Highly Cohesive Groups
Second, in highly cohesive groups, membership tends to be more consistent. Members develop positive feelings toward one another and are more willing to attend group meetings. For example, in an Alcoholics Anonymous group that is cohesive, members often express strong support for each other, and attendance at meetings is very consistent.
Third, highly cohesive groups are able to exert a strong influence on group members. Members conform more closely to group norms and engage in more goal-directed behavior for the group. On a highly successful cross-country track team, all the members support each other and push one another to do their personal best.
Fourth, member satisfaction is high in cohesive groups; members tend to feel more secure and find enjoyment participating in the group. Think of the best class you have ever been in as a student. It was probably very cohesive, and you probably enjoyed it so much that you were sorry when the semester ended.
Finally, members of a cohesive group usually are more productive than members of a group that is less cohesive. Members of groups with greater cohesion can direct their energies toward group goals without spending a lot of time working out interpersonal issues and conflicts. For example, when a project team is cohesive, there are no social loafers. Everyone is together in pursuit of the team goals.
As described by Daniel Brown in his book, The Boys in the Boat, the University of Washington rowing team is a good example of how a group of disparate individuals built a cohesive climate and experienced success because of it. Rowing is a sport in which every member of the nine-person team must be in perfect synergy with their teammates as they oar in and move across the water. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the UW team defeated wealthy rivals first from eastern and British universities and finally the German crew rowing for Adolf Hitler in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. Pivotal to their success was that each member of the team had a role and adapted to those roles in sync with one another. “All were merged into one smoothly working machine; they were, in fact, a poem of motion, a symphony of swinging blades”.
In addition, the team members shared a common goal, which led them to abandon their own self- interest in pursuit of the unified goal of winning. But ultimately it was the trust they had in each other that made them a victorious team.
While cohesive groups are what many organizations strive for, there is a caution about cohesiveness. First, when group members become extremely close, they can develop a closed mindset called groupthink, which values unanimity over critical appraisal of alternate ideas or viewpoints. Group members may be afraid to “rock the boat” and question a group decision, and instead go along with an idea that may not turn out well in the long run. It is always helpful in a group to have one or two members pay attention to the tendency to become closed off to outside input and ideas.
Given the positive outcomes of cohesiveness, how can a leader help groups become cohesive? Group cohesiveness does not develop instantaneously, but is created gradually over time. A leader can assist a group in building cohesiveness by incorporating the following actions in their leadership:
