Group Dynamics for Teams

This clear and engaging book explains the basic psychological concepts of group dynamics with a focus on their application with teams in the workplace. Grounded in psychology research but with a very practical focus on organizational behavior issues, this book helps readers understand and participate in teams more effectively in day-to-day work.

Daniel Levi is a retired professor in the Psychology and Child Development Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California. He holds an MA and a PhD in environmental psychology from the University of Arizona. He has taught classes in teamwork, environmental psychology, and organizational psychology. His teamwork class was designed primarily for engineering and business students. He has conducted research and worked as a consultant with factory and engineering teams for a variety of technology companies. In addition, he has worked on international team research projects in Europe and Asia.

Dr. Levi’s research and consulting with factory teams primarily focused on the use of teams to support technological change and the adoption of just-in-time and quality programs. This work examined a variety of team issues, including job redesign, training, compensation, supervision, and change management approaches. His work with professional teams primarily was focused on engineering design teams. These projects examined the use of concurrent engineering, self-management, and the globalization of teams. The topics of this work included the impact of information technology on teams, facilitation and training needs for professional teams, and the impacts of organizational culture and leadership.

Early work on the book was sponsored by an engineering education grant from NASA. This project focused on the development of teamwork skills in engineering students working on multidisciplinary projects. It led to the development of cases and activities for learning teamwork skills and research on teamwork training and evaluating and rewarding student teams. Additional research on student teams examined gender and cross-cultural issues, social support within teams, and bullying and hijacking in student teams.