The Importance of Team Trust, Commitment and Cohesion

Trust, commitment and cohesion are fundamental aspects of a high-performing team. A team that that values these factors promotes effectiveness in completing the assigned tasks. However, lack of trust, commitment, and cohesion lead to the development of conflict that arises from a personal basis in organizational or work roles. As such, the topic of trust, commitment and cohesion cannot be ignored. Most importantly, subject can be explained using Communication theory and stages of team development theoretical framework. Trust create an environment where individuals can reliably share information with team members. Also, committed individuals often believe they can contribute positively to the greater good of the team and are willing to make short-term personal sacrifices to achieve the purposes of the group. Lastly, Cohesion creates a feeling of being part of and wanting to remain with the team for other tasks in the future which can be fostered through small team sizes, physical proximity, attitude, communication, and conformity to the norms of the group. According the Tuckman’s group development framework, numerous challenged are encountered during the forming and storming stages. However, a team that move successfully to norming and performing achieved trust, commitment and coherence effectively allowing members of the team to perform their role and responsibilities based o the group’s goals. Communication theory also provides useful insights into the management of conflict and enforcement of the trust, commitment and cohesion in a team. Therefore, project and team leaders as well as human resource managers should focus on factors that can motivate the group: providing them an opportunity to relate with one another, avoiding tension and knowing each other personality.

Keywords:

team, trust, commitment, cohesion, stages of team development, communication theory

Trust, Commitment, and Cohesion

Introduction

Research focusing on the effectiveness of teams has traditionally studied the important characteristics of a group. Quantitative evaluations have been inclusive and stress the importance of further research to identify the most fundamental factors that could develop a high-performing team. However, many scholars recognize the necessity of system theory that acknowledges the relationship between function and interdependence (Michan & Rodger, 2014). A team is defined as a small group of individuals with complementary skill and committed to achieving a common goal. Organizational teams are viewed to consist of a three-state system where they maintain internal process, utilize resources and produced particular results. However, team leaders, human resources, and corporation often experience considerable challenges when trying to establish high-performing groups (Michan & Rodger, 2014). Therefore, this project focuses on team trust, commitment, and cohesion. Communication theory and stages of team development theoretical framework will be used to support the discussion. Exploring the topic is necessary because trust, commitment, and cohesion in a team can be a source of creativity of destruction. An effective team values these factors and promotes problem-solving skills. On the other hand, lack of trust, commitment, and cohesion lead to the development of conflict that arises from a personal basis in organizational or work roles (Michan & Rodger, 2014). Therefore, there is need to comprehend the importance of these aspects in facilitating the development of high-performing teams, conflicts that can arise and how Communication theory and stages of team development theoretical framework assist to foster team effectiveness.

Literature Review

Team Trust, Commitment, and Cohesion

According to Michan and Rodger (2014), team trust is important to the success of the team. The ability of the members to trust each other originate from their competencies and self-knowledge. Therefore, the group should strive to gradually build trust with one another, especially, when the members have diverse competencies, priorities, and assumptions. The approach allows them to develop confidence with one another and become reliable to the achievement of the purpose (Michan & Rodger, 2014). Trusting persons are often willing to share their skill and knowledge without fear of being exploited or diminished. Such teams usually have the capacity for individual learning. Trust can be accomplished through respects to develop team members to appreciate and recognize the unique contribution and skills of each other to coordinate their function. According to Fung (2014), trust can be described as the perception of project managers on the willingness of the members to vulnerable to the actions of others in the group based on their expectation. Successful trust experience is fundamental for encouraging each person to be innovative and collaborative (Fung, 2014). When trust increases within the team, individuals are able to share information which increases interaction patterns, improve productivity and problem-solving skills. Further, Fung (2014) posits that trust is the dominators for attaining cohesiveness and is associated with performance of the activities of the team and members’ satisfaction. Trust impacts both collective and performance efficacy and the leaders have a direct effect on these aspects (Hakanen & Soudunsaari, 2012). For the group to achieve the coordinative, they need to trust one another.

Michan and Rodger (2014) also focus on commitment and contend that ability to trust and self-knowledge are the building block of team commitment. The team refers to a unified set of values and goals that provide motivation and direction for the individual group members. The authors further assert that increased sense of commitment results in high performance of responsibilities and participation in the group work. The article emphasizes that committed individuals often believe they can contribute positively to the greater good of the team and are willing to make short-term personal sacrifices to achieve the purposes of the group (Michan & Rodger, 2014). At the same time, the authors posit that high level of commitment is paramount for the members to thrive despite challenges in the team. Additionally, team members generate commitment by sharing goals and common belief that the team is the best for completing the task which makes individuals more willing to invest personally in the performance of the group and contribute to the decision-making process as well as show respect to the balance of collaboration and interdependence. Aubé and Rousseau (2015) explore the subject of team commitment further an holds the aspect is generally understood in an expectancy-value framework. In particular, the authors note that commitment is explained a function of expectancy and attainment of the objectives. Conceptually, persons who are highly committed to achieving a goal direct their behavioral and cognitive resources toward accomplishing the aim. On the other people who are less committed to the goal often put their effort in unrelated activities or tasks because they have not internalized the objective (Aubé & Rousseau, 2015). Establishing a high performing team depends on the conceptualization of performance variables which can be operationalized discrepancy between the goal level and performance. Also, group leader needs to establish an organized way of improving team process. In particular, the author contends that it is not often the case that organization teams will work to improve on their responsibilities.

Wise (2014) indicate that team cohesion is an aspect that recognizes members’ personal attraction to the task and team. Each person cooperates interdependently around the group’s work to meet the general objective. Cohesion creates a feeling of being part of and wanting to remain with the team for other tasks in the future which can be fostered through small team sizes, physical proximity, attitude, communication, and conformity to the norms of the group (Wise, 2014). Team leaders and project managers need to identify the factors contributing to incoherence and lack of collaboration within the team to establish a high performing team with ability to respond effectively to deadlines and contracts.

Tuckman’s theoretical framework and Communication Model

According to Frances (2018), Tuckman’s theoretical framework is made of five stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Forming involved characterization of the personal relationship by dependence. The members of the group look up to the leader for guidance and direction. People need to know the group is safe. Storming involves competition and conflict as result of personal relations and organization of the task-function dimension. Conflict emerges when the group members attempt to arrange their tasks which result in personal disagreement as individuals rely on their ideas, beliefs, and attitude perceived to suit the group (Frances, 2018). Further, questions arise regarding who will perform which task. As such, at the storming state teams are often characterized by increased hostility. During the norming stage, interpersonal relations are characterized by cohesion. Members of the group engage in active acknowledgment of one another and commit to solving the underlying problems (Frances, 2018). At the same time, the level of trust increase during this phase the persons in the team start to know and identify with each other which contributes to the development of cohesion. When the group evolves to stage four, performing, their personal relations increase to interdependence and individuals can work independently (Frances, 2018). They adjust their authority and role based on the need of the group. Adjourning entails termination of the task disagreement and behaviors from relationships. Team members begin to acknowledge participant in achieving the purposes.

Wekesa (2013) holds that communication involves observable interchange of subtle interaction of attitude, values, and power and interchange of information. Effective teams require the development of reliable communication processes. With clearly defined system, individuals can listen to each other frequently. People need to listen to one another and show collaboration to develop mutual knowledge sharing which further enhance communication as well as interaction. Effective communication allows persons to understand their responsibilities and roles both to the group and organization (Wekesa, 2013). Also, good communication fosters listening enabling people to seek clarification and feedback. Communication creates trust allowing people to share ideas without fear of being exploited. More importantly, an environment with genuine dialogues, open interaction atmosphere produces respect and willingness to share comment, weaknesses, and distrust. Being open to one another within the team create trust. Additionally, communication is important for development and enhancing cohesion. Encouraging team members to communicate with one another regulation is one of the primary ways of establishing cooperation and collaboration (Wekesa, 2013). Additionally, communication promotes coherence by assisting in conflict resolution. People become committed to solving problems through effective communication and trust.

Main Thesis

Trust, commitment, and cohesion are a significantly important aspect of high performing teams. However, the start of establishing a team is considered a challenging task. As Tuckman’s theoretical framework shows, the storming stage can be a threat to the development of team trust, commitment, and cohesion. The forming and storming stages hinder achievement of these aspects. At forming stage, people have not a clear understanding of what they are required to do, mission of the team is not owned by the members, not trust exists between them, individuals check one another and show no commitment (Frances, 2018). In the storming stage, problem-solving approaches are not deployed, members attempt to modify the mission of the group based on their beliefs, attitude and personal understanding. At the same time, each member attempt to use new idea, set boundaries, push for power and position heightening competition and decreasing level of participation as well as collaboration. However, norming and performing stages adds insight into the team development process. The phases foster trust, commitment, and cohesion as the team have all the needed resources to accomplish the task, appreciate trust and collaboration. Further, hidden agendas become open and the team is characterized by increased motivation as well as interdependence. Each person works actively to create a supportive environment, request and accept feedback and build trusts by honoring commitments. Most importantly, the team becomes cohesive focusing on respect for one another, fully committing to the team strategies, decisions, and ensuring accountability. Additionally, norming and performing stages lead to increased team member communication loyalty and contribution to decision-making processes (Frances, 2018). As such, people become highly committed, the purpose, mission and goals of the group as result of increases self-esteem and confidence.

Communication is an important aspect that helps to solve conflicts and problems related to lack of trust, commitment, and coherence. Communication allows parties to view their personal interest as a problem to reaching a mutual solution. Therefore, the approach enables each member of the team to participate actively to developing a resolution to the disagreement and make effort and commitment to finding answers that can be agreed upon by every person (Wekesa, 2013). Moreover, decreased trust hinders reliability as individual focus on their personal strength without considering what other members can do. Usually, if one member fails to accomplish their part of the work, the issue creates a gap in the teams rendering them unable to reach the overall objective. Therefore, trust is a fundamental aspect of a group as it fosters commitment, communication, and loyalty among members. The aspect is considered a foundation that allows people to work together effectively and can improve team performance as well as increased probability of success of a company. Communication is significantly affected. Low trust among the members reduces sharing information and interaction (Wekesa, 2013). As an outcome, the groups fail to accomplish their tasks on time as result of lack o focus. Colleagues need to trust each other to complete the purpose effectively and on schedule.

Recommendations

Trust is critical for project managers and team leaders as they role involves motivating the group members to achieve the set goals and accomplish the task within the provided time frame. Therefore, project and teams leaders, as well as human resource managers, should lead by example by showing the people that trust is important. Also, the practitioners should encourage open communication. As established in the literature review, communication is an important aspect of creating trust, everyone on the team should be encouraged to talk to other members honestly an in a meaningful way. Also, commitment can be achieved by knowing each other personally. Making time for the team members to appreciate each other’s skills is critical for to building confidence and coherence. The team should be aware of each other’s skills and personality to create efficiency and trust which in turn lead to increased motivation and commitment. Lastly, there should be the establishment of strategies to express unavoidable tension anger and frustration that can arise in a group effort to accomplish the overall purpose.

Discussion

The study demonstrates the group leader needs to establish an organized way of improving team process. In particular, the author contends that it is not often the case that organization teams will work to improve on their responsibilities. Therefore, the discussion suggests developing a method of evaluating what is working and where improvement could be made to increase team effectiveness. More specifically, leader of a team should discern when to use internal and external professionals to facilitate the meetings. Also, there is need to include elements of assessment of team process, for instance, through weekly meeting to identify the weakness of the members.

References

Aubé, C., & Rousseau, V. (2015). Team Goal Commitment and Team Effectiveness: The Role of Task Interdependence and Supportive Behaviors. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 9(3), 189.

Frances, M. (2018). Stages of group development–a PCP approach. Personal Construct Theory & Practice, 5, 10-18.

Fung, H. P. (2014). Relationships among Team Trust, Team Cohesion, Team Satisfaction, Team Effectiveness and Project Performance as Perceived by Project Managers in Malaysia. Journal of management information systems, 14(4), 29-64

Hakanen, M., & Soudunsaari, A. (2012). Building trust in high-performing teams. Technology Innovation Management Review, 2(6), 38.

Michan, S., & Rodger, S. (2014). Characteristics of effective teams: a literature review. Australian Health Review, 23(3), 201-208.

Natvig, D., & Stark, N. L. (2016). A Project Team Analysis Using Tuckman's Model of Small-Group Development. Journal of Nursing Education, 55(12), 675-681.

Wekesa, A. S. (2013). An Analysis of Team Effectiveness in Crisis Communication. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(7), 320-326.

Wise, S. (2014). Can a team have too much cohesion? The dark side to network density. European Management Journal, 32(5), 703-711.