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Unfavorable social and psychological climate in the team. Psychological climate in a team: what is it. Creating a favorable climate

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Everyone would like to find a job where they pay well, the team is pleasant, there is no overtime, and the entire social package is available. Such information is indicated in almost 99% of resumes on various job search resources. But employers offer fewer benefits, but many requirements with little pay. Of course, it is also important for them to find a suitable candidate, and also to achieve high performance labor with minimal effort on your part.

Positive sentiment among employees always has a positive impact on the work process and productivity.

IN large companies The principle of working with employees is successfully applied not only to improve their skills, but also to normalize the psychological climate in the team. Unfortunately, many medium and small companies do not pay attention to this problem, which becomes the cause of many difficulties.

Psychological climate in the team. Basic Concepts

We will try to explain the concept of psychological climate in a team. Another name is socio-psychological climate or SPC. This is a general, somewhat stable, psychological mood of the team of one company, which manifests itself in various types of activities.

A normal atmosphere in a company always has a positive effect not only on the psychology of each employee, but also on other indicators of the company. If the climate is positive, then the following signs stand out:

trust between colleagues and superiors;
feeling of stability, security;
general willingness to cope with difficulties;
optimism;
pleasant interaction between employees;
sympathy and support between employees;
confidence, attention;
willingness to compromise;
acceptable free-thinking;
desire to develop.

In the opposite state of affairs, negative consequences arise, which may even be irreversible.

Factors influencing the psychological climate in a team

Certain factors are identified that influence the psychological climate in the team. They are able to make it negative and positive. It is important to include sanitary and hygienic conditions: lighting, room size, comfort level of the work place, temperature, etc.

Another factor is the leader himself. If a person adheres to a healthy lifestyle, is responsible for his work, and has positive qualities, then he will become an example for employees.

To create a normal climate in the team, it is important for the manager to select people with a certain type of temperament for work, so that they fit together. Compatibility in age and experience is also important.

Social tension in the organization. Strategies to reduce

Now there are many approaches and principles to reduce social tension in an organization, that is, to create a positive psychological climate among employees. These goals include the following actions:

When forming a team, it is important for a company to take into account the psychological compatibility of people. Depending on the goals, a combination is required various types temperament and character. In many situations, a group with people of the same type of character turns out to be almost unworkable. For example, if you gather only workers who are not capable of initiative and wait for constant instructions from above, or only those who are accustomed to giving commands;

If there are tensions among employees, it is important to understand their cause and find ways to solve and eliminate the problem.

it is important to observe the optimal selection, placement, certification and training of managers;
establish an acceptable limit on the number of employees who report to one boss (5-7);
monitor the absence of unnecessary vacancies and workers. Excessive and insufficient number of employees causes team instability. The ground is being created for the development of conflicts and tensions due to the desire of different candidates to occupy a position and receive promotions. Another reason is the unevenness of the workload, which occurs when there are excess workers;
It is important to rely in your work on the most active and, i.e. unofficial leaders who enjoy the trust of other employees;
control of the processes of organizing the substantive components of the climate (values, norms, rules, expectations, general mood and opinion);
prevent and find a way out of conflicts between individuals;

use social and psychological methods that contribute to the development of skills in employees to effectively understand each other and interact (engage employees by example, use trainings, business games, methods of persuasion, etc.).

Experts have developed many psychological and social ways to create a positive climate in a team. Among them it is important to highlight:

Body psychotherapy. It is based on an understanding of the close relationships between phenomena in physiology and psyche. Especially on the fact that personality traits are noticeable in gestures and movements. Such psychotherapy is manifested in the creation in the company of rooms for unloading the psyche, booths with mannequins of managers (to release negative feelings, etc.);
Art therapy. This technology is based on the fact that the inner “I” of people manifests itself in visible images when a person creates paintings, sculptures, draws, without thinking about his own work, in other words, spontaneously. The materials obtained in the process of dealing with the group provide a chance to identify levels of aggression and other negative feelings, contribute to resolving conflicts and establishing connections between employees. Art therapy is used in the field of occupational therapy and community rehabilitation;
Skills training group. This group is classified as a behaviorist branch of psychology. The approach to work is based on a training model, setting goals, defining and assessing behavior. The example is “confidence training” groups. This teaches career planning skills, decision making, developing skills to cope with stress and improving social interaction skills.

Managers select the most suitable methods for building relationships for their own team.

Many other methods and trainings have been invented that are aimed at creating a positive climate among employees. Today, some companies employ psychologists. They organize psychological games, tests, and conduct classes with employees. Some companies invite such specialists from outside. This, of course, has a positive effect on the psychological and social climate.

How to improve the psychological climate in a team

In order to understand how to improve the psychological climate in a team, it is important to follow some schemes:

Remember that it is easier for people to focus on work if they have the ability to control their environment. Let them set up their own workspaces. So a person becomes freer, and the number decreases internal conflicts a team;
It’s nice for employees to understand that something depends on them too. Even if it’s choosing a calendar for your desk at work. The main thing is that it puts people in a positive mood and gives additional incentives to work. You will notice that the returns will be much greater. Workers should not be placed into too strict a framework, although some dress code is still required to maintain discipline;

That employees need to communicate with each other. A ban on this will cause a decrease in labor efficiency, suppress people, and cause a split in society. Such an environment will not help to unite and develop mutual understanding at work. Therefore, it is important to create a friendly atmosphere;
In addition, you can create something like a canteen, where employees can have lunch together and communicate on abstract topics. In addition, arrange tables at work stations so that everyone feels in the center. No one should be singled out, otherwise there is a chance of conflicts;

To normalize the climate, it is important to let employees participate in the organization of the work process and feel involved in the main mechanisms of the company.

It’s also important to let employees feel that the office is not only workplace. It is worth organizing informal events here: team building, corporate events, etc. Conducting collective training seminars also promotes team cohesion. And if you allow people to celebrate birthdays in the office, the atmosphere at work will be filled with ease and ease, and performance will certainly rise.

Thus, to achieve the norms of a positive psychological climate, special training is required, the use of suitable methods and schemes for organizing the labor process.

January 20, 2014, 11:38

Psychological climate- the mood of the team, the moral and psychological atmosphere that permeates the relationships of its participants. It's not necessarily about work collective, although more often this is the case. The psychological climate exists in an interest group, in the family, in school, and in any collective activity. The success of this activity and the health of each of its participants depend on the atmosphere prevailing in the group. Creating a favorable psychological climate is included in measures to prevent psychosomatic diseases, conflicts, and neuroses.

The term “psychological climate” was first uttered by N. S. Mansurov in the context of studying a production team. A little later, psychologists began to distinguish socio-psychological and moral-psychological climate. Psychological climate is a broad concept, the rest are included in it.

Psychological climate is the character that arises in relationships between people, based on their sympathies, coincidence of interests, and inclinations. The psychological climate includes 3 areas:

• Social climate – awareness of goals and objectives by all participants, respect for rights and responsibilities.
• Moral climate - values ​​​​accepted in the group. Their unity, acceptance, consistency.
• The actual psychological climate is informal relationships in the team.

There are 4 approaches to studying the psychological climate in a team:

1. Climate is a collective consciousness. Awareness by each member of society of relationships in the team, working conditions, methods of stimulating it.
2. Climate is the mood of the team. That is, the leading role is given not to consciousness, but to emotions.
3. Climate is the style of interaction between people that influences their condition.
4. Climate is an indicator of the compatibility of the group, the moral and psychological unity of its participants. The presence of common opinions, traditions and customs.

The peculiarity of the psychological climate as a phenomenon is that it is created by the person himself, he is able to influence the climate, improve and change.

Favorable and unfavorable climate

The psychological climate can be favorable or unfavorable. The first is characterized by:

• friendly attitude of participants towards each other;
• camaraderie;
• adequate mutual exactingness, which determines creative efficiency;
• mutual assistance;
• joy from communication and openness of communications;
• safety and comfort;
• optimism;
• self-confidence and team confidence;
• the opportunity to think freely and creatively, to discover and realize one’s own potential.

But it is worth noting that a combination of mutual demands and mutual assistance is mandatory. Mutual assistance alone will turn into permissiveness, a “brotherly” attitude, which over time will create an unfavorable climate.

An unfavorable or unhealthy climate includes the opposite characteristics:

• pessimism;
• mistrust and disrespect;
• coldness and secrecy in relationships;
• inhibition of personal potential;
• irritability;
• tension and conflict;
• uncertainty;
• misunderstanding;
• fear of error, punishment and rejection;
• suspicion.

It has been noted that a healthy climate increases productivity and labor efficiency. Unfavorable climate causes frequent incidents of safety violations and reduces productivity by 20%.

A healthy climate satisfies its participants and does not contradict social norms and values. For example, in a criminal group there may be a unity of opinions, views and beliefs, but for society the activities of its members are harmful, in fact, as in the end for the participants themselves (they just don’t know it).

Climate structure

The psychological climate in a team has a certain structure:

1. Horizontal relationships. This implies team cohesion, the nature of interpersonal relationships, and ways to resolve conflicts.
2. Relationships “vertical” (with the boss and administration).
3. Attitude to work. Job satisfaction and intention to stay in the job.

Climate levels

Climate has two levels: static and dynamic.

Static

This is a stable attitude of employees towards work, constant interpersonal relationships. The climate is stable and tolerates external influences well. It is not easy to create a climate at this level, but then it is easy to maintain. Team members feel this stability, which makes them more confident in their own position. Climate correction is practically not required, control is occasional. This level is also called the socio-psychological climate.

Dynamic

This is the changing nature of the team. The climate changes daily due to the changing moods of its participants. This level is also called the psychological atmosphere. It changes faster and is less felt by the participants. As changes accumulate, it can create an unhealthy climate in the team.

Climate diagnostics

The socio-psychological climate in a team is an indicator of the level of development of the team. Therefore, it is important to regularly carry out diagnostics and monitor dynamics, to identify the properties that hold the team together or destroy it. For this purpose, the method of assessing the level of psychological climate of A. N. Lutoshkin’s team is suitable.

The subject is asked to answer 13 statements regarding the team in which he is located. The score can be from -3 to 3.

Answer form

22 points and more – highly favorable climate.

8-22 points – moderately favorable climate.

0-8 points – low favorable climate.

From 0 to -8 – initial unfavorability.

From -8 to -10 – moderately unfavorable climate.

From -10 and more – pronounced unfavorability, unhealthy climate.

Each team member takes the questionnaire. When summing up, all points are summed up and divided by the number of people surveyed. The final number is the overall score of the team. You can also calculate an overall score for individual criteria.

Signs characterizing climate

Externally, you can judge the climate of a team by the following signs (useful for those applying for a job):

• staff turnover;
• product quality;
• level of discipline;
• claims and complaints, negative reviews from employees;
• frequent breaks from work;
• negligence and carelessness.

The better these indicators, the more favorable the climate. Signs of a favorable climate also include:

• trust and high demands in relationships;
• kind and constructive criticism;
• freedom of speech and opinion;
• providing initiative to employees, lack of managerial pressure;
• awareness of participants in team issues;
• satisfaction from belonging to this group;
• mutual assistance and highly developed empathy;
• responsibility for yourself and the entire team.

