Group cohesion is a very important element in making a team work efficiently. Because of this, it is an aspect that should be fostered in work groups, especially in the working environment, where insufficient group cohesion can have a negative impact on the team's production and performance.
What is group cohesion?
Group cohesion is understood to be the the binding capacity of a given group. It is usually used when talking about a group of people who should be in a group. united to achieve the same goal, This could be, for example, in a team in a company working on a specific project.
Benefits of group cohesion
The main benefit of a team with high group cohesion is that each member of the team has the opportunity to work with the other members of the team. its members function in a more coordinated manner with the rest of the. This means that the team as a whole is more productive and has higher performance rates than those with weaker group cohesion.
On the other hand, in addition to higher group production and performance, teams with high group cohesion exhibit lower rates of stress at work, in addition to a greater resolvability and adaptability to unforeseen situations, bringing added benefits that also contribute to the productivity improvements already noted.
How to develop group cohesion
Given the benefits of strong group cohesion, there are many tools that have been developed with the aim of strengthening it in teams with low levels of group cohesion. Some of the tools that offer the best results are the following:
- Shared leadershipShared leadership: Teams with shared leadership have greater group cohesion than those without. This does not necessarily imply that there is no leader within the team, but it does imply that decision-making is executed by consensus and not as a unilateral decision by the leader, whose role is more focused on task management and supervision than on decision-making with respect to those tasks.
- Flexibility and adaptabilityWork environments that are more flexible and adaptable tend to have higher rates of group cohesion. In this sense, taking initiatives that can improve the reconciling work and family life, The possibility of teleworking, as well as the possibility of teleworking, are examples that help to improve the flexibility of work teams.
- Enhancing communication spacesAnother main aspect of improving group cohesion is the creation of communication spaces where all team members can express themselves freely and with authority. In this way, ideas that are not valued and debated are avoided, which, in turn, encourages the integration of all team members with the joint objective.
- Continuous assessmentAnother element that improves group cohesion is the continuous evaluation of individual team members and the team as a whole. This form of evaluation increases the commitment of each member and the team as a whole to the project and to each other, which improves cohesion and performance considerably.
- Improving working conditionsWorking conditions that foster employee satisfaction as a worker help to integrate employees into the work group and their commitment to the project. In this sense, some solutions may involve a direct increase in salary or an improvement in working hours. Other alternatives, such as Flexible Compensation allow the employee to increase his or her purchasing power without the direct costs to the company of a traditional wage increase.
