Team Dynamics
Team Dynamics
Throughout life people have been learned to be autonomous; individuals looking out for themselves. The culture of the United States most certainly is individualistic, as opposed to collectivistic. In a collectivistic society the good of the whole is always the frontrunner in the mind’s eye, even with survival being the only true instinct, that survival is focused on the group as a whole. Working as a team is a lesson learned well in Basic Training, working as a team is mandatory in a situation where your life depends on your buddy’s life; unfortunately not everyone gets to enjoy that experience. Nevertheless, there are a myriad of other ways in which one may learn the dynamics of a team and how to be a productive member. Attending this class, GEN300, is one of the ways in which many people who may never have another opportunity to work as a team, get a taste of what working as a team is like. People hear what being a part of a team is like from the popular song, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world” (Merrill, & Styne, 1964).
Interpersonal skills are paramount for life in any society, where human beings live, they live together and not just in close proximity to one another. Human beings are social creatures; humans must interact with other humans in order for the species to survive. Humans must interact with other people in order to understand themselves and grow in their world. People must understand themselves and grow in harmony with universal principles [ethics] in order to understand and help other people in the world (Pasanno, 1999). In short, everyone is very much in this together, whether they call themselves ‘members of a team’ or ‘the team,’ they are ultimately one.
Important characteristics of effective teams are interdependence, goal specification, cohesiveness, roles and norms, and communication (McNiell, et al., 2000). Interdependence in the team shows just how much...
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