What affects climate

The climate is influenced by a number of factors:

1. Type of organization, team. Open or closed, private or public, scientific or industrial organization. Family, class, criminal group, charitable association.
2. The image and standard of living of the team members.
3. Micro (everyday for a particular person) and macro (city, country, culture of society) conditions: normal, complicated, extreme.
4. Rational organization of work, compliance with the regime and rights, taking into account the capabilities and characteristics of each team member.
5. Team structure.
6. Informal leaders or groups in a team.
7. Leadership style and features. A favorable climate requires attention from the manager not only to production issues, but also to the personal problems of team members. That is, the democratic style.
8. Individual psychological and personal characteristics of team members. Personal opinion, mood and behavior of a person contribute to the overall climate. This is based on a pass. external factors and events through the prism of one’s own character and personality.
9. The combination of the characteristics of all participants forms a new collective quality - the psyche of the collective. Therefore, the psychological compatibility of the participants, primarily in terms of temperament, plays a big role. Psychologically, people must be compatible in terms of psychomotor reactions, emotional and volitional manifestations, the work of thinking and attention, and character. Incompatibility causes antipathy, hostility, and conflicts.
10. Self-assessment of each participant. His and the correspondence of claims and achievements.

The leader has a great influence on climate formation. You should pay attention to his personal qualities, attitude towards other participants, authority, leadership style. A positive climate is created by a leader who:

• principled;
• responsible;
• active;
• disciplined;
• kind, responsive and sociable;
• has organizational skills.

Rudeness, selfishness, inconsistency, disrespect, and careerism have a negative impact on the health of the climate.

The conditions that dictate the climate also depend on the leader. Necessary:

• be friendly and respectful in relationships;
• provide employees with the opportunity to choose their own area of ​​activity;
• notice and celebrate the activity and creativity of employees;
• promote employee interest in self-development;
• motivate employees for career advancement with the aim of not only material gain, but also to gain prestige and recognition from the team;
• to be a good qualified leader and a kind mentor.

What a leader can do for a favorable climate:

1. It is justified from a psychological standpoint to select personnel.
2. Organize regular training and certification.
3. Learn and practice theory psychological compatibility, that is, to understand people well.
4. Contribute through practical activities (through organizing events) to the development of interaction and relationship skills.

Creating a favorable climate

Favorable climate is formed where the participants clearly see the goals of the team, clearly understand and accept them. At the same time they have flexible system means and ways to achieve them.

The higher the level of development of the team, the more favorable the climate. However, even at a low level of development, a favorable climate can be created.

It is important to maintain the unity of motives, interests, beliefs, ideals, attitudes, needs of the participants and correctly combine their individual characteristics.

A favorable psychological climate cannot arise by itself. This is the product of the coordinated and hard work of the entire team, and the competent organizational activities of the leader.

Purposeful work must be carried out to create a favorable climate. This is a responsible and creative undertaking that requires knowledge of human psychology, the ability to predict likely situations in relationships, and understand emotions and their regulation.

Creating climate begins with changes in each individual person. In order for interpersonal relationships to develop favorably, you need to:

• work on your own negative character traits;
• to form positive moral qualities (respect for people, recognition of their dignity and honor, attention, recognition of the beliefs and interests of other people, trust, observance of politeness and rules of behavior, objective assessment and self-esteem, tact);
• use polite words and phrases, observe etiquette;
• master emotional and mental methods (necessary for the prevention and elimination of irritation, resentment, burnout, nervousness, anger, fatigue, agitation, apathy);
• know behavioral strategies and be able to solve them competently;
• avoid maximalism in judgments and behavior, labeling, categoricalness, inflated expectations and ideas.

Each member of the team should be valuable, unique and positive in their own way, and in a group setting they should complement each other, not interfere or overshadow each other.

Satisfaction as a criterion

The basis for climate assessment is people’s satisfaction/dissatisfaction with relationships in the team and the activity itself. However, you need to understand that satisfaction can be subjective and objective.

It often happens that one person is completely satisfied with the team, while another is not at all satisfied with the working conditions. This is subjectivity in assessment. Differences in experience, conditions and quality of life, interests, character of people and other individual characteristics contribute. The principle of subjective satisfaction is the relationship between the parameters “I give” and “I receive.”

Dissatisfaction with delayed wages, regular punishments, non-compliance with labor standards, violation of rights is an objective indicator.

Afterword

Psychological climate is sometimes identified with socio-psychological or moral-psychological, which further emphasizes its basis. The basis of a favorable climate is the unity and similarity of values ​​among team members.

The nature of the climate influences the personality: whether it stimulates or not to work, joint activities, raises or lowers the mood, instills faith or uncertainty in own strength, cheerfulness or despondency, stimulates or suppresses activity.

It is very easy to guess the nature of the climate. It is enough for its participants to only answer the questions “like - don’t like”, “satisfied - doesn’t suit”, “would like to - don’t want to be in a team.”

Learn about what the psychological climate in a team is and how to create a favorable climate from the specialists of the Synergy University of Self-Development.

The demand and popularity of research on the socio-psychological climate in a team is due to the tendency to complicate relationships and increase demands on the professionalism of an employee.

