Tuckmans Teams

Team cohesion is crucial in a group’s ability to perform and stay united. Dynamics of group are constantly changing

Tuckman (1965) suggests that understanding is required in order for teams to reach maturity. Tuckman phases of team development are:

Teams are an integral component of organizational success. They take on many forms and functions and can have various structures. Teams also conduct a wide variety of projects with goals of innovation or mitigation. An example, from my experience, of a project that required the execution from a team was the establishment of a finished goods inventory program within a paper manufacturing company. A project of this magnitude required that a diverse and multifaceted team be assembled.

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

In a previous class, we learned about a theory on group dynamics called the Tuckman stages. This theory states that in order for a team to effectively produce at its highest potential, there are four phases that are indispensable and unavoidable. Without giving attention to these phases, Tuckman believed that most teams would concentrate almost solely on content and virtually ignore the process, explaining why outwardly strong teams produce underwhelming results. Summarizing these four phases, Tuckman named them forming, storming, norming and performing. While reflecting on the dynamic for my most recent group collaboration project for this class, it is helