Team Dynamics and Performance

This assignment delves into the crucial relationship between team dynamics and performance. It emphasizes the significance of a strong leader who understands individual needs and fosters collaboration. The text discusses how effective conflict management and building strong team bonds contribute to improved overall performance. Drawing from academic research, it analyzes various aspects of team dynamics, such as personality composition, communication, and trust, and their impact on achieving successful outcomes.

Running head: TEAM PERFORMANCE
TEAM PERFORMANCE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The report throws light on the concept of team performance and illustrates it with real life
examples. We had been given a Pecha Kucha assignment, for which we were divided in a team
of six members. While working on the assignment the team faced a variety of problems such as
conflicts and rude members. However, through efficient leadership, the team was successful in
completing the project. The report describes the issues that took place and how they were solved.
It elaborates on the various issues faced with respect to leadership and conflicts. The learning
outcomes have also been stated followed by a conclusion.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Brief Overview............................................................................................................................3
Critical Analysis of Issue related to Leadership..........................................................................4
Critical analysis of the issue realted to Team Conflict................................................................5
Learning Outcomes......................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Team dynamics can be defined as the atmosphere in the team, which tends to motivate
the team members to perform better and understand the objective and goals of the team.
Leadership and team conflicts are two factors, which play a key role in building the team
dynamics. Recently, as a part of my project on PechaKucha, I had to work with some team
members to complete the project (Apesteguia, Azmat and Iriberri 2012). This report throws light
on the team dynamics and leadership in the group. The description will be provided along with
the critical analysis of the situation. The learning’s taken from the experience have also been
given.
Discussion
Brief Overview
While working for the class assignment I was in a group of six members. All the team
members were very different from one another but they believed in hard work. The team
members were attempting to do the particular task for the first time and all the members were
clueless about how to proceed (Baggetta, Han and Andrews 2013). The team leader as appointed
by the team members was Mandeep. The quench for gaining new experience and ideas helped to
develop the relevant degree of team dynamics necessary. However, there were certain issues that
occurred when we were together. Some of the members belonging to the group were extremely
late whereas some were quite punctual (Pieterse, Van Knippenberg and Van Dierendonck 2013).
This caused brief arguments among the members. Some of the team members were quite rude
and did not want to take in the suggestion of our team leader Mandeep. They got cultural issues

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in between and tried to give an explanation that it was difficult for them to communicate with the
leader (Bradley et al. 2013). Despite these issues, the project undertaken was a successful one.
Critical Analysis of Issue related to Leadership
The members of the group belonged to different cultural backgrounds. It is a well-known
fact that culture plays a key role in communication and tends to have an impact on the leader and
member relationship. As the different members belonged to different backgrounds, the members
had communication problems with one another especially the leader (Warner, Bowers and Dixon
2012). A particular member was extremely rude to the leader and used to tease him because of
his accent. He would not pay attention to the various discussions, constantly interrupt, correct
others, and make rude comments on their accents (Braun et al. 2013). The leader tried to avoid it
for some time; however, it was extremely difficult to do so when the member behaved in that
manner almost all the time. The leader was in a state of dilemma. According to Jonsen,
Maznevski and Davison (2012), leadership plays an important role in any assignment and there
are certain cultural factors present that tend to have an effect on the leadership and their
relationship with the various team members. This is where the role of a leader is tested. A leader
should be able to lead in a primary manner and not reflect his cultural background in his
leadership style. It has been stated that culture plays a key role in determining the leadership
style of the leader (Buckingham and Goodall 2015). However, if the leader had applied the
principles of leadership in his style, these problems would not have taken place. Later the issue
got resolved as the team members felt motivated by the leader and his consistent efforts to blend
the teams together. It is the duty of a leader to motivate the employees and make them reach their
potential (Warner, Bowers and Dixon, 2012). Mandeep was successful in doing that and hence,

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was successful in the task. I believe it is the duty of a leader to motivate his team members and
take them to the path of success.
Critical analysis of the issue related to Team Conflict
The team in the early stages of the formation of the group had got into an argument
regarding the punctuality of team members. Since all the students had different schedules, it was
extremely important that the team members reached at the previously discussed time for the
meetings so that everyone`s schedule was not affected. However, certain team members were
unable to reach on time and this had upset the punctual team members as they felt that their time
was not being valued. Team conflicts are a common part of any team. Team conflicts may arise
at any point of time and they are unavoidable (Georgiadis 2014). However, it is extremely
crucial that the teams members resolve the matter quickie and understand that the goals that a
team needs to achieve are more important than their internal needs. It is extremely important for
the leader of the team to make sure that the situation where the team conflict arises is addressed
at an early stage of conflict (Schippers, Homan and Knippenberg 2013). If a conflict is identified
at an early stage then it becomes easier to resolve it. For the well-being of the group, it is
extremely necessary for the leader to solve the issue in an organized manner and see to it that all
the members of the teamwork in harmony.
Learning Outcomes
My experience from the team was quite satisfactory. I was given the role of searching for
information about the social responsibility. The leader was extremely cooperative towards me,
understood my queries, and responded accordingly. From the given case, I understood that the
role of a leader is extremely important in any given situation and that the leader must take
considerable efforts in order to understand the requirements of each team member and allocate

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them tasks accordingly (Haines III and St-Onge 2012). He must also understand the strengths as
well as the weaknesses of the team members. This shall help him to strategize and plan
accordingly. I also learnt that, in a group there may be members belonging to different cultural
backgrounds. In such a case, the members need to oblige by the different cultures and not make
fun of any culture. It is the responsibility of the leader to make sure that the team members’ work
as one and that his leadership style, although affected by the culture he belongs to, should not
come in his way of making fair judgments. Lastly, I also learnt that team conflicts form an
essential part of team (Pichler 2012). They are not good for the health of the team but they
cannot be avoided easily. Where there are different members in a team who have different
ideologies and different takes on aspects it is obvious that they may not agree at everything. It is
important that the conflicts be identified at an early phase so that they can cause fewer rifts
among the team members and are resolved easily. The role of a team leader is extremely
important in case of a conflict as he is the main guide of the team and his responsibility lies in
the welfare of the team.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the discussion it can be stated that working in a team is tougher than
working individually. A person with good communication skills and an open mind will be able to
adjust in a team easily when compared to a person who is not that comfortable in social
interactions. The role of a leader needs to be envisioned clearly in the beginning of the group
formation phase in order to make sure that there lies no confusion with respect to what is
expected out of him. The leader needs to be a person with a strong personality who needs to
understand the requirements of all the members and act accordingly. Team conflicts have a
crucial impact on the bonding between the team members and this bonding needs to be kept

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strong at all times. The members of the team need not be judgmental about each other. Our team
had faced certain problems regarding these issues initially however, later on their rose a mutual
understanding between the various group members and our performance could be described as
good.

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References
Apesteguia, J., Azmat, G. and Iriberri, N., 2012. The impact of gender composition on team
performance and decision-making: Evidence from the field. Management Science, 58(1), pp.78-
93.
Baggetta, M., Han, H. and Andrews, K.T., 2013. Leading associations: How individual
characteristics and team dynamics generate committed leaders. American Sociological
Review, 78(4), pp.544-573.
Bradley, B.H., Klotz, A.C., Postlethwaite, B.E. and Brown, K.G., 2013. Ready to rumble: how
team personality composition and task conflict interact to improve performance. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 98(2), p.385.
Braun, S., Peus, C., Weisweiler, S. and Frey, D., 2013. Transformational leadership, job
satisfaction, and team performance: A multilevel mediation model of trust. The Leadership
Quarterly, 24(1), pp.270-283.
Buckingham, M. and Goodall, A., 2015. Reinventing performance management. Harvard
Business Review, 93(4), pp.40-50.
Georgiadis, G., 2014. Projects and team dynamics. The Review of Economic Studies, 82(1),
pp.187-218.
Haines III, V.Y. and St-Onge, S., 2012. Performance management effectiveness: practices or
context?. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(6), pp.1158-1175.

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Jonsen, K., Maznevski, M.L. and Davison, S.C., 2012. Global virtual team dynamics and
effectiveness. Handbook of research in international HR management, pp.363-392.
Pichler, S., 2012. The social context of performance appraisal and appraisal reactions: A meta‐
analysis. Human Resource Management, 51(5), pp.709-732.
Pieterse, A.N., Van Knippenberg, D. and Van Dierendonck, D., 2013. Cultural diversity and
team performance: The role of team member goal orientation. Academy of Management
Journal, 56(3), pp.782-804.
Schippers, M.C., Homan, A.C. and Knippenberg, D., 2013. To reflect or not to reflect: Prior
team performance as a boundary condition of the effects of reflexivity on learning and final team
performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(1), pp.6-23.
Warner, S., Bowers, M.T. and Dixon, M.A., 2012. Team dynamics: A social network
perspective. Journal of Sport Management, 26(1), pp.53-66.