Team Dynamics and Conflict Resolutions in Work Teams
By Laura Gilfillan, Robyn Hatch, and Jorge Rodriguez
The workplace; a place were many people coexist for at least eight hours a day, usually for five days a week. The workplace can be a fun environment, a hellish pit or somewhere in the middle of the two. Naturally, if every coworker likes, or even loves his or her job, it makes for a comfortable environment for everyone to work in. Liking or even loving one's job however does not make or break whether one's workplace is a constructive environment. Team dynamics and conflict resolution are the two parts that make up the sum of a productive, practical and profitable workplace. Team dynamics is defined by Merriam-Webster as a number of individuals who work together to achieve a common goal that causes change or growth. This concept saturates the workplace. It is also the unseen forces that operate a team with different diverse people. These people can strongly influence how a team reacts, behaves, and performs. They can bring about team behavior through different personality styles, team roles, and different processes and procedures. Employers know this and so they often refer to their employees as team members and their supervisors as team leaders. This then gives a general structure to the teams. Some companies spend large amount of money on team building activities. These activities can range anywhere between social events to individual training and development. Businesses often take work holidays to work on team building rather than selling their product. Instead of team members being in the office making the company money, the company will offer a team building outing wherein the team members will spend company time parasailing. Employers will often reward outstanding team members with company outings and dinners. These are all types of activities that the employers