Cohesion is said to be the act of uniting or sticking together. In the context of a team, work unit, in relationships or even a family, cohesion refers to a couple or a group that's united in working towards a common goal or purpose.
Cohesion takes time to form because it requires that the development of a certain degree of trust and support among a group's members. It requires that such trust and support be elevated to a certain degree of sophistication that it becomes second nature for all the individuals involved.
Various factors influence the degree of cohesion a team has or would have. Shared experiences, the quality and amount of time a team has been together, and the dynamics within a team are some of those factors.
A team starts losing its cohesiveness once distractions surface. A sports team that finds itself embroiled in controversy or scandal often loses its will and focus to win. Morale among the players eventually break down and before everyone realizes it, the desire to win is no longer there.
Same is true in a work environment. Once a scandal flares up or once an individual pursues an agenda separate and counter to the team's, the spirit of camaraderie within a department or group soon deteriorates and unravels.
In relationships or in a family, cohesion is impacted when a member becomes withdrawn from the normal activities, begins to spend less time with a significant other or from the spouse and kids. Withdrawal leads to indifference and eventually leads to an unraveling of a relationship.
Cohesion is a delicate quality that needs a lot of work to sustain. Teams, couples, families, and even nations that have successfully attained it have reaped many rewards from it. Those who have failed to achieve it or those who simply don't have it are destined to wallow in mediocrity or are doomed to failure.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Cohesion
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24 responses:
with regard to the work environment, in the pinoy setting for example, i'd like to add that the despicable attitude of crab mentality can bring down any team's cohesiveness.
i've seen this happened before in corporate slavery and the results were utterly embarrassing.
Mari,
Crab mentality and petty jealousies are the two main drags on achieving cohesion. It's unprofessional behavior when done in the workplace. It's just sad that some people seem unable to abandon their personal agendas for the sake of the greater good.
Hay nako, sinabi mo pa. This is one reason why the company I used to work for is now in dire straits. I've been seeing the writings on the wall since 2001 that's why I left early 2002. That's what happens when the person at the helm starts creating his own little circle of people, shutting everyone else out...
cohesion, a concept we all want to achieve in all aspects of our relationships, but oftentimes it's a slippery object, seldom achieved.
i remember the old days of toyota and crispa....atoy, bernie, freddie, philip, and abet---that's a cohesive team. oh man, i miss them redmanizers :=)
Rudy,
The person at the top really sets the tone. If he/she maintains cliques and engages in blatant favoritism, then it would be hard for any organization to truly succeed or get the best effort out of its people.
Photo Cache,
Hahaha Crispa Redmanizer fan ka rin pala! Alright!
But yes, both the Crispa and Toyota teams were models of cohesion during their heyday in the 1970s through the early 1980s. Both teams lost their cohesion once the personal dynamics changed within the teams.
dito naman sa office ibang kind of cohesion. since ako lang pinoy so yung mga kasama kong indians ang sobrang cohesive.ganun lang naman cguro yun kasi they are of the same nationalities.kaya it is difficult to attain cohesiveness in our whole workplace :(
It is said that the teams success isn't entirely about compatibility of its members but how it deals with their incompatibility.
However, there are always people who selfish and can never be team players and when you have these dirty rotten scoundrels on your team, they have to be kicked out or given less critical tasks :( It is very frustrating indeed.
With regards to people and its culture, in Asia for example, cohesiveness spells success for xenophobic Japan and clannish Korea. I wonder where the Philippines stand with its regionalist mentality. Is Federalism the answer?
Hi Yvonne,
Let's not mistake cohesiveness with clannishness. In your example, the Indians may be hanging out with each other simply because they share the same ethnicity. It's their comfort zone. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're all working towards the same goal.
Plus, it would also be hard to attain cohesion in the workplace if certain cliques or groups exist with their own agenda.
cohesion. hmmm. big words scare me, especially if they end in "ion." :)
i know what you mean when a person becomes a distraction and destroys team cohesion. (man, i sound like this amusing lady senator).
it's tougher to handle when the distraction is older. argh! i'm in the middle of something like that. nakaka-high blood.
thanks for dropping by. balik ka!
BW,
So true. Cohesion is achieved when people are willing to rise above their differences for a greater common good.
As for people with their own agenda, we had this lady in our department (Thank God she left a year ago.) who never really got into the team's spirit. The quality of her work was so-so and her personal priorities always came first. It didn't help things that she didn't have a very good work ethic and was not the "smartest tack in the box" so to speak. Our VP eventually reassigned her to a clerical job, sending her the message that her work wasn't up to the team's standards. She obviously got the message for she left not long after that reassignment. Good riddance.
Blogusvox,
I think even with regionalism or Federalism, the Philippines can still achieve cohesion and economic success. It would call for a more equitable distribution of government resources, specifically tax revenues, that could be plowed into development projects for each of the regions.
The main barriers to our national cohesion remains the poor administration of justice and the lack of an open economy. I think if these problems could be fixed, the first will help restore people's faith in government and the justice system and the second will help increase job opportunities for our countrymen.
Hi Atticus,
Welcome! :)
Yes, talagang nakakakulo ng dugo ang mga taong puro sarili lang nila ang iniisip. They're the type of people I can't stand and I therefore avoid. They're nothing but a drag on the team.
Thanks for the visit. Stop by anytime too. :)
i actually agree with u. when i was interviewed, i was asked what motivates me aside from salary, i straight ou told the panel that i'd like to work in a healthy, harmonious environment.
work itself has a certain degree of huge responsibility & it will never be any lighter if our colleagues meddle or do such distasteful crab behaviour.
The Suspect,
Indeed, the office environment should be free from such distasteful and unprofessional behavior. It's hard to stay productive and focused on one's job if there's a lot of such meddling and backstabbing going on. They poison the work atmosphere and a company ends up losing a lot of its good people.
well said here. kudos! ^^
I must say though that 'office politics' will always gagged our desire to have a cohesive work environment however we try. Unless an organization adheres to it as its core value and promoted by everyone can there be real "cohesiveness" or more appropriately, synergy within.
I like this word and it's meaning(s).
Have a great weekend!
Ronnie Ferez,
Office politics is a great demotivator. I feel bad for organizations that lose very good people just because they got turned off by the politics in the workplace.
Thank you very much for the visit. :)
Hi Liquid,
Thank you. Have a great weekend too, buddy. :)
coherent - ideal. and delicate ( i couln't agree more) 'coz any factor (internal or external) could easily make the cookie crumble.
Lawstude,
So true and that's the reason why there are certain managers who go through certain lengths prior to bringing someone new on board the team. These managers want to find out that beyond all a person's credentials that he/she would be a good "fit" to a team, that he/she would help strengthen the team rather than weaken it.
It takes a lot of effort to maintain and sustain and you are absolutely right, all it takes is one person to make the whole thing crumble.
Thank you very much for the input and the visit. Very much appreciated.
hmm, sigh - this one hits home unfortunately.
RDL,
I'm sorry to hear that. I hope things get better soon.
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