Team Dynamics

Published in

bisaGo2020

7 min readNov 19, 2020

There’s no “I” in “TEAM”

Software development nowadays is developed by teams, because of how big they can be, so it will be difficult for someone to work on big projects alone. We can not only see it from a software development perspective, as it can be applied to every business or thing you do. When working in a team, it is important to pay attention to your team dynamics, as it has an important role in your project's success. In this article, we are going to discuss what are team dynamics, how important they are, and how we can implement good team dynamics in our team.

What Are Team Dynamics?

Team dynamics portrays the behavioral connections between the members of a team. They are the psychological forces that affect the way a team behaves and performs. Here, we recognize the abilities of an individual and how they will interact with the team.

Why Are Team Dynamics Important?

Team dynamics are important because it is a proven way to build a successful team that consists of different personalities. It is very crucial in the workplace because it impacts creativity, productivity, and effectiveness. Ergo, good team dynamics brings lots of benefits to bring your team to their full potential, such as:

Improved results
Greater Collaboration
Faster Decision-Making
Greater Commitment

How Can We Have Good Team Dynamics?

Here are some approaches you can do to improve your team dynamics:

Know your team. Identify the positive and negative roles of each member so you can understand how they can affect your team as a whole. Furthermore, it will help you plan how to deal with problems in the future.
Tackle problems quickly. Don’t be stagnant when you notice a team member that behaves negatively because it could affect the group. Act quickly to challenge it by providing feedback that shows that team member the impact of their actions and encourage them to reflect on it.
Define roles and responsibilities. Pay attention to your member’s roles because people who struggle to understand their role in a team can lead to a team that lacks focus and has poor dynamics.
Break down barriers. Use team-building exercises to help everyone get to know each other because they can help one open up.
Focus on communication. Make sure that everyone is communicating clearly, for example, using emails, meetings, etc. This is important as it can avoid any ambiguity. Don’t forget to notify your team when there are project changes immediately, so you can ensure everyone has the same information.
Pay attention. Watch out for signs of poor team dynamics, such as frequent unanimous decisions. This can be a sign of free riding or groupthink(unable to express their opinions because they don’t want to appear unsupportive). Try exploring new ways to make the members discuss their own views.

Does the BisaGo Team Have Good Team Dynamics?

As I’m writing this, it’s already our 3rd sprint for our PPL course. Safe to say, I believe that we have good team dynamics. First of all, we’ve come to know each other better, and we’ve identified each of our skills so we know what responsibilities can make use of our skills maximally. We also tackle our problems quickly if we encounter them. We try our best to help each other out because we all share the same goal. Next, we are aware of our roles and responsibilities and have understood them. We also don’t have any barriers because we’re now close with each other and have open up to each other. This can be seen as we not only talk about the project. We also talk about things unrelated to our project, such as what friends do. Our methods of communication are also clear so that none of us are left behind in information. We use Line as our main communication platform when there are new announcements and problems we’ve encountered. We also use Discord as a platform in case we need to have any meetings or coding sessions. Finally, we pay attention to our team’s condition; we always try not to be unanimous in discussions because everyone has their own view on a problem. For example, during sprint planning, when estimating the weights of our next sprint's tasks, we always ask each of our members why they chose a certain weight over the other. Thus, avoiding any groupthink.

My role in creating good team dynamics for BisaGo is, I often share funny or interesting videos that I found on Youtube or TikTok to the group. Our team usually has coding sessions together, but when we are tired, we usually take a break by watching these videos together on Discord by sharing the screen. I believe that this can make us open up to each other and ease our burden because we don’t have to think about the project all the time. It’s important to cut back at times, but still be responsible. Sometimes, I also suddenly share random pictures, like pictures of my cat, or food that I’m eating, just for the fun of it, so everyone can joke around, interact with each other, and of course, become closer with one another.

Although I like to joke around, I’m also responsible for doing my tasks and knowing when to be serious. Moreover, I try my best to be there for my teammates, such as helping my teammates when they encounter problems. I believe that my role here has also contributed towards making good team dynamics for the BisaGo team. This is why I portrayed our team like the Power Rangers because they have good teamwork and have the ability to overcome anything.

The BisaGo Team ready to face anything that comes their way

Servant Leadership

You must be curious, what exactly is servant leadership? What is the difference between servant leadership and other leadership? In Team Dynamics, there is a concept called “Servant Leadership,” which is the opposite of traditional leadership. Robert K. Greenleaf used the phrase “servant leadership” in his 1970 essay, “The Servant as a leader.” This means that as a servant leader, you’re a servant first, so you need to focus on the needs of others, in this case, the team members, before you can consider your own needs.

How do we become a Servant Leader?

According to Larry C. Spears, the 10 most important characteristics of servant leaders are:

Listening. Listen to your people and understand what they’re saying. Give them your full attention, take notice of their body language, avoid interrupting them, and give feedback on what they say.
Empathy. Strive to empathize with what other people are thinking. Try to understand their perspectives by approaching situations with an open mind.
Healing. Support your team members, both mentally and physically.
Awareness. Be aware of yourself by knowing your strengths and weaknesses and asking for other people’s feedback on them. Learn to manage your emotions to act carefully and consider your actions because it might affect others.
Persuasion. Use persuasion over authority. Don’t force other people to do what you want. Instead, persuade them so you won’t endanger your relationships or take advantage of others.
Conceptualization. Look for the bigger picture. Specify your team’s vision and mission to make the team member’s roles and the team’s objective in the long run clear.
Foresight. Anticipate what’s going to happen in the future by learning from the past. Trust your intuition. Understand the consequences of your decisions.
Stewardship. Take responsibility for your actions and the performance of your team.
Commitment to the growth of people. Servant leaders are committed to the personal and professional development of everyone in their teams. So, find out what their personal goals are and try to give them responsibilities to help them achieve their personal goals.
Building Community. Build a sense of community by providing opportunities for people to interact with each other, such as holding social events and team lunches. Also, encourage people to take responsibility for their work and remind them that what they do also contribute to the team's success.

References: