Team cohesion is one of the most important contributors to team success. Teams are advantageous to individuals because every team member contributes diverse knowledge and skills which allows for divergent thinking.
However, these benefits emerge only in cohesive teams. Cohesion is the attraction that drives team members to stay and work together. Individuals who don’t feel cohesion with their team are less motivated and don’t participate in the activities that cause the positive effects of teamwork.

• Diversity in your team leads to more trust and higher individual performance which ultimately results in higher team cohesion.
• Trust is needed so that everyone can share their opinions and contribute to discussions which allows for divergent thinking.
• Conflict behavior is a key componend in team cohesion, because how the team deals with differences between individuals decides how effective different input of team members is used.
• Communication describes every verbal and nonverbal interaction between team members and is crucial to a high functioning and diverse team.

Click here for more science-based information on how to measure team cohesion.