Why is it so necessary? Everything is logical. A favorable team climate increases the effectiveness of teamwork. Unfavorable relationships can cause high staff turnover, an increase in the level of conflict, a decrease in labor efficiency and, in general, a deterioration in the reputation of the organization. Often the manager notices only the listed consequences, but has no idea about the reasons for their occurrence. There are cases when the manager does not see the true reason for the deterioration of the team’s work and directs efforts in the wrong direction, which, of course, does not lead to an improvement in the situation. Therefore, it is important for the head of an organization or HR person to study Current state socio-psychological climate and, based on the research results, take the necessary measures to improve it. In this article we will talk about the main methods that allow you to study the socio-psychological climate in an organization, and also provide recommendations for their use.

First, we need to define what is meant by the term “socio-psychological climate.” The socio-psychological climate in a team is a complex, integrated indicator that reflects the internal state of the community as a whole, and not just the sum of the feelings of its members, as well as its ability to achieve joint goals. The main factors shaping the socio-psychological climate in the team are:

1. Emotional attitude of employees to their activities;
2. Relations between employees in the team;
3. Relations between subordinates and managers;
4. Service and everyday factors of labor organization;
5. Economic (material) factors of labor encouragement.

Of course, the presented list is not exhaustive: it can be clarified and expanded if necessary within the framework of a particular study.

If the purpose of the study is to analyze and assess the socio-psychological climate in the team, then to achieve it it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

1. Determine the emotional attitude of employees to their activities in general;
2. Identify the nature of relationships between employees in the team;
3. Identify the nature of the relationship between subordinates and managers;
4. Determine the degree of employee satisfaction with work and everyday factors of work organization;
5. Determine the degree of satisfaction with economic (material) labor promotion factors.

After formulating the goals and objectives of the study, it is necessary to select the method by which data will be collected. We recommend a questionnaire survey as the most effective method collecting data in medium and large teams, which, if the conditions are met, provides a high guarantee of the sincerity of the answers. These conditions should be considered in more detail.

• In order for the respondent to be motivated to give sincere answers, it is necessary to guarantee the anonymity of the data presentation and explain that the survey results will be presented in a generalized form. This information should be conveyed to respondents not only in a preliminary message about the upcoming survey, but also immediately before the survey. For example, you can place the following text in the title of the questionnaire:

• In addition, informing respondents about the purpose of the survey will help ensure the sincerity of responses. Before conducting the survey, it is recommended to inform that the opinions of all respondents will be taken into account, and based on the survey results, measures will be taken to improve the climate in the team. If respondents know that their opinion can really change the situation in better side, they will be more sincere.

In our experience, HR professionals are increasingly conducting such research through online surveys. They are convenient not only because automated system allows you to collect data much faster and provide results, but also because it will provide the necessary conditions for a successful survey. Handing out paper questionnaires that are supposed to be filled out at the workplace may lead to a decrease in sincerity in the respondents’ answers: being close to the object of assessment, his colleague, the respondent will most likely feel discomfort and overestimate the assessment. While away from the workplace and in a less stressful environment, the respondent will be able to answer sincerely. In addition, some employees may express concern about de-anonymizing their handwriting profiles (and this happens:). In online surveys, reasons for such experiences are, of course, excluded, which can also affect the increase in sincerity in respondents’ answers.

Now let's look at the most popular methods used to study the socio-psychological climate in a team.

Sociometric test (according to J. Moreno)

This technique is used to identify and evaluate emotional connections in a team based on sympathy or antipathy for team members. Sociometric tests make it possible to identify informal leaders in a group, detect existing group cohesion within a team and identify the degree of cohesion. Practicing psychologists and sociologists recommend conducting a sociometric test in teams where employees have experience working together for at least six months, since only in this case, according to experts, will the sociometric test have an indicative result.

Respondents are asked to answer several questions regarding their relationships with other team members. In the response field, you must enter the names of colleagues selected by the respondent according to the specified criterion. It is recommended to use no more than 8-10 criteria by which each team member will be assessed. The criteria should be selected based on the significance of each of them for a particular team, so they can and should be modified in accordance with the conditions in which the test is carried out.

Questions in a questionnaire based on a sociometric test may look like this:

The analysis of respondents' answers is carried out as follows. To calculate the index group cohesion a tool such as a sociomatrix is ​​used. It is a table consisting of the names of the members of the teams chosen by the respondents and the names of the respondents themselves.

Based on the results obtained from the matrix data, the group cohesion indicator is calculated using the following formula:

If Employee 1 selected Employee 2 by the first criterion, then the number 1 is entered into the corresponding cell in the table, if Employee 3 was selected by the second criterion, the number 2 is entered into the corresponding cell, and so on. If employees chose each other based on the same criterion, this figure must be highlighted. Next, the total number of elections for each employee and the number of mutual elections are calculated.

where C is an indicator of group cohesion among team members;

K – the number of mutual choices made by team members;

M – the maximum number of possible elections in the group (M=n(n-1)/2, where n is the number of members in the group being surveyed).

It is believed that the value of a “good” indicator of group cohesion lies in the range from 0.6 to 0.7.

Next, based on the sociomatrix data, a sociogram is compiled, which is 4 circles, each of which corresponds to the “rating” of the selected employees. The first circle includes “stars” - those employees who received the maximum number of votes. The second circle, which is conventionally designated as “preferred,” includes those team members who received more choices than the average number of choices received by one employee being evaluated. The third circle, “neglected”, includes those employees who received fewer votes than the average number of votes received by one employee being evaluated. The fourth circle, the “isolated” area, is for employees who have not received any selections. Double-sided arrows in a sociogram show mutual choice, and one-sided arrows show one-sided choice.

The sociogram looks like this:

A sociogram allows you to visualize the existing groupings in a team and identify informal leaders in the team.

