The Stages Of Group Development

50 years have passed since the Tuckman's classical model of Small Group Development was presented to the world. Tuckman’s model has become "the most predominantly referred to and most widely recognized in organizational literature (Miller, 2003, p. 122)" (Bonebright, 2010, p. 111). Established by Bruce W. Tuckman in 1965 and revised by Tuckman and Jensen in 1977, the model presents the well- known stages of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.

The forming stage is characterized by dependency, and need for acceptance and guidance. In this stage the "meet and greet" is done. During the meet and greet each member gathers information that will determine the strength of potential relationships amongst group members, as well as establish group hierarchy. Generally, in this stage the leader of group is selected. The group leader has a tendency to be someone that is viewed as stable and

The forming and orientation stage of the group is the initial step of getting the group started. Gladding (2012) outlines seven steps that make up the forming stage of group development. First, one must develop a basis for the group.

Whether groups are formed for social or task oriented purposes, the ability to produce and maintain a sense of affiliation, peer support and collaboration is important for overall group functioning. The cohesion of a social group is produced through the establishment of a set of group norms, which are later defined as a guide for conduct accepted within a group of individuals. However, in order for a group to perform and produce results, the team leader should guide his/her team through the proper stages of group development, which includes the following steps: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Although teams should follow all these stages of group development, the forming and the norming stages are the most important,

Similar to Tuckman’s five stages of group development is Corey and Corey, they claim that the first stage; Pregroup is “setting expectations, establishing group rules and procedures, role preparation and skills building” (Corey, Corey, Corey 2010 p123). The group did well in this stage, as the group was given a very clear aim, we discussed each members skill sets and while preparing a group contract with our aims objectives and rules. A group contract is a very useful facilitation tool as it sets out very clear guidelines for the group and defines what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour for the group members (Tuckman 1965). The group members were able to gain clarity from the group contract, allowing them to identify the norms and boundaries of the group. For example our group decided that if a member were for any reason not be able to attend a meeting they would have to let the team know in advance, if this did happen the rest of the team would relay the information via email to the missing group member.

The clarity and effectiveness of purpose and the use of time was very well used in this meeting. The purpose of this meeting was very clear to both this writer and seemed to be to all group members. Group members respected that the purpose was to have meetings that were effective enough to help themselves stay sober. The group leader was very strict on keeping the group on task and did not allow much time for the group members to get off topic. The group discussions truly allowed group members to understand the purpose in being in attendance at each meeting. The time allotted for the meeting was perfect. The hour long session left just enough time for each portion of the meeting to be completed, but did not leave extra time where the group leader struggled to come up with discussion or activities for the group members to participate in. The use of time was very effective and clear to both the group leaders and group members.

They avoid conflict and feelings, so that people focus on other things. However, people are gathering information and opinions about everything, so not much work gets done. The second stage is called storming. In this stage people start to confront each other. Some people will be happy about this, where as other people would prefer to still be in the forming stage. People will look for clearness in the structure and rules to make sure that the conflict doesn't get any worse. The next stage is called norming. In this stage the group now have an understanding of each other after the conflict. So they now support and listen to each other and they are prepared to change their opinions that they made in the forming stage. They group worked hard to get to this stage as they may have not wanted things to change. The final stage is called performing. In this stage they all know each other well, so they can communicate effectively, to ensure that they get everything

The five stages of developing groups is an important part of the position. In many cases it is the relationships that a person will have with other individuals who will determine the best members to put into the different groups. As well, the different skill sets that individuals have are also an important part in placing group members together. The observation of the first groups placed together will be a good gauge in learning how some of the individuals work and observing how others work well together. The group size should be eight to 10 people to facilitate greater ease of equal participation among the individuals.

Using Tuckman’s (1965) model of group development, our first session can be considered as our “forming stage.” This was on the basis that it involved introducing ourselves to one another and to quote Price (2001): “we created and negotiated an

This stage sees group members begin to confront each other as they begin to vie for roles within the group that will help them to belong and to feel valued. Thus as members begin to assert their individual personalities, the comfort of the forming stage begins to come under siege. Members experience personal, intra and inter group conflicts. Aggression and resentment may manifest in this stage and thus if strong personalities emerge and leadership is unresponsive to group and individual needs, the situation may become destructive to the

Wheelan and her associates came up with a classification system referred to as Group Development Observation System (GDOS) to categorize the verbal interactions among group members. The eight Group Development Observation System categories include;

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.

The IntensCare development group development was observed using two models: Tuckman’s () five stages of group development and the punctuated equilibrium model (Gersick 1989). This was done because Biubiu believed that the two models complement each other in understanding developmental patterns of the IntensCare group over time. Furthermore, a research conducted by Chang, Bordia,and Duck (2003) found that pacing and time statement changes are able to be interpreted as both linear (Tuckman’s five stages of development theory) and nonsequential (the punctuated equilibrium model).

The Avengers went through 5 stages of group development that was theorized by Bruce Tuckman. The first stage is forming, wherein the Avengers gathered at the end of the first class. Each member collected information from each other such as the individual member’s name, contact number and email address. As the professor gave a task, the members felt the tension as to who will become the leader to obtain the information needed by the professor and write in the sheet of paper. There was minimal interaction between members and everyone just focused on the questions given. M5 stood out as a leader in this group activity as he voiced out that he would write in the sheet of paper and submit it online on Moodle. The initiative to complete this task

The organization has five stages of group development. In the forming stage they have identified that there is a