Social and psychological climate in the team, i.e. employee relations has a significant impact on labor efficiency, on the attitude of employees towards the organization, their immediate responsibilities and management. The ability to create a favorable atmosphere and good mood in a team of subordinates is one of the primary tasks of every manager. If there is no social tension in the team, employee relations are friendly and friendly, in such an environment the adaptation of new employees is much faster and easier.
What distinguishes a favorable socio-psychological climate
Due to the absence of social tension among the organization’s personnel, the ability to work, activity, and well-being of employees improves. Distinctive features of a favorable environment in society are:
- demanding attitude of employees towards each other with established trusting relationships;
- objective criticism regarding business qualities;
- freely express your position regarding certain issues discussed in the team;
- a high level of awareness about the goals of the organization’s functioning and the progress of certain production tasks;
- loyal attitude to the enterprise, management and team;
- each employee in the team is ready to bear responsibility for the results of the work of the entire group;
- willingness to provide help and support to each team member.
At the same time, the psychological situation in the group depends on various factors. These are interpersonal and intergroup relations, which are determined by both horizontal and vertical connections. To ensure a favorable psychological climate, the management of the entire enterprise and each department needs to competently interact with subordinates, receive feedback, and also monitor the relationships between colleagues of the same level.
In order to create a favorable psychological climate in the team, it is necessary to constantly regulate and adjust management methods and means, taking into account specific circumstances and conditions. It is necessary to correctly differentiate between official responsibilities and employee rights.
What is the atmosphere in your office?: possible answers from the future boss
You ask your employer what the relationship is between colleagues in your future department. Experts help you understand what is behind the manager’s explanations.
“Everything is fine, like everyone else, don’t worry”
1. Quite a closed answer. The candidate should ask additional clarifying questions to obtain detailed information. And if the manager starts to get noticeably nervous, it means there is something he doesn’t want to talk about.
2. The answer is about nothing, reveals nothing and says nothing. Most likely this is an excuse. Perhaps everything is really fine in the team, but, on the other hand, such an answer can be regarded as a distraction, and in reality everything is not so simple.
3. The candidate should think about it or ask a clarifying question: “What is normal?” The concept of “like everyone else” is more than an elastic thing.
“I think work is more important than personal relationships”
1. In my opinion, this answer indicates that this manager is not aimed at building communication channels within his department - he is focused exclusively on production and work process. But any job requires communication, and if it is important for a candidate to have contact with colleagues, then such a response from the employer is a warning sign that is worth paying attention to.
2. Such an answer would make me think and tense. It turns out that the leader does not care about the atmosphere in the team. It may well be that conflict situations occur in the department or that there is no team as such: for example, if employees spend a lot of time traveling, then a team will not form.
3. I think that the manager is not entirely right. We spend 2/3 of our time at work and, voluntarily or unwittingly, we bring here both the emotional component and personal relationships. Of course, ideally this should not interfere with work, but in practice this does not always happen. The applicant should think about it. The answer demonstrates a significant gap in the manager's knowledge.
“We have a friendly team, you will like it”
1. A very positive answer, which is also inspiring. And if this was said with confidence, the applicant will need to make every effort to become a member of this friendly team.
2. Most likely this is true. I think you can take the boss at his word, although the answer sounds too optimistic.
“Did you have problems with colleagues at your last place?”
1. In this case, you can be persistent and ask the question again. But the manager’s question will also have to be answered. If your goal is to get this place, it is better to say something like this: “I like to communicate with people, a good atmosphere in the team is important to me, I myself am a non-conflict person,” etc.
2. An answer in the form of a question is an indicator that the person does not want to talk about what is really happening. The question about problems at your previous job has a right to exist and fits well into the interview scenario, but in this case the employer simply avoids answering. Ask him again.
“There are disagreements, but we try to find a compromise”
1. A fairly frank answer. There are difficulties in any team, the main thing is that the leader understands them and is focused on resolving the conflicts that arise. The boss does not avoid answering and does not hide information, while demonstrating his readiness to always find a way out of a difficult situation.
2. This answer is the best because it is the most plausible. The boss's assurances that he always tries to resolve the conflict look very attractive.
“I don’t think there will be any problems, but if there is, please contact me.”
1. Good answer. The applicant should remember these words and even repeat them out loud, reinforcing his right, for example: “Thank you. If there are problems, I will know that I can turn to you for help.”
2. A good message from the manager about support for the future. The candidate needs to ask clarifying questions (“Do conflicts happen?” and “How do you resolve them?”) to better understand what the words about possible help actually mean.
“I do everything to unite the team and make us a real family”
1. I am alarmed by such obvious praise of my beloved. Doubts immediately creep in: if a person emphasizes his role and merit so strongly, it means that someone underestimates him. What is meant by the expression “real family”? Doesn't this mean that the manager spends the night at work? You can make clarifications - this will allow you to obtain additional information.
2. The answer may turn out to be both true and bait - the boss’s words sound too reckless. In addition, he only promises, and does not talk about results: it turns out that now the group of his subordinates cannot be called a team, and the atmosphere in the team has not yet been established. This is a matter of the future, and it is unknown to what extent the employer’s promises will be realized.
3. Not all employees are comfortable with family relationships in the team. At a certain level of professionalism and managerial competencies, this format of communication within the department becomes uncomfortable and unacceptable.
Advice
Think through the question! By asking about the team atmosphere, you make it clear that you want to work in a close-knit team. This question will be undesirable if the employer is looking for single workers and employees who can work in a competitive environment.
Natalya Chudova Based on materials from Trud
Methods for assessing the emotional situation in a team
The test quickly, effectively and easily determines the psychological climate in a team. One option for such a test could be the formation of a special table where pairs of words that have opposite meanings are recorded. Each employee is asked to choose the option most suitable for assessing the psychological situation in the organization. As a result, based on individual responses, a general assessment is formed that characterizes the emotional situation.
Another method could be a questionnaire on the psychological climate in the team. Then each employee needs to answer several questions. Summing up the general results will allow us to give a correct assessment of the psychological situation in the team.
Fear of punishment or “whipping boy”
Fear provokes the desire to avoid punishment for mistakes made by any means. Under its influence, there is a shifting of blame onto others with a simultaneous search for a “scapegoat”.
In most cases, this role is assigned to a person or group of people who have nothing to do with the incident, but differ from the majority of employees in their “eccentricity” of behavior (black sheep), weakness of character and inability to stand up for themselves.
These conditions make them an “excellent” target for attacks, unfounded accusations and hostile attitudes. The presence of a scapegoat allows the work group to release the dissatisfaction and tension that always accumulates with great ease in the work group due to constant mutual fear and mistrust. By such actions the team maintains its own cohesion and stability.
It is worth noting a certain labor paradox: no matter how much hostility and hostility the “scapegoat” may arouse in its address, it is vitally necessary for the working group as a kind of “safety valve” that provides the opportunity to release aggressive tendencies.
Creating a favorable psychological climate in the team
At the moment, quite a lot of different strategies have been developed to create a favorable psychological climate in the organization. Most of them involve the use of the following tools:
- Formation of the enterprise team taking into account the psychological compatibility of employees. In this case, it is desirable to combine workers with different types of behavior in one group. Thus, for effective and efficient work in a group, you should combine those who are waiting for instructions and proactive workers.
- Competent selection of department heads, their timely training, certification activities.
- The required ratio of managers and subordinates (per manager from 5 to 7 subordinates).
- Timely selection of employees for available vacancies, as well as the absence of oversupply of personnel. This fact is due to the fact that an oversupply, as well as an insufficient number of workers, leads to an unstable psychological situation in the team. In such situations, conflict situations may arise, as this leads to uneven workloads.
- Support and trust in experienced and active employees who are informal leaders and are respected by other team members.
- Prevention and timely resolution of conflict situations.
- Formation of the main components of the socio-psychological climate - behavioral norms, group values, expectations, etc...
An important tool for creating a favorable psychological environment in a team is the organization of events such as business games, trainings, etc...
Group compatibility and team cohesion
People working in the same team should be different, but with the same basic concepts of good and evil. At OneTwoTrip there are 12 values that guide us when making any decisions, and we rely on them when evaluating applicants and the work of existing employees.
Each of us has completely different tasks: IT, finance, marketing, support, analytics, design, and so on. And everyone shares the company’s values - this is the foundation on which group compatibility is built. Despite the differences that are natural for everyone, when teamwork is required, we work as a single organism capable of completing any task.
Photo: company archive
Cohesion and well-coordinated work of the team help to bring any task to the end, understand each other without words and lend a shoulder to a colleague at the right moment. Effective teamwork is only possible with universal emotional unity. To be on the same wavelength means to feel the mood, rise or fall of each member of the team. For example, if we have an emergency and everything is “on fire”, we all put out the fire together, and when the project is completed, the difficult period is over - the team rests and relaxes together too.
In a friendly team, it is impossible to imagine a situation when, in difficult times, everyone works without raising their heads, and someone gets up and leaves with the words: “all the work cannot be redone,” “you hold on, but I’m leaving.” And if one team member has some problems (personal or something is not working out on tasks), no one will put pressure on him, they will support and help him.
In teams where people are from “different planets”, with different values, speaking different languages, it is very difficult to build effective work. All participants in the process will have to spend too much effort to agree on the simplest things. And productivity levels will inevitably fall.
