Team Development

FORMING:This is the introductory stage where individuals come together to become a team. At this stage, individuals are trying to find their place and as a result, we could have a lot of conflicts and other negativity appearing but this helps the group understand themselves better and value each other more.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the life cycle of team development. How the stages of a project team works towards an end conclusion. The benefits of a project team and the risks of allowing the project team to exist beyond its original goals.

The features of effective team performance are set out in Brian Tuckman’s phases of team development theory, ‘Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing.’ This outlines the phases that a team will go through in order to become effective and reach maturity. At the ‘Forming’ stage of team development individual roles and responsibilities are unclear and each member of the team is concerned to avoid conflict with each other. From this point the team will go through the ‘Storming’ phase which is when they start to conflict as individuals put forward ideas which will be challenged by others in a bid to gain power and position over others. After this the ‘Norming’ phase follows and it is at this point that individual roles are defined and accepted

The five stages of team development were first introduced by Bruce Wayne Tuckman in 1965. His research into the way teams function and coordinate provided reoccurring trends towards very specific points in the life of a team, which became the premises of each of the first four “Tuckman’s Stages.” The fifth stage was co-created by Mary Ann Jensen over a decade later. The five stages discussed in this essay are as follows: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning.

Over the past two decades, it seems that teamwork has become increasingly important and more companies have formed different teams and groups for various purposes (Samson & Daft, 2012). It is proved that good teams can be highly productive, however, not every team is successful (Samson & Daft, 2012). Forming a team can be time consuming and there are many problems related to teamwork, for example, social loafing might reduce the effectiveness of a team. Therefore, it is crucial to know how to develop a good team with less time and less effort. Bruce Tuckman in 1965 developed the popular model for effective team building. This model identifies four stages of team building which are forming, storming, norming and performing (Tuckman, 1965). Later on, Tuckman added a fifth stage: adjourning to the model (Samson & Daft, 2012). The five-stage team development model provides a guideline on how team works by using simple and easily understandable words. However, there are some limitations of this theory as well. This paper in the following will discuss both the utility and the limitations of Tuckman’s team development stage model. Then it will provide some suggestions based on the limitations of the model.

Team work is the ability to work together towards a common vision. Teamwork is a fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. Collective action is widely recognized as a positive force for teamwork in any organization or institution to succeed. “Teams enable individuals to empower themselves and to increase benefits from cooperative work engaged on as a group. Getting together with others also can allow individuals to better understand the importance of teamwork and how the organization operates as well as promote the culture of teamwork success” (Ghorbanhosseni, 2013).

The Tuckman Model (1965) is a five-stage model which identifies five stages of team development; forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. In order to obtain the team’s optimal productivity and outcomes, it is suggested that the team goes through the stages of development which the facilitator must oversee. The stages help the facilitator to develop the groups and to better manage the participants should any conflict arise. The following report describes a small group of carers who are caring for someone who has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and how the stages of development were used within the group work. Forming is the first stage where group members begin to become oriented with each other and the facilitator (George Mason University, 2017). The storming stage follows where conflicts and competition arise between group members as they have often not become comfortable or familiar with each other (George Mason University, 2017). Norming is the third stage of Tuckman’s Model which involves group member’s feeling which enable them to contribute to the group’s development resulting in group cohesion (Wilson, 2010). Performing is the fourth stage of group development where group members can work interdependently, within subgroups or as a whole and are the most productive in developing as a group and as an individual (George Mason University, 2017). Adjourning is the last stage of Tuckman’s model which involves dissolving the group and

The first goal of stage three is to solidify positive relationships between members. The second goal is to engage in more mature negotiations about group roles and organizational procedures. Once the three are stages are worked through the n the fourth stage, Work (Wheelan, 2013), can be accomplished. Wheelan (2013) identifies the fourth stage as a time of intense team productivity and effectiveness. This is the stage that is the result of creating the effective team. Once the four stages have been identified and understood, Wheelan (2013) goes on to elaborate on how a group leader can keep the team effective. Wheelan (2013) speaks of 10 keys to productivity (goals, roles, interdependence, leadership, communication and feedback, [discussion, decision making and planning], implementation and evaluation, norms and individual differences, structure, cooperation and conflict management). Wheelan (2013) also shares the ways that group members become effective team members (don’t blame others, support the leader, promote effective problem-solving, etc…) as well as how a leader can be an effective team leader (be direct and confident, involve members in leadership, adjust your leadership style to the group, etc…). Finally, Wheelan (2013) highlights effective organizational support for teams, which includes an organization support checklist.

Tuckman (1965) proposed that when developing teams, groups proceed through four general stages of development, namely: Forming, storming, norming and performing.

Teamwork is capable to uplift productivity and at the same time it is vital to meet solution for complicated challenges and difficulties. High performing teams usually combining individual talents and abilities to achieve team work. Multinational companies are mainly concentrating on performance of team and investing more amounts on teams to grab maximum benefit. Effective approach is pivotal to establish high-talented teams, include group task, individual tasks, monitoring and evaluation methods, and development of regulations for meet final output. (Hearst Newspapers, 2014)

Group development begins with the forming stage where members ask questions, get to know each other and discover acceptable behaviors. The storming stage, or second step, is the period where there may be emotional outbreaks and tension within the group. This progresses to the third or norming stage where team members start to work together as a unit, the performing stage where the team is well integrated and functioning as a team. And lastly the adjourning stage when the team is ending as a group and group accomplishments are celebrated.

As mention earlier, Tuckman’s stages for developing teams was the blueprint for building effective teams. Tuckman argued that these stages were necessary to building highly effective teams (LAW, 2007). The stages were “Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning”. (Tuckman, 65). In the forming stages where the team meets, the teams outline the goals and agree on team roles, rules a guideline for decision making. The next stage in the model was the storming stage, this is where conflict is met, and goals are established. Conflict will arise in this stage and the team leader must facilitate the discussion and ensure that there is a common understanding of agreements. Once the team has accepted the goals, roles and rules, the team starts the norming stage this is where they begin to work in a positive direction. The leader coaches and

A team is a group of people working together to achieve the same objectives. Katzenbach and Smith state in their report The Discipline of Teams (1993) that ‘the essence of a team is common commitment. Without it, groups perform as individuals; with it, they become a powerful unit of collective performance.’ Throughout this study, I will analyse the many different advantages and disadvantages of working in teams and its effects on team members and their performance and commitment within the team. I will consider many different aspects of team work and refer to certain established theories in

Work Team development is a dynamic and often difficult process. Most teams find themselves in a continuos state of change and development. Eventhough, most teams never reach full stability, there is a general pattern that describes how most teams evolve. There are five stages of team development, the first stage is forming. In this stage there is a great deal of uncertainty about the teams purpose, structure and leadership. Members are testing the the waters to determine what types of behaviors are acceptable. This stage is complete when members began to think of themselves as part of the team. The second stage is called storming. In this stage there is much intragroup conflict.Team members accept the existence of the team, but there is resistance to the control that the team imposes on individuality. Conflict can arise from numerous sources within the team setting but generally falls into three categories:communication, factors, structural factors and personal factors (Varney, 1989/Townsley). In addition, there is conflict over who will control the team.

Aristotle is credited with stating the whole is greater than the simple sum of its parts. This also represents the definition of synergy. Synergy is the unified working of the sum to create something greater than the individual components. For instance a car engine is comprised of an engine block, belts, hoses, spark plugs, and other miscellaneous components. Individually these components are not going to propel a vehicle however when put together and fed some fuel the components create the oomph needed to support transportation. In sports and business the cooperation and collaboration of people in organizations is no different. The people within these groups must be working in a unified manner toward a common set of goals and objectives. This common set of goals and objective provides the end point so that a team of people have the necessary oomph, to achieve outcomes that would otherwise be unattainable by a single individual.