Team Communication

Running Head : TEAM DYNAMICS

Effective Team Communication for Better Results

Randy Beck

Gen 300 : Skills for Lifelong Learning

December 11 , 2007

Introduction

Team dynamics is largely influence by the nature and the kind of communication going on between and among the members of the team . The personalities , character , values , and interests of the team members also contribute to the way that they communicate and articulate themselves in the team setting

Team communication will become more effective when there is mutual trust among the members of the team (Webber

, 2002 , if the expectations from each other are clear , and if the leader effectively integrates the whole team (Dionne , et . al , 2004 . The problem , however , is that trust is not easily established among the members of a team since there are a lot of factors that need to be taken into account in the development of trust

Personalities , eccentricities , social habits and other things make it difficult for people to relate with each other . If only the members of a team can start talking , recognizing their differences , they would be able to relate with each other better and work towards the accomplishment of their goals and their objectives

Trust and Team Communication

Trust is a little difficult to establish among strangers . The members of a team may not be situations , people may only know each other casually and then they become team members . No matter what level of friendship the members of the team may have , the task of the leader is to integrate the team so that the working relationship will become smooth and the members will be able to work well together

In different organizations , cross-functional teams have become popular The level of trust among the team members of these kinds of teams may be a bit more difficult to establish especially if there competition is present among the teams in the organization . In to build trust among the members of the team , they should be able to bond well in both formal and informal settings

The team leader then needs to know the strengths and weaknesses of the team members so that they can be paired up easily with people that they can work well . For example , two strong-willed individuals may not be able to sit well together . Hence , if they are paired up with other members of the team whose strengths and weaknesses complement theirs they will be able to generate the best results for the effectiveness of the team (Dwivedi Kumbakonam , 2002

Coordination and Team Effectiveness

The leader , including the members of the team should also be able to manage knowledge and facts among the team . By instituting a way to manage the knowledge and the flow of information in the team , they will be able to process information more quickly , thereby improving the level of coordination within the team (Mohammed , Stankosky Murray , 2004

If a member of the team withholds information or if he serves as a bottleneck because of competency and personality issues , then...