In practice, the sociometric method is used to study the socio-psychological climate in small groups of up to 15-20 people. In this case, it is recommended to indicate in the questionnaire how many names of colleagues the respondent can indicate in one or another answer to the question. As a rule, respondents are asked to limit themselves to 2-4 surnames. Such a limitation will simplify the task both for respondents, who will not have to evaluate and rank all members of their team, and for the researcher, since the constructed sociogram will more clearly and clearly reflect the situation in the team.

Psychologists recommend using the sociometric method to obtain information about intragroup relations. This will optimize the work process and improve relationships between groups among the team. Sociometric circles displayed on the sociogram will make it possible to clearly identify informal leaders in the group who have organizational skills and give them appropriate tasks. This will be useful both for improving group work and for the employee-leader who will be able to demonstrate and develop his abilities.

Methodology for assessing the psychological atmosphere in a team (according to A.F. Fidler)

This technique is based on the semantic differential method. Respondents are asked to familiarize themselves with 8 pairs of words with opposite meanings and assign their answer closer to the one that, in their opinion, more accurately reflects the atmosphere in the team. As a rule, a survey using Fiedler’s method looks like this:

Each extreme value is assigned a number of points: the extreme negative - 10, the extreme positive - 1. Then all the indicators are added up, and based on the value of the sum, an assessment of the atmosphere in the team is given. The minimum total score is 10, which is an indicator of a positive atmosphere in the team, the maximum is 100, which is an indicator of a negative atmosphere. Based on all partial assessments, an average is calculated, which will characterize the atmosphere in the team.

Fiedler's technique can only give descriptive characteristics of the climate in a team, its common features. For a complete and in-depth assessment of the socio-psychological climate in a team, it is recommended to combine the method of assessing the psychological atmosphere with a sociometric test. This will allow the researcher to provide more accurate and specific recommendations and advice for a specific team.

Determination of Seashore's group cohesion index.

Group cohesion is one of the most important parameters demonstrating the degree of integration of the team. It shows how cohesive or disunited a group is. Seashore’s “classic” method includes 5 questions, and the respondent is asked to choose one answer that is most appropriate, in his opinion. Each answer option is assigned a point from 1 to 5 (these points are not indicated in the questionnaire itself, the respondent does not see them), then the total number of points is calculated and, based on the resulting figure, a conclusion is drawn about the degree of team cohesion.

An example of a question from a questionnaire based on the Seashore method:

The total value obtained as a result of addition is usually interpreted as follows:

from 15.1 points – high group cohesion,

from 11.6 to 15 points – group cohesion is above average,

from 7 to 11.5 points – average group cohesion,

from 4 to 6.9 points – group cohesion is below average,

up to 4 points – low group cohesion.

If the value of the group cohesion index is 4 or below, this may serve as a signal to management about the need to introduce measures to bring team members closer together.

Experts say that Seashore’s method is appropriate for studying a socio-psychological team if its number does not exceed 40 people. If the organization is large and includes several departments, then it is recommended to use the Seashore method to determine the group cohesion index for a department or division and analyze the socio-psychological climate in this particular group.

This method has proven itself as effective remedy to study the socio-psychological climate in a team, however, for a more complete and in-depth analysis, it is recommended to use this method in conjunction with other techniques. The combination of various methods will allow a more profound and comprehensive assessment and analysis of the state of the socio-psychological climate in the team.

Periodic research into the socio-psychological climate in a team can identify problematic areas of the team’s life and take measures to improve the socio-psychological climate and, as a consequence, the labor efficiency of the organization’s employees.

• Personnel policy, Corporate culture

Psychological climate is one of the most important characteristics team. It has a significant impact on labor productivity, as well as the emotional state of each member of the group - both employees and management. What does this indicator depend on? How to diagnose it, and can it be changed?

Components of group atmosphere

The psychological climate in a team is understood as the mood of the group, which is determined by the relationships between people living, working or studying together. Nervous tension is a problem in many work and study groups. In addition to direct harm to relationships between people and their health, stress also affects the work process.

Most often, a tense situation arises in a situation of instability. Another fairly common reason why the psychological climate in a team is deteriorating is the unfavorable conditions in which an individual employee is forced to live. Perhaps he doesn't have the best Better conditions existence, poor nutrition, difficulties in relationships with relatives, etc. This may also affect the psychological state of other employees. Another common reason for an unfavorable environment in work environment- these are the difficulties of communication between the employees themselves.

Satisfaction of each employee with work

There are several factors that determine the psychological climate in a team. One of the main ones is employee satisfaction with their duties. A great influence on the formation of the environment is exerted by the fact how much the employee likes his work - whether it is diverse, whether it is possible to realize his creative potential with its help, whether it corresponds to the professional level of the employee.

The attractiveness of work is always increased by such motivators as decent wages, good conditions, fair and timely distribution of vacations, prospects career growth. Also important are such factors as the opportunity to increase the level of one’s professionalism, the peculiarities of relationships horizontally and vertically.

Compatibility and harmony of team members

Those relationships that were formed in the process of communication between people are an indicator of their psychological compatibility. It is believed that it is much easier for people who are similar to each other to establish interaction. Similarity helps the employee feel safe and increases self-esteem.

However, it is necessary to distinguish between concepts such as harmony and compatibility. If it is based on the characteristics of relationships between people, and can be judged after a relatively short period of time after the start of joint activities, then harmony takes years to develop. Its basis is the successful results of joint activities. In this case, both harmony and compatibility matter.

Cohesion

Formed on an emotional basis. If the team is united, then it is unlikely that everyone will be happy when one of the employees is in grief. Factors that influence the level of cohesion in a group are the attitude of its members towards the leader, trust within the team itself, the duration of joint work, as well as recognition of the personal contribution of each employee.

