictates collective social attitudes, beliefs, and ideals. The degree of focus can be determined by the following indicators:
    • the level of interest of group members in joint activities, in improving the microclimate of the team, mutual understanding between people, focusing on the failure of positions in common activities and relationships;
    • relationship between these parameters;
    • correspondence of the goals of the individual and the team, their complementarity, inconsistency, similarity and difference.
  2. Motivation. This criterion determines the level of activity, interest and effective attitude (desire) to the common activity of all team members. Motivation is characteristic of participants in such collective work when each of them experiences a need, attraction, desire to work together, realizes the need for teamwork and is biased and enthusiastic about applies to her. The activity and interest of each group member in the overall result, involvement in its achievement, the efforts made, the degree of satisfaction from participation in the common cause are indicators that determine motivation. .
  3. Integrity or the commonality of a team is the unity of its members. The interconnectedness and interdependence between group members determine the degree of their cohesion, compatibility, conjugation, etc. The degree of integrity of a particular team can be determined by analyzing the relationship between joint achievements and the total number of completed works, understanding which type of work dominates - joint or individual. This helps to unite the team.
  4. Structurality determined by a clear and strict order of interaction. It regulates the functions, tasks, rights, duties and responsibilities among group members. Thanks to this, the team is able, if necessary, to quickly divide into groups and subgroups, depending on the tasks being solved and the goals set. Structurality is determined by the prevailing methods of redistribution of responsibilities, through complementarity, insurance, and duplication. Another important criterion is the method of distribution of responsibility - concentration, division, diffusion. Business mutual influence is also important. This helps to unite the team.
  5. Consistency team members are determined by their harmonious interaction, conditioned by the presence of a common goal. Coherence can manifest itself to varying degrees at any stage of collaboration. The degree of agreement or inconsistency is determined by the dominance of methods for eliminating contradictions and divisive factors, the level of conflict among team members and typical behavior in resolving conflict. Coordination of actions helps to unite the team.
  6. Organization characteristic of groups that are distinguished by orderliness, composure, subordination to the established order regulating joint activities, the ability to accurately follow a pre-established plan (planfulness), and manageability, including diligence and self-organization. By diligence we should understand the ability, frequency and style of performing external control actions. The self-organization of a team directly depends on the degree of its participation in its work and is characterized by the number of participants involved in management; the number of management actions carried out; leadership potential; the way group members participate in management, etc. Organization helps to unite the team.
  7. Efficiency characterizes the degree of cohesion of the group in achieving high results and the intended goal. This is an integral characteristic of the productivity, productivity and efficiency of teamwork. Performance indicators require specification of the characteristics of the group’s work. High performance helps unite the team.

Evgeniy Kotov will cover two topics on personnel management at , which will be held from May 3 to 10 in Turkey at the Rixos Premium Belek hotel.


How a cohesive team is formed

Forming a cohesive team is a rather long process. Experts have defined a step-by-step methodology that includes five mandatory stages that should not be skipped or their sequence changed. A successful leader must understand the importance of each of them and know that only strict implementation of the requirements will help unite the team at work.

The formation of relationships begins with lapping. This is typical for any team, especially for newcomers joining an already formed group. During this period, they pay special attention to each other, discover their essence, demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of their character, leadership abilities, conflict behavior, etc. The most important aspect of this period is the general characteristics of the selected contingent. The work of a professional psychologist, aimed at forming interpersonal relationships, taking into account all their features, helps to minimize the problems of the following stages. This helps bring the team together.

Next comes " conflictual» stage. It should be understood that the occurrence of any conflicts is normal for any team. The ability to resist them and successfully resolve such situations is the key to creating a strong and cohesive team. At this stage, it is permissible to form small subgroups and identify outsiders. It is also acceptable that there is misunderstanding on the part of management and subordinates. Often the conflict stage ends with some dismissals - on the employee’s personal initiative or on the instructions of management.

