The team structure of close contact would facilitate learning and interacting with one another, team affinity for likeability, and team bonding by members having common interests are cohesive factors that integrate a team. Teams flourish when organized around work processes because this structure increases interaction, and interdependence among team members and reduces interaction with people outside the team (McShane & Von Glinow, 2010).
Team cohesiveness could improve performance by initiating personal motivation of getting individual work done in a timely manner, taking into account individual responsibility for quality of work, and monitoring of one’s performance by other employees. These factors could influence individual work ethic and personal motivation for an assigned task. When people are strategically brought together as a team to execute a mission for which there are both mutual accountability and the required technical competencies, the performance results can be impressive (Pryor et al, 2009).
To build team cohesiveness the team should choose a leader to divide tasks so every member has a clear understanding of what their role entails. Leaders are also able to identify and prevent any threat to group cohesion (Hui-Ling & Yu-Hsuan, (2011). In a study of international fast-food chains in Taiwan there was a high correlation to leadership and cohesiveness in such that empowering leadership in management teams have an indirect effect on team performance. Empowering leadership was positively related to knowledge sharing and team cohesion, which was also positively related to team performance (Hui-Ling & Yu-Hsuan, (2011). Communication is vitally important for a class project. A detailed schedule of online meetings and contact information should be established to ensure coordination is smooth for each member. Communication systems can influence team effectiveness, particularly in virtual teams, which are highly dependent in information technologies to coordinate work (McShane & Von Glinow, 2010).
A team contract would help to establish goals by defining each team member’s role and responsibility to carry out the project. This contract would ensure that everyone knows what is expected. Included in the contract should be a list of responsibilities, deadlines