On Cohesion

That cohesion is necessary for teams to achieve success at the highest level is no secret. The ability of team members to “stick together” through thick and thin often determines whether a team will successfully accomplish its goals.

Yet, cohesion remains elusive for many teams. This is true for several reasons, not the least of which is that cohesion is often poorly defined and misunderstood. For example, Meriam-Webster’s definition of cohesion, “the act of sticking together tightly,” is too simple to have utility for serious leaders. For these leaders, perhaps more useful may be how physicists define cohesion: the molecular force that binds particles within a substance together. In organizations, then, we can state that cohesion is the intangible force that binds individual members of a team into one high performing unit.

But to facilitate cohesion leaders must know more than just how to define it. Most organizational scholars agree that cohesion has two primary components. The first component, task cohesion, refers to how well members of a team work together. The second, social cohesion, refers to how much members of a team like each other. Leaders must recognize these components and understand each component’s threshold on their team. For example, a team that has both low task cohesion and low social cohesion is at risk of falling apart. A team that has high task cohesion but low social cohesion will do great work when things are going smooth but may perform poorly in times of adversity. A team that has low task cohesion and high social cohesion will withstand adversity, but its ability to accomplish its work efficiently and effectively may prevent it from accomplishing its goals. The ideal team, of course, has both high task cohesion and high social cohesion.

Now, understanding cohesion doesn’t result in automatically achieving cohesion. Rather, the level of cohesion necessary for a team to thrive is determined by the level of effort a leader is willing to give. No leader effort equals no team cohesion — at least not the type of cohesion the team will need to accomplish its biggest goals in a demanding environment. Team cohesiveness is contingent upon the leader’s ability to select the right team members, create a shared identity, establish role awareness, and provide every member of the team a purpose. Short of this, the team will never form ideal cohesion.

Does cohesion matter on your team? If so, consider where your team is on the spectrum of “at risk” to “ideal.” Has your team surpassed the cohesion thresholds necessary to accomplish its biggest goals in a challenging environment? If not, make the effort to improve. Remember, achieving ideal cohesion is leader business. Cohesion all starts and ends with you.

On Cohesion was originally published in Horizon Performance on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.