Third stage " experimental" The settlement and resolution of all significant internal conflicts leads to the inevitable growth of the potential of each employee and the entire group as a whole. This applies both personally and at work. This period is characterized by an uneven distribution of efforts, minor disruptions in work, however, in the end, the enterprise achieves greater results than in the initial stages. All this helps to unite the team.

Creative stage occurs after successful completion of the first three. Leaders stand out and form around themselves a team of people who share their positions and opinions. At the first stages, employees might make a mistake in choosing a leader, but by this stage everything is clear to everyone, people know each other well enough, and all assessments have already been made.

Mature team– the result of the fifth stage, the final one. The debates and disagreements that arise at this stage, which arise especially often with the arrival of a new employee, are resolved extremely quickly and calmly, only positively influencing the work of the entire team. This is considered the highest level of uniting people, and every leader who wants to be successful should strive for this.

How can you unite your team?

  • Make traditions it helps bring the team together

Think about it, it’s not in vain that kids watch their favorite cartoons several times. Psychologists say that they are pleased and attracted by the fact that the plot is known in advance. The child is comfortable because he knows what will happen and there is nothing uncertain or unexpected. Adult employees, who solve some issues every day, invent something and learn something, also dream of peace and comfort. Then the work goes better. There is nothing easier to solve this issue than establishing traditions. For example, you can start every morning with music, or go to the pool with the whole team every Wednesday, communicate in English every Friday, celebrate holidays and birthdays together, and attend various quests. All this brings people together, brings them closer to each other, reveals their potential and is also team building.

  • Get together it helps bring the team together

Try to gather all team members together. It doesn't matter how often this happens: once a month, a week or a day. It's important that this happens. Discuss achievements, successful results, share ideas, thoughts and doubts. People in the team must understand that their work is important and their opinion is heard. It is necessary to know the essence of the work of each team member, emphasize the importance of his participation in the common cause, share problems and find solutions together. You don’t have to go into too much detail about your work, you can just point out problem areas, and maybe someone can easily help you with these issues. This maximizes team performance and makes people united.

  • Corporate media helps to unite the team

Organizing the publication of a corporate newspaper or magazine is the best opportunity to communicate the latest news to employees, make suggestions, celebrate achievements, including individual ones, and congratulate them on holidays and anniversaries. Holding an open day will serve to improve relationships between departments and departments. In order to unite employees, you can initiate monthly events where each department takes turns presenting the importance of its work in a creative format.

  • Corporate holidays helps to unite the team

Collective trips and joint recreation help to establish contact between employees. This increases the efficiency of each employee and the enterprise as a whole, because:

  • a change of environment defuses any complications that have arisen in the team, helps to see each other in a different light and under different conditions;
  • non-standard situations help to look at employees in a completely different way;
  • the relaxed atmosphere brings out the unexpected potential of each employee. People get to know each other better, discover common interests, and learn new things about each other.

In order to unite the team, use a type of corporate vacation such as tourism: regular, adventure or even story-based. Any of the options is attractive and special, but all create a team spirit, unite people into one group with common interests and mutual respect. Thanks to corporate recreation, all team members get to know each other again in a relaxed atmosphere, enjoy taking a break from routine work, and absorb positive emotions, which is extremely useful for preventing emotional burnout and decreased performance. This guarantees cohesive teamwork.

  • Gamify it helps to unite the team.

One of the most significant trends in recent years is the use of principles and technologies characteristic of computer games to increase the involvement of consumers and users in any process. And this method works great for keeping people engaged in the work process. Make completing tasks, solving problems or achieving indicators the goal or stages of the game - and now, the whole office is enthusiastically playing a quest called “Work”. The system of rewards, badges, titles and skill levels turns any process into fun and, using the competitive spirit, draws gamers into its abyss headlong. According to analysts, by 2017, about half of all companies will use gamification technologies in corporate management, so you should not delay studying and implementing this method, otherwise you risk finding yourself in the sad and backward half of the global business community.

What events bring the team together?

Holding collective events brings employees very close together - jointly celebrating holidays, participating in games and quests, psychological or gaming trainings that encourage people to actively interact with each other, moving towards a common goal. All these activities are united by the term “team building” - team building, methods that help connect different people into one strong team. This helps to unite the team.