To a large extent this characteristic depends on the personal characteristics of the employees, how cultural their communication is, and whether there is sympathy or antipathy in the relationship. The predominance of certain qualities influences the general psychological climate in the team.

Features of communications

The atmosphere of a team is always based on the personal characteristics of each of its members. It is important to have communication skills, the characteristics of their assessments, opinions, and social experience. For example, the difficulties that some group members experience in communication can affect the situation in the team as a whole. For this reason, tension, mistrust may increase, disputes may arise, and if each member of the team is able to clearly and accurately express his point of view, properly masters the techniques of constructive criticism, has the skills active listening, then this helps create a favorable psychological climate in the group.

When analyzing the characteristics of the psychological compatibility of each member of the team, it is necessary to take into account such a factor as the type of communicative behavior. This classification was first developed by V. M. Shepel and includes the following categories:

• Collectivists are sociable people who will always support any initiative. If necessary, they are capable of taking the initiative.
• Individualists. Those employees who prefer to work alone rather than interact as part of a team. They are much more inclined towards personal responsibility.
• Pretenders. As a rule, such employees are often called vain, touchy, and eager to be the center of attention while working. And such a characterization is not without foundation.
• Copycats. People who seek to avoid complications, and for this purpose imitate other people's behavioral manners.
• Opportunists. Weak-willed team members who rarely take initiative and fall under the influence of others.
• Isolated. People who avoid contact. They often have a completely intolerable character.

Leadership style

This factor also has a great influence on the characteristics of the psychological climate in the team. There are several leadership styles:

• Democratic. Thanks to this style, friendliness develops within the team. Employees do not feel that certain decisions are being imposed “from the outside.” Group members also take part in management. This style is one of the best for creating a favorable psychological climate in a team.
• Authoritarian. Typically, all that this style produces is hostility among group members. There may be other alternatives - humility, ingratiation, and often envy and distrust. However this style management often leads a group to success, and therefore is used in the army, sports, etc.
• It is characterized by the fact that the work is left to chance. As a result, one can observe extremely low work efficiency, employee dissatisfaction, as well as the formation of an unfavorable socio-psychological climate in the team.

We can conclude that each leader has a significant influence on the characteristics of the moral and psychological climate, people’s attitude towards the activities performed, and satisfaction with the process of work or study.

Nature of work performed

Also important are the characteristics of the activities that each employee has to engage in. For example, the monotony of work or, conversely, its emotional oversaturation has a significant impact. It is also necessary to take into account the level of responsibility of each team member, the presence of risks to life and health, and the stressful nature of the work.

Features of a favorable atmosphere

There are many features that can be used to characterize the positive socio-psychological climate in a team. Let's look at the most basic ones:

• In such a group, as a rule, a cheerful and positive tone of relations prevails. The basic principles here are cooperation, mutual assistance, and goodwill. Trust prevails in relationships between employees, and criticism is expressed with goodwill.
• In the team there are certain norms of respectful attitude towards each of its representatives. The weak can find support, experienced workers help newcomers.
• Traits such as honesty, openness, and hard work are valued.
• Each member of the team is full of energy. If you need to do any useful work, he will respond. Labor efficiency indicators are generally high.
• If one of the group members experiences joy or failure, then those around him empathize with him.
• There is also mutual understanding in the relationships between mini-groups within the team.

Negative moral and psychological climate in the team: features

If there is no mutual respect in the group, then employees are forced to constantly take a defensive position and defend themselves, including from each other. Communication becomes more rare. When a leader demands the impossible from group members, subjects them to public criticism, punishes them more often than encourages them, and does not personally evaluate the employee’s contribution to joint activities, he thereby contributes to the formation of a negative psychological climate in the team. And the main consequence of this is a decrease in labor productivity and a deterioration in the quality of products.

Poorly cohesive group: properties

This group is characterized by pessimism and irritability. Often team members are bored and they frankly don’t like their work because it doesn’t arouse interest. Each employee has a fear of making a mistake, making an inappropriate impression, and hostility. In addition to this symptom, which is obvious, there are other features of the unfavorable moral and psychological climate in the team:

• There are no norms of justice and equality in the team. There is always a noticeable division between the “privileged” and those who are neglected. The weak in such a team are treated with contempt and are often ridiculed. Newcomers in such a group feel superfluous and are often treated with hostility.
• Honesty, hard work, and selflessness are not held in high esteem.
• Generally, group members are passive, and some openly seek to separate themselves from the rest.
• The successes or failures of employees do not evoke sympathy, and often become the subject of open envy or gloating.
• In such a group there may be small groups that refuse to cooperate with each other.
• IN problematic situations the team often finds itself unable to unite to solve a problem.

Alarm bells of negative changes

However, it is necessary to take into account that it is rare when a favorable psychological climate in a team becomes negative abruptly. Most often, this is preceded by some initially imperceptible changes. Just as a person must cross a certain borderline before turning from a law-abiding member of society into a criminal, certain tendencies first emerge in the work collective. The following characteristics are inherent in the maturation of negative moods:

• Hidden disobedience to management orders or inaccurate execution of instructions.
• "Gatherings" in work time. Instead of doing business, employees communicate, play backgammon - in a word, kill time.
• Rumors and gossip. This feature is often attributed women's groups, however, the gender of the employees is not an excuse - rumors are inevitable where they have nothing better to do.
• Careless attitude towards technology.

