The highest form of an organized small group is the collective. It is inherent in the regulation of activities and life, strict organization, the absence of conflicts, the presence of a respected leader, unity among members, friendly relations and so on. The nature of interpersonal relations in a group depends on how members of the work collective behave, how hard they try at work, how they interact. So, common interests, certain norms of behavior are formed between people, public opinion is formed about the group.
General characteristics of the team
Under the team should be understood stable in time grouping of people. They are united by common tasks and goals. In the course of their joint activities, these people have reached a high degree of development. The concept of the team suggests that the subject of research in this case is the socio-psychological phenomena of the interaction and relationships of group members. It is advisable to include the compatibility of the personalities included in the collective, the perception of the group by its members, self-esteem and well-being in the team, as well as the prospects of each person, interconnected with the prospects of the whole group.
It is worth noting that the psychological climate is another subject of research, which makes up a separate category. It serves as the most important indicator of the effectiveness of the process of formation and subsequent development of the team. The psychological climate is a qualitative aspect of interpersonal relationships, which manifests itself in the form of a complex of certain psychological conditions. It should be noted that all of them contribute to or hinder the joint productive work, as well as the comprehensive development of group members.
The main characteristics of the team in socio-psychological terms are the following features: awareness, the desire to maintain integrity, organization, openness, responsibility, collectivism, cohesion, and contact. It is advisable to briefly consider the essence of these indicators.
Awareness
This characteristic of the collective, as awareness, is a key factor in the conscious behavior of the individual in accordance with its goals, as well as the state of the collective. It should be borne in mind that the outcome of the work of the whole group depends on the degree of awareness. A sufficient level implies an unquestioning knowledge of the tasks that the team faces, the rules and norms of behavior, the content and results of activities, as well as the positive and negative aspects of interaction. It is important to include good knowledge of each other in the team.
Organization
Organization is nothing more than a clear definition and subsequent streamlining of the functions, responsibilities and rights of team members. The state of labor discipline and the attitude of employees to professional activities depend on the organization of the work process. Under discipline should be understood a certain order of behavior that meets the rules and standards that exist in the team. It allows you to fully regulate the behavior in the group, as well as ensure the consistency of operations within it.
Responsibility
The next characteristic of the team is responsibility. It represents the control of activities in terms of the implementation of the rules and norms adopted by the organization. It is worth noting that in a close-knit team - in other words, with a positive socio-psychological atmosphere - workers strive to take responsibility for both success and failure of joint work.
Openness
Openness is nothing more than the ability to establish, and in the future, maintain favorable, collectivist-based relationships with other collectives, as well as with their individual representatives. It is advisable to include here and establishing contact with newcomers in their own team. It is interesting to note that in practical activities the group’s openness is manifested in the provision of all kinds of assistance to other groups that are not related to it. Openness is one of the most important characteristics of the team, which makes it possible to distinguish a group from socially similar associations that look similar to it.
Contact
Under the contact it is necessary to consider good personal, trusting, emotionally favorable friendships within the team. It is advisable to include attention to each other, tact, respect and goodwill. One way or another, these relationships provide a friendly and calm atmosphere and a favorable psychological climate in the team.
Cohesion
Cohesion is one of the processes by which people come together. A close-knit team is characterized by a high degree of commitment of its members to the group. This characteristic can be determined by two variables: the level of attractiveness of the team for its members and the degree of mutual sympathy in interpersonal relationships.
Collectivism
And finally, we consider such a characteristic of the work collective as collectivism. This is a continuous concern of the group members about its successes, as well as the desire to confront the moments that divide, destroy the team. Collectivism is nothing more than the development of confidence in each team of each, as well as good traditions. If the interests of the group are affected, the sense of collectivism does not allow its members to remain indifferent. In such a grouping, the most important problems are overcome together, and decisions are made only if there is a general agreement.
Team structure
You need to know that the formal structure of the group reflects the official distribution of professional roles between its members. This is due to the official position of employees or production technology. A clear definition of the working functional in one way or another increases the role of the individual in the team, the degree of personal responsibility, thereby ensuring the success of the company as a whole.
In addition to the roles that are determined by the staffing table, there are also directly related to the production process, its needs in various types of activities. Employees who take on these roles are conditionally classified as follows:
- “Idea generators” have creative, innovative thinking.
- Experts are able to calculate and predict how the proposed idea will "function". They will present its advantages and disadvantages, as well as possible consequences.
- Performers have a reproductive type of mind. These are conscientious performers of other people's ideas and ideas.
- "Pea jesters" (as you understand, this is a conditionally playful name). The fact is that some leaders recognize the need to let people in the team contact, unprepossessing, easy, able to defuse a conflict situation or cheer up the group. They know exactly how to join the team and establish an atmosphere in it.
- Critics are people with a critical mindset. They are often not capable of productive work. However, these people brilliantly identify bottlenecks and negative points in the production process. Other employees, as a rule, do not notice such nuances.
How to determine the type?
It is the manager who determines which type a particular employee belongs to. Accordingly, he gives him a certain place in the team. It is unprofitable and unproductive, for example, to use the "generator of ideas" in performing activities. This is about the same as it is useless to reproach "criticism" on the topic: "criticizing is much easier, and you try to do it yourself."
Psychological atmosphere
Friendship within the team - where does it come from? It forms the psychological atmosphere in the group. Let's consider this question in more detail. Just as a plant can bloom luxuriantly in one climate and wither away in another, a person can be successful and feel inner satisfaction in one group and not manifest at all in another.
The socio-psychological climate (SEC) should be understood as the mood of the team, which is determined by the interpersonal relationships of the nature of people living, studying or working together. To date, a number of factors are known by which it is possible to determine the SEC:
- Satisfaction with the workflow and results. Practically decisive for creating a favorable atmosphere is the extent to which an activity is interesting, creative, diverse for a person, whether it corresponds to the level of his professionalism, and whether he can grow professionally and realize his creative potential. It is worth noting that the attractiveness of work, as a rule, is increased by satisfaction with working conditions, a decent level of wages, a moral and material system, the distribution of vacations, social and informational support, career prospects, working hours, the possibility of increasing the level of professionalism, the nature of personal and business relationships in the team both horizontally and vertically, the level of competence of colleagues.
- Harmony and group compatibility. It should be noted that the interpersonal relationships that arise when people communicate in a team determine the level of their psychological compatibility. Under this concept should be understood the ability to work together. People similar to each other, much easier to establish interaction. The fact is that similarity contributes to a sense of self-confidence and security. It enhances self-esteem. Often the basis of psychological compatibility is the difference in character traits in accordance with the principle of mutual complementation. In this case they say: "They fit together like a key to a lock." The condition and result of compatibility is the affection of team members for each other, interpersonal sympathy. Forced contact with an unpleasant subject usually causes negative emotions. It is important to note that group compatibility and harmony are not the same. The effect of harmony, as a rule, is the result of business, formal relationships that are directly related to the activity. The basis of harmony is the effectiveness and success of collaboration, which implies coordination in activities between its participants, as well as favorable resolution of conflicts in the team.
- Group cohesion is primarily manifested in the emotional field. It is unlikely that in a close-knit team both joy and grief can coexist at the same time. Naturally, when one cries, the other will not laugh. Among the factors affecting team cohesion, it is important to note the following: sincere, trusting relationships; the attitude of team members to the leader; recognition of the contribution of each person to joint activities and results; duration of collaboration. It is worth noting that the predominance of certain personal characteristics among group members affects the relationships that develop within the team, gives it certain characteristics that can interfere or contribute to unity. By the way, negative cohesion of the character, including envy, resentment, or painful pride, impedes the cohesion of the group especially strongly. As a rule, members of a cohesive group are in no hurry to leave it, which means that turnover is reduced, which is a positive factor in activity.
- The nature of the communications. It is important to know that the psychological atmosphere in the team is based on the individual characteristics of each member, their mutual sociability, opinions and assessments, reactions to the actions and words of others, the social experience of the group members. The low level of communicative competence of employees is also the reason for the emergence of communicative barriers, tensions in the interpersonal relationship, misunderstanding, conflict, and also mistrust. The ability to clearly and clearly state one’s opinion, knowledge of constructive criticism techniques, as well as active listening skills - all this forms a satisfactory degree of communication in the company.
It is important to note that these are far from all the factors that determine the psychological atmosphere in a group. The rest will be considered below.
Types of communicative behavior
In the process of analysis of mental compatibility, it is necessary to take into account the varieties of communicative behavior:
- Collectivists: supporting all kinds of undertakings, sociable, proactive.
- Claimants: endowed with resentment, vanity, the desire to be in the spotlight during the performance of work duties.
- Mavericks: gravitating to individual responsibility, inclined to solve assigned tasks alone.
- Passive (opportunists): non-initiative, weak-willed and influenced by other people.
- Imitators: imitating extraneous manners avoiding complications.
- Isolated: endowed with an unbearable character, non-contact.
Leadership style
The most important factor in the psychological atmosphere in the team is leadership style. So, its democratic character develops trust relationships and sociability, friendliness. At the same time, there is no feeling of imposing decisions “from above”. It is worth noting that the participation of group members in management, which is characteristic of this leadership style, one way or another contributes to the optimization of the socio-psychological climate.
An authoritarian style, as a rule, entails humility, hostility and fawning, distrust and envy. If the aforementioned management behavior still leads to success justifying the use of this particular technique in the eyes of the team, it implies a favorable SEC. A vivid example here is the sport or the army.
The consequence of the conniving style is the low quality of work and productivity, dissatisfaction with the general activity. All this usually leads to the creation of an adverse SEC. It is worth noting that the conniving style can be adopted and useful only in some groups of the creative plan.
Final part
So, we examined the general characteristics, the structure of the team, the psychological atmosphere and the relationships in it. In conclusion, it should be noted that the formation of a favorable atmosphere in the group largely depends on the leadership and principles of its activities. The director can have a significant impact on the specifics of interpersonal relations in the workforce, on the attitude to the common cause, satisfaction with the results and working conditions. It is important to know that there are currently many factors that determine SEC. We examined the main ones, but do not forget about the additional ones, among which, for example, are the features of the activity. The monotony of work, its high responsibility, stressful nature, the presence of risk to the life and health of employees, emotional richness - all these factors can negatively affect the SEC in the work team.