Team Dynamics & Group Development Flashcards

A team coach is working with a team that collectively blames external forces for all failures and takes credit only for successes. Which team-level pattern is this?

Answer: External locus of control and team-level self-serving bias

A team-level self-serving bias — attributing failures externally and successes internally — protects team esteem but prevents learning and accountability.

Which condition does J. Richard Hackman identify as MOST critical for effective team coaching to take root?

Answer: A real team with clear boundaries and stable membership

Hackman argued that team coaching is only effective when the team itself is 'real' — bounded, interdependent, and stable enough to develop as a unit.

During a team retrospective, members begin discussing how they relate to each other rather than just what tasks to improve. A team coach should MOST likely:

Answer: Recognize this as valuable relational work and support the team in exploring it

Relational conversations in retrospectives reflect the team deepening its development — a skilled coach supports this process rather than redirecting to tasks.

A team has recently achieved a major goal and is now disbanding. According to Tuckman's model, which stage are they entering?

Answer: Adjourning

Tuckman later added 'Adjourning' as the fifth stage, describing the disbanding of a team after task completion, often accompanied by mixed emotions.

A team coach notices that the team's energy and decision quality consistently drop in the second half of long meetings. Which intervention is MOST aligned with team coaching principles?

Answer: Help the team design its own meeting structure that accounts for energy and cognitive load

Team coaching builds team capacity for self-management — helping the team design its own solutions is more empowering than the coach solving it for them.

Which of the following BEST distinguishes 'co-active' team coaching from facilitation?

Answer: Team coaching builds lasting team capacity and self-awareness; facilitation manages a specific meeting or process

Facilitation is session-focused and process-oriented, while team coaching builds the team's ongoing capability to self-manage, learn, and develop over time.

A team coach using a 'field' perspective (influenced by Gestalt theory) would pay attention to which aspect MOST?

Answer: What is happening in the room right now — energy, body language, silence, and relational patterns

Gestalt-informed team coaching focuses on present-moment awareness of what is alive in the 'field' — the immediate experiential reality of the team in the room.