  • Extreme team building, helping to bring people together

Extreme team building is based on collective participation in extreme sports, which involve some risky situations and a surge of adrenaline.

  1. Adventure racing

This is the most popular type of training conducted to form a team, similar to adventure and extreme racing. The task of such an interesting team race is to overcome a certain distance with various tasks and find checkpoints. Each team goes through several stages, each team has a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 12 people. Employees go from point to point in a fun way, demonstrating knowledge, ingenuity, and the ability to act together and plan these actions. This is a great way to bring the team together.

  1. Orientation as a way to bring a group of people together

Orienteering is a great sport. The team must find the required number of control points on the ground. A compass and a map with marked destinations are provided to help. Such trimbuilding can reveal the leadership qualities of employees, the ability for mutual assistance, the degree of conflict of a person and the level of his communication skills. One of the modern types of orienteering is jeep orienteering. The basic principles are the same as for a regular sport, only orienteering takes place in jeeps and in deserted areas. Drive and a feeling of extreme sports help unite the team.

  1. Transfer by helicopter a fun way to bring a group of people together

Such a quest requires quite significant expenses for renting a helicopter, however, large companies conduct it for their top managers. The main point of such an adventure is to develop among staff the ability to quickly make decisions, focused on obtaining the desired result as efficiently as possible, and the ability to unite a team. This helps bring the team together. The essence of the quest is that several people are dropped by helicopter into an area that is completely new to them and left there. Their task is to get out on their own.

  1. Rafting as a way to bring a group of people together

What can definitely bring people together into one team is conquering the water element. Several employees are invited to go rafting down the river. This type of trimbuilding is not very popular in Russia and is rarely used in practice as an independent recreation. Such activities are extremely common in areas where bamboo grows. For a large, stable company, it is not difficult to organize a tourist trip to places where the local population would help the team build their own raft and go on a trip on it. Joint production of food and water, protecting the raft, and overcoming obstacles can unite all participants.

  • Intellectual team building, helping to bring people together

This technology can be presented in the form of quests, ethnic games, photo hunts, role-playing events, etc. The main thing is to have the opportunity to show ingenuity and mental work. Such team building perfectly reveals the employee’s potential, all his talents and helps unite people into a team.

  1. Quest in the city / Orientation in the city. This is the most popular quest in the opinion of modern marketers. He has a bright future in terms of being in demand. Organization of a specific competition, puzzle, rich internal communication of the group, manifestation of all creative potentials.
  2. Photonavigation/Photohunting. A great opportunity to show your intelligence, change your surroundings and relax. The reference points for this quest are photographs and images of noteworthy places in the city. You need to use gadgets, including the Internet and mobile phone, to be in the right place at the right time.
  3. Made by hand. A great idea for employees to show creative thinking and a creative approach. It is necessary to invite team members, especially those who work in offices and receive everything ready-made, to create something with their own hands. This technology relieves tension and fatigue, switching people to something new that requires a completely different approach and action.
  4. Architecture and painting. This is always interesting to everyone. A joint visit by the entire team to an exhibition or church turns into an educational vacation, helps to get to know colleagues from a different perspective and unites employees. Interesting conversations and discussions on topics not related to work are possible, which also has a positive effect on the emotional state of the team. You can add participation in various master classes to the program, for example, during the restoration of a temple or work.
  5. Ancient Russian crafts. Antiquity always attracts people with its history of development, the development of crafts is especially interesting. Chasing, forging, wood carving, embroidery, making mead, etc. You can choose a common activity for the group to suit every taste, unobtrusively learn a new skill for almost everyone, identify talents and plunge into the last century for a while. Shared passion and common interests greatly help unite a team.
  6. Last Hero. Thanks to the creation of extreme situations provided for by this type of team building, all the negative sides of the team members, the degree of conflict of each of them, and the tendency to create or destroy are easily revealed.
  • Creative team building, helping to bring people together

Unlike extreme team building, creative team building more subtly helps to unite the team, effectively solving most collective problems and issues. Creative team building can increase the level of trust in a team, build communications, distribute roles, strengthen emotional cohesion, and determine a common goal. In Russia this is still a fairly unfamiliar technology, but its prospects are undeniable.

