9.2 Identify and describe group and team dynamics, including roles, rules, norms, status, power, and cohesiveness.

A variety of factors influence the ever-changing nature of members’ interactions in groups and teams. One factor is the role you assume in a group—the consistent way you communicate with others. There are three primary types of roles in small groups and teams: (1) task roles help the group do its work, (2) social roles help the group members relate to one another, and (3) individual roles inappropriately divert the group’s focus to individual concerns rather than group concerns. Other factors that affect the dynamic nature of groups and teams include norms (standards of what is normal or expected), rules

(explicit statements about appropriate and inappropriate behavior), status (a person’s importance or prestige), power (the ability to influence others), and cohesiveness

(the degree of loyalty and attraction the group members feel toward one another).

Group and Team Development