Team Dynamics
By team dynamics we mean the process by which a social system, comprising of 3 to 15 people with a common goal or task, organises itself in such a manner that the goal is reached and the task is accomplished. This can only happen so long as the preservation of the group is simultaneously assured. Therefore, any team must always work on both, the set goal and the preservation of the team. For this reason, a team does not ‘consist’ of people, but rather of the pattern of relationships which they establish, stabilise and change amongst themselves, including their goals and how these are handled. At the same time, you can only speak with actual people in a team. Metatheoretically, six guiding processes can be identified in which the self-organisation of each team takes place: decisions over goal setting, interaction patterns, team preservation, goal processing, team parameters and team reflection. These decision-making processes form patterns which shape every situation, including the ability to perform and the atmosphere within the team. Click here for an overview chart. Those who lead or advise teams can utilise the knowledge of these guiding processes to influence, systematically and on a sound theoretical basis, the dynamics of teams and, where necessary, enable changes.