  1. Theatrical. Try to attract a professional director to stage a performance chosen jointly, in which all roles are occupied by members of the team. A most exciting activity for all participants and spectators can tremendously unite people with a common goal and interest, making interaction with each other habitual.
  2. Musical. Create your own musical group. It could simply be an ensemble consisting of musically gifted employees who play instruments and have vocal abilities. Or a brass band performing works where the solo parts of each participant are combined into beautiful collective works. The most popular folk ensembles in Russia are groups of musicians playing African musical instruments, and jazz groups. Common interests will help bring people together.
  3. Dance Team building activities lift your spirits and improve the emotional component of the team’s microclimate, making it more united. Practice dancing together, skate together in the winter, take part in various competitions, and the team will become united, people will be closer to each other, and their attitude towards their work and company will improve.
  4. Historical team building. When planning an event for your team, add historical notes to its plot. This could be a story or an interesting historical fact. You can try, for example, to hold knightly battles, Pioneer Day or a Viking campaign. Create a great opportunity to unite your team with new, brightest emotions and unexpected experiences.
  5. Military. Nowadays many people are interested in paintball. A kind of game “Zarnitsa”, with a military atmosphere, artifacts, abandoned training grounds. A common goal and collective action planning make this team game the best way to bring people together.
  6. Literary team building. Organize thematic literary readings. They don't have to be long. You can read interesting articles to each other for five to ten minutes every morning. You can compete between departments for the best article of the week. All this unites, distracts, gives the opportunity to relax for a while and helps unite employees with a common passion.
  7. Cinema team building. Create your own movie. It can be timed to coincide with some date, anniversary or professional holiday. Each member of the team will make their contribution, fulfill their role, and watching it together will improve the mood and help unite the team even more.
  8. Culinary team building. Have a dinner together after a cooking match. You can create teams from departments or separate groups. Let people surprise everyone with their culinary talents. Collective preparation and eating of dishes brings people incredibly closer together. A change of environment and activity helps relieve fatigue, gain positive emotions and unite people into a team.

Currently, there are several models of collective development, each of which captures special stages in this movement.

The most comprehensive concept of team development belongs to A.V. Petrovsky. He is considering group as consisting of three strata (layers). In the first layer, primarily direct contacts between people are realized, based on emotional acceptability or unacceptability. In the second layer these relationships are mediated by the nature of joint activities. In the third layer, called the core of the group, relationships develop based on the acceptance by all group members of common goals of group activity. This layer corresponds to the highest level of development of the group, and therefore, its presence allows us to state that this is a collective.

Currently, psychologists prefer to consider the levels of group structure in reverse order, starting with the characteristics of nuclear relationships.

The central link of the group structure is formed by the objective activity of the group itself, and this is necessarily a socially positive activity. The second layer of group structure represents a fixation of the attitude of each group member to group activities, its goals and objectives. This layer is described as a coincidence of values ​​relating to joint activities and the development of a certain motivation of group members, emotional identification with the group. The third layer records the actual interpersonal relationships mediated by activity. The fourth layer of group structure fixes superficial connections between group members; this is that part of interpersonal relationships that is built on direct emotional contacts.

The strength of any team is its cohesion. Cohesion can be very high when people are closely connected with each other and are jointly responsible for achieving the goals facing them and the team as a whole, and therefore do everything to successfully achieve them. It can be very low, when the team does not even receive a clear organizational design, there is no common goal, everyone acts on their own, at their own peril and risk, trying to demonstrate individual results even to the detriment of others.

In many ways The cohesion of a team depends on the stage of its development. From the maturity stage. Psychologists identify five such stages. The first stage is called "grinding in". At this stage, people are still looking at each other, deciding whether they are on the same path as the others, and trying to show their “I”. Interaction occurs in familiar forms in the absence of collective creativity. The leader plays a decisive role in uniting the group at this stage.

Second stage team development - "conflict"- characterized by the fact that within its framework clans and groupings openly form, disagreements are openly expressed, the strengths and weaknesses of individual people come to light, and personal relationships acquire importance. A power struggle for leadership and a search for compromise between the warring parties begins. At this stage, opposition may arise between the manager and individual subordinates.

At the third stage - the stage of experimentation - The potential of the team increases, but it often works in spurts, so there is a desire and interest to work better, using other methods and means.

At the fourth stage appears in the team experience of successful problem solving, which are approached, on the one hand, realistically, and on the other, creatively. Depending on the situation, the functions of the leader in such a team are transferred from one member to another, each of whom is proud of his belonging to it.

On the last one - fifth stage - within the team are formed strong connections, people are accepted and valued, and personal differences between them are quickly resolved. Relationships develop mostly informally, which allows for high performance results and standards of behavior to be demonstrated. Not all teams reach the highest (4.5th) levels.

Thus, a real cohesive team does not appear immediately, but is formed gradually, going through a number of stages. Let us analyze these stages using the example of a training team. At the first, organizational stage, a group of students of secondary specialized educational institutions (SSUZ) does not represent a team in the full sense of the word, since it is created from students entering the SSUZ with different life experiences, views, and different attitudes towards collective life, so it naturally happens "grinding in" people to each other. The organizer of the life and activities of the educational group at this stage is the teacher; he makes demands on the behavior and mode of activity of students. For a teacher, it is important to clearly identify the 2-3 most significant and fundamental requirements for the activities and discipline of students, without allowing an abundance of secondary requirements, instructions, and prohibitions to be put forward. At this organizational stage, the leader must carefully study each member of the group, his character, personality traits, identifying, based on observation and psychological testing, an “individual psychological map” of the student’s personality, gradually identifying those who are more sensitive to the interests of the team and are an effective asset. In general, the first stage is characterized by socio-psychological adaptation, i.e. active adaptation to the educational process and joining a new team, assimilation of the requirements, norms, and traditions of life of the educational institution.

Second phase team development (formation stage) occurs when an effective, rather than formal, asset of the collective is identified, i.e., organizers of collective activity are identified who enjoy authority among the majority of members of the collective. Now demands on the team are put forward not only by the teacher, but also by the activists of the team. But identifying assets and leaders occurs through stages of confrontation, distribution of group roles, with a gradual transition to experimentation stage. The leader at the second stage of team development must objectively study and analyze the interpersonal relationships of team members using the methods of sociometry and referentometry, and promptly take corrective action to correct the position of group members with high and low sociometric status. Raising group assets- the most important task of a manager, aimed at developing the organizational abilities of the asset and eliminating negative phenomena: arrogance, vanity, “commanding tone” in the behavior of the asset.

Knowing the structure of informal relationships and what they are based on makes it easier for the group to understand the atmosphere within the group and allows one to find the most rational ways to influence the effectiveness of group work. In this regard, special research methods that make it possible to identify the structure of interpersonal relationships in a group and identify its leaders become of great importance.

A person’s position in a team is determined not only by individual character traits, the personality of the person himself, but also by the characteristics of the team. In a loosely knit team, the status of an individual depends largely on the level of his sociability. In close-knit teams in which complex joint activities are performed, the status of an individual is determined to a greater extent by his business and moral qualities than by his sociability. Whatever determines a person’s status in a team, it has a strong influence on his behavior and self-awareness.

When organizing any type of activity, it is useful to keep in mind those real groups (3-5 people each) that exist in the team, to unite people who sympathize with each other. Thus, a fairly authoritative group of people in the team can lead the preparation and holding of a certain event, because, relying on their social circle, people can perform organizational functions much more effectively. Taking into account actually existing interpersonal connections, the leader achieves a dual goal: he includes group members in collective life and influences the life of the group itself.

Involving team members in various types of joint activities (work, study, sports, recreation, travel, etc.), setting interesting and increasingly complex goals for the team, tasks that are attractive to many participants, establishing friendly and demanding relationships, responsible dependence between people - all this contributes to the strengthening and development of the team at the second stage.

However, at the second stage of development, the team is not yet in the full sense a cohesive group of like-minded people; there is significant heterogeneity of views. The free exchange of opinions, discussions, the manager’s attention to the mood and opinions of team members, the democratic collegial method of decision-making and management creates the basis for creating a cohesive team.

On third stagedevelopment, the team reaches a high level of cohesion, consciousness, organization, responsibility of team members, which allows the team to independently solve various problems and move to the level of self-government. Let us note that not every team reaches this highest level of development.

A highly developed team is characterized by the presence cohesion as a value-orientation unity, closeness of views, assessments and positions of group members in relation to objects (persons, events, tasks, ideas) that are most significant for the group as a whole. The index of cohesion is the frequency of coincidence of views of group members regarding the moral and business spheres, in the approach to the goals and objectives of joint activities.

The value-orientation unity of the team does not presuppose the strengthening of people’s conformity, but the implementation collectivist self-determination of personality - selective attitude of an individual to the influences of a particular group, expressed in the acceptance of some and rejection of other group influences, depending on the person’s awareness of the need to act in accordance with his own value orientations that have developed in the team in the process of joint activity.

A highly developed, cohesive team is characterized by the presence of a positive psychological climate, a friendly background of relationships, emotional empathy, sympathy for each otherto a friend. The presence or absence of these qualities serves as a diagnostic sign for distinguishing between just a group of people and a collective. An experiment was carried out on a device - a group integrator, which has six handles, the coordinated rotation of which sets in motion a needle moving along a 5-shaped slot. The subjects must work together to move the needle from the beginning to the end of the slot as quickly as possible, without touching its sides. Each touch to the board (mistake) is punishable by electric shock. In the first series of experiments, all participants are punished with electric shock; in the second series, only the responsible leader is punished. An indicator of the presence of sympathy and emotional empathy among group members is the approximately equal speed and accuracy of needle movement in the 1st and 2nd series.

The level of development of the group significantly influences the features of the process of including a new individual in the group. Conducted by A.S. Gorbatenko's research shows that groups of a high level of development favor the process of adaptation of a newcomer to the group. Such groups are open to the newcomer, interacting with him, humanely and kindly supporting him. Groups of a low level of development are characterized by an indifferent attitude towards the newcomer, refusal to interact with him, or even active rejection of the newcomer.

A comprehensive indicator of relationships in a team is its socio-psychological climate - the totality of relationships among group members:

1) to the conditions and nature of joint activities;

2) to colleagues, team members; 3) to the team leader.

If people are not satisfied with the nature and conditions of joint activities, if indifferent or conflicting interpersonal relationships and unfavorable business relationships prevail between them, then a negative socio-psychological climate is developing, which worsens the performance of the team, the effectiveness of its activities, and negatively affects the well-being and health of people, determines a person’s desire to leave a given group.

The socio-psychological climate of a team largely depends on the personality of the leader and leader of the team, on his relationships with group members, and on the leadership style he uses.

The basic rules of individual and group behavior are set by the organization itself, establishing the range of responsibilities, corresponding rights and powers, the level of responsibility, and standards of business communication.

Any organization is a combination of different professional groups. Employees of the organization are included in a certain system of interpersonal relations within groups.

A group can act as a managerial, managed or self-governing structure with varying degrees of cohesion of its members - from an unorganized crowd to a single team.

To be considered a collective, the group must satisfy the following criteria:: the presence of a common goal among all its members, psychological recognition by group members of each other, identification of oneself with the group. In addition, a sign of a team can also be considered the presence of a certain culture, expressed in common values, symbols, norms and rules of behavior in the team, joining or leaving it, requirements for the physical and moral appearance of its members.

By influencing people's behavior, the team largely contributes to its change, since, by participating in collective actions, each person must adapt to the requirements of the group, group norms.

A team that is united, but not disposed to constructive behavior, can have a destructive influence on the individual and force him to engage in antisocial behavior.

In turn, the person also tries to influence the team, to make it more “convenient” for himself. The effectiveness of such influence depends on the strength of both parties. A strong personality can subjugate a team, incl. and as a result of a conflict with him, the weak one, on the contrary, submits herself, dissolves in him, and in return the team takes care of her well-being.

The ideal situation from a management point of view is located somewhere in the middle and is characterized by trusting partnerships between the work collective and its participants, who do not renounce their own positions, but respect common goals and needs.

Each group (team) is as individual as each employee. Knowledge of the characteristics of a specific group in an organization (both formal and informal) is necessary to justify specific methods of influencing it. Thus, a team that was formed a long time ago, has a long history of formation and development, despite the fact that the composition is only relatively stable, has fairly stable traditions. Accordingly, to manage the behavior of people in a given team, it is necessary to identify traditions, established views of the main part of the team, analyze them, decide whether they should be supported and developed or whether they should be fought. In this case, it is necessary to find out in what period of the functioning of the collective they were formed: if they were established in a historical period that was unfavorable for the collective, they may be more persistent than traditions established in a historical period of a different nature.



A team with a short historical path (recently created as a new organizational link in the structure, merged with another team - completely or partially reorganized, etc.) usually presents a rather complex and motley picture, since employees who came from other teams are carriers of their traditions, foundations, behavioral norms and standards. In this case, you should familiarize yourself with all the traditions and habits introduced into the new team: some should be supported and developed, others should be consigned to oblivion and, perhaps, start creating new ones that unite the team.

Relationships within the team and the team with the leader can be differently emotionally colored depending on the indicated attribute. It is a well-known fact that women are more emotional than men, therefore communication with a female team (entirely or mainly) or its individual representative requires the leader to be more emotionally charged in his public appearances (meetings, meetings, etc.), as well as personal conversations. However, it is possible to extract positive aspects from the emotionality of women: due to this very quality, women will respond faster than their colleagues of the other sex to a fairly emotionally expressed, confidential request from a manager to do additional work or help someone.

Teams mixed by gender are usually more productive and have less conflict: the reason for this is the desire of representatives of both sexes to look more advantageous in the eyes of the other sex.

The age characteristics of the team also influence the effectiveness of the actions taken by the leader and his relationships with subordinates. Each age group that is part of the team has certain differences (for example, with age, a person’s motivational sphere changes, experience accumulates, skills and abilities are formed, and at the same time, stereotypes that reduce the speed of mastering new knowledge and skills determine a negative attitude to innovations, etc.).

Features of interpersonal relationships, conflict situations, the relationship of social roles and other characteristics of the team, and therefore the features of the impact on it, largely depend on the scope of its activity (production, scientific research, trade, etc.).

As an organization develops, there is a need to change the behavior of staff. An organization and its leadership can actively influence the modification of human behavior. The means of influence used for this purpose should be selected depending on the situation in which the person is, taking into account the whole variety of factors influencing his behavior, primarily taking into account the needs and motives of the activity, creating conditions for the person, relying on his own experience, independently adapted to the changing organizational environment.

Behavior modification is possible not only through influencing a specific individual, but also through changing the employee’s external environment, as well as through the use of a combined influence on the individual and the external environment (effective management of groups of people, changing the attitudes of interpersonal relationships, etc.).

A close-knit team is distinguished primarily by the following qualities: the commonality of feelings and desires of its members; the desire to be together, to work together; the presence of group-wide norms, values ​​and overall positive goals; the ability to have an educational influence on team members, coherence in any environment, a sense of mutual responsibility and mutual assistance.

Hence, manager's task is not so much to staff the production team with the required number of people, but to ensure that it becomes an essentially united team, capable of solving high problems today. It should be borne in mind that a team is not just a collection of different people with their own individual abilities. Each team develops its own norms, attitudes, values, traditions, therefore team management - a special and more complex task than managing each subordinate individually.


SUBJECT. Leadership and effectiveness of organizational processes