Cohesiveness And Team Cohesion

Cohesiveness/Team Relationships: Cohesiveness is central to the study of groups and is largely influenced by the interpersonal relationships of group members (Pelled et al., 1999). Cohesiveness implies a feeling of solidarity with other group members. Healthy interpersonal relations help maintain effective and appropriate relationships with fellow workers which contribute to better information exchanges and decision-making in teams (Pelled et al., 1999). Highly cohesive teams tend to have less absenteeism, high involvement in team activities and high levels of member coordination during team tasks (Morgan & Lassiter, 1992). Furthermore, Bettenhausen's (1991) review of group research linked team cohesion with team variables that included satisfaction,

For the purposes of this study, “the feeling of unity or oneness that exists among team members and the degree to which a group exists or operates as a unified entity” will be used as the definition for cohesiveness/team relationships.
Collaborative Problem-Solving/Decision-Making: Problem-solving is an important skill for work teams (Guzzo & Shea, 1992; West et al, 1998). Work teams face what can sometimes be a challenge in problem-solving efforts—collaboration with others on their team. Additionally, most groups jump right into coming up with solutions before clearly defining the problem.
Kirkman and Rosen (1999) ask raters to provide feedback on problem-solving on their team assessment. After considering the key points presented in the literature and the items represented on these assessments, “the ability to recognize situations in which group members need to work together to solve problems, identify the appropriate people to be involved in the problem-solving, and determine an appropriate solution to the problem” will be used as the definition to represent the collaborative problem-solving

Campion et al. (1996) found that process characteristics of the team, including communication, most strongly related to team effectiveness criteria in their study of various team design characteristics. The ongoing practice of open and honest communication seems essential for any team that aspires to quality and longevity. A team is only as good as each member’s ability to communicate effectively including listening skills, sufficient sharing of information, proper interpretation, and perception of others and properly attending to nonverbal cues (Varney, 1989). Whether it has its own dimension or is a combination of individual items, the essence of communication can be summarized as “the methods and processes for gathering, distributing, attending to and exchanging information; the ability to share ideas openly, supportively, and objectively using appropriate verbal and non-verbal behaviors while actively