Introduction

Chronic absenteeism, sub-standard productivity, negative attitudes, poor service, and shoddy workmanship are at least partly a function of inadequate attention to social organization in general and group dynamics in particular. Disregarding group dynamics, the engineers designed their computer program in a way that destroyed the long-established social structure of the department. Some task groups are more effective than others, in part because they are at different phases of development. Effective leaders need to be aware of what phase of life cycle development their group is in and to use that knowledge to help the group achieve its goals. Coaching skills and style, interpersonal relations among the players, the system of maintaining internal discipline, and hometown crowd behavior also may have been much different. The team strategy was chosen, and implemented with the aid of a behavioral science research group.