“Scapegoat” is a consequence of excessive authoritarianism

If the leader of a group (be it a work team, a student group, or a school class) adheres to an exclusively authoritarian style, this can affect each of the members in a negative way. Fear of punishment, in turn, leads to the emergence of scapegoats. In most cases, this role is filled by a person (or even a group of people) who are in no way to blame for the problems of the team, but are somehow different from the rest. The scapegoat becomes a victim of attacks and aggression.

The researchers emphasize that having such a target for aggression is only a temporary way for the group to relieve tension. The roots of the problem remain unaffected, and when the scapegoat leaves the group, another will take his place - and it is quite possible that this will be one of the team members.

How can you determine the atmosphere in a group?

There are several criteria by which you can assess the psychological climate in a team:

• Staff turnover.
• Level of labor efficiency.
• Quality of manufactured products.
• The number of absenteeism and lateness of individual employees.
• The number of claims and complaints from the company's clients.
• Deadlines for completing the work.
• Carelessness or negligence in handling work equipment.
• Frequency of breaks during the working day.

How to improve relationships in a team

By assessing the characteristics of the atmosphere in the team, you can identify those weak points that need to be corrected. You may have to make some personnel changes. Creating a psychological climate in a team is the task of every responsible leader. After all, labor productivity often drops when employees are psychologically incompatible with each other or when one of the employees has such a personal characteristic as a banal desire to create conflict situations.

Once the obvious problems have been resolved, you should move on to strengthening the bonds between employees by holding special events outside of work hours. Forming a favorable psychological climate in a team can be a long process. However, such a strategy allows you to relieve tension, as well as help employees move from the level of purely business interaction to a friendly one.

Carrying out joint work projects also contributes to improving the psychological climate in the workforce. For example, this could be conducting brainstorming sessions. Special work events in which employees from different departments must collaborate are often effective.

Features of the working atmosphere among teachers

Special attention should be paid to the psychological climate in teaching staff. This area is always stressful, and the working atmosphere is often one of the factors that determines the effectiveness of a teacher. The unity of the teaching staff always occurs within the framework of performing some common task or activity - first of all, social, pedagogical. In such events, each teacher should have the opportunity to realize their creative abilities.

Of course, holding methodological days or creative meetings of teachers often requires additional time, but such events remain in the memory of teachers for a long time as bright and unforgettable events.

How can a teacher create an atmosphere in the classroom?

Many teachers have to deal with the formation of the psychological climate of the classroom team. This is enough not an easy task, however, its implementation contributes to the achievement of the most pressing tasks of education. Children in a close-knit class gain invaluable experience of interpersonal interaction, cooperation, and responsibility. The following methods of creating a positive atmosphere in the classroom are distinguished:

• Inclusion in the daily educational process various types art.
• Games.
• General traditions.
• The teacher's active position in relation to the class.
• Creating various situations in which the class could experience events that are significant for the team.

How to determine the characteristics of the moral situation in a group?

There are many ways to find out about the characteristics of the psychological climate in a team. Techniques developed for this purpose provide insight into what is happening in the group. The easiest way is to distribute leaflets with the following questionnaire to group members (if desired, it can be anonymous):

1. Do you like the work you do?
2. Do you have a desire to change it?
3. If you were to look for a job today, would you focus on your current job?
4. Is the work interesting for you? Is it diverse enough?
5. Are you satisfied technical equipment at work?
6. Is the salary satisfactory?
7. What would you like to change about collaboration?
8. How do you assess the atmosphere in the team? Is it friendly, respectful, trusting? Or, on the contrary, is there envy, tension, mistrust and irresponsibility?
9. Do you consider your colleagues to be high-class professionals?
10. Do you have their respect?

Studying the psychological climate of the team allows us to take timely necessary measures to improve it, and therefore increase labor productivity. The appearance of negative symptoms indicates that the team is “sick”. However, if you pay attention to these signals in time, working atmosphere can be adjusted and even improved in many ways.

The most important problem is to identify the factors that shape the socio-psychological climate in the team. Most important factors The level of professional psychological climate in the team will be determined by the system of selection and placement of administrative personnel, as well as the personality of the leader. The climate of the team is also influenced by the personal qualities of the leader, the style and methods of leadership, the authority of the leader, as well as the individual characteristics of the team members.

The leader influences almost all factors that determine the socio-psychological climate. The selection of personnel, the encouragement and punishment of team members, their promotion up the career ladder, and the organization of workers’ labor depend on it. Much depends on his leadership style.

Team management is a combination of science and art. From the point of view of American management, the essence of management is to do the work not with one’s own hands, but with someone else’s hands. In fact, even more difficult task- make not only other people's hands work, but also other people's heads. Therefore, it is unreasonable to rely only on yourself, considering yourself omniscient and able to do everything. You should never do for yourself what subordinates can and should do (except in cases of personal example).

The implementation of each task must be monitored and evaluated (forms of control should not be totalitarian); lack of control may lead the employee to believe that the work he is doing is unnecessary. There is no need to turn control into petty custody. If offered by an employee independent decision the problem does not, in principle, contradict the point of view of management; there is no need to fetter the employee’s initiative and argue over trifles.

Each employee's achievement and initiative should be immediately celebrated. You can thank a subordinate in the presence of other employees. A person is encouraged by a positive assessment of his actions and upset if success in his work is not noticed and appreciated. When an employee turns out to be more talented and successful than his manager in some way, this is not something negative; good reputation subordinates give praise to the leader and give him credit.

There is no need to reprimand a subordinate who has committed a minor offense in the presence of other persons, employees or subordinates; humiliation of a person is not The best way education. There is no point in criticizing people. More constructive would be criticism of their mistakes, indicating from what shortcomings such errors may occur. And even more so, there is no need to point out these shortcomings in a person - he must draw all the conclusions himself.

IN conflict situation The use of harsh, insulting words will be destructive (if the situation can be resolved without them). It is very important: a spark of respect, and especially sympathy, planted by a leader in the soul of a subordinate can charge him with creative selfless work, regardless of time.

Precise formulation of your thoughts: the manner of speaking reveals professional literacy, managerial competence, and general culture. An easily outlined and formulated thought encourages communication and eliminates the potential for conflict caused by misunderstanding. A correctly made remark eliminates unnecessary irritation. Sometimes it is useful to make comments in the form of a question: “Do you think there is a mistake made here?” or “What do you think...”

The ability of a manager to defend the interests of the entire team and each of his subordinates is good remedy gaining authority and uniting workers into a single group.

Trust and distrust are the most important personality qualities on which the socio-psychological climate in the team depends. Excessive, excessive gullibility distinguishes inexperienced, easily vulnerable people. They find it difficult to be good leaders. But the worst thing is suspicion of everyone. The mistrust of a leader almost always breeds mistrust of subordinates. By showing distrust of people, a person almost always limits the possibility of mutual understanding, and therefore the effectiveness of collective activity.

Delegation of authority stimulates the development of abilities, initiative, independence and competence of subordinates. Delegation often has a positive effect on employee motivation and job satisfaction.

Objective contradictory situations that arise in people’s activities create the potential for conflicts to arise, which become reality only in combination with subjective factors. Whatever objective conditions exist, people ultimately come into conflict, therefore, how it develops depends on their attitude to the situation, their perception of it. The human factor in the emergence of conflict is associated both with the characteristics of the team and with individual personal characteristics of people. The psychological climate that has developed in a team influences the background level of conflict in it and how people experience intense stressful situations. Outgrowing difficult situations conflicts are more often observed in teams with a low level of development, characterized by the disunity of its members, the lack of unity between them on issues of joint activities and other aspects of interaction. The level of development of the collectivist principle itself turns out to be one of the factors that determines the collective’s ability to optimally overcome difficulties and difficult situations and, conversely, the potential tendency for conflicts to arise. The predominance of one or another personal qualities among members of a team, it influences the relationships that develop within the team, the nature of its mental state, gives it a certain peculiarity that can promote or hinder its unity. They especially hinder team cohesion negative traits character: touchiness, envy, painful pride.

In general, conflict is understood as a collision of oppositely directed actions of workers caused by divergent interests, views, and aspirations. Conflict comes with tension in relationships.

Frequent causes of conflicts are:

Disadvantages in the organization of rationing and remuneration. The spiritual comfort of people largely depends on the degree of implementation of the principle of social justice. It is very important that those workers who work better receive more.

Disadvantages in the organization of management caused by the incompetence of the manager, the discrepancy between his personality and the level of maturity of the team; his insufficient moral education, as well as low psychological culture.

Imperfection of the team itself or its individual members: lack of conscious discipline, which hinders the work of the leader and the development of the entire team; the prevailing rigidity and inertia in the structure of the team’s activities, which leads to great resistance to innovation, unhealthy relationships between regular workers and newcomers; psychological and moral incompatibility of individual team members, transfer of personal misfortunes, troubles of individuals to relationships in the work collective, etc.

Team unity involves, first of all, identifying the causes of conflict and carrying out appropriate preventive work, which can be carried out in the following areas:

Improving the organization and working conditions, ensuring rhythm and strict coordination production process, which causes moral satisfaction with work among employees;

Selection of personnel and correct placement of personnel, taking into account their socio-professional characteristics and psychological compatibility, which reduces the likelihood of conflict;

Development of criticism and self-criticism, etc.

However, it is impossible to completely avoid conflicts in a team. As a rule, no team can do without conflicts. Moreover, conflicts have both negative and positive consequences. They help team members get to know each other, gain a more complete understanding of mutual expectations and claims, and the administration - about shortcomings in the organization of work, everyday life, and production management. Therefore, it is very important that the clash of views and positions of the conflicting parties does not alienate them from each other, so that controversial issues are resolved and cease to be controversial, so that the conflict does not take a destructive path. In this regard, the behavior of those in conflict, the culture of conflict, acquires special significance.

Thus, the socio-psychological climate is the psychological mood in a group or team. The main factors of the psychological climate: vertical and horizontal relationships, their style and norms, and then various components of the production environment (organization and working conditions, stimulation system). The nature of the socio-psychological climate generally depends on the degree of development of the team. There is a direct positive connection between the socio-psychological climate of the team and the effectiveness of the joint activities of its members.

The socio-psychological climate is the result of the joint activities of people and their interpersonal interaction. It manifests itself in such group effects as the mood and opinion of the team, individual well-being and assessments of the living and working conditions of the individual in the team. These effects are expressed in the relationships associated with the labor process and decision common tasks team.

Members of a team as individuals determine its social microstructure, the uniqueness of which is determined by social and demographic characteristics (age, gender, profession, education, nationality, social origin). Psychological characteristics individuals contribute or hinder the formation of a sense of community, that is, they influence the formation socio-psychological climate in the workforce.

An effective team: has clear goals; all members are not indifferent to each other; they are open to each other; relationships between people are characterized by a high degree of trust; decisions are made by consensus or, if alternatives exist, after obtaining the consent of all members; people are dedicated to the team and strive to make its work even more effective; conflicts that arise are resolved without outside interference; all members take into account not only the ideas and opinions, but also the feelings of their fellows (these can be expressed openly); roles are clearly distributed; makes every effort to achieve a common goal; Constructive relationships have been established with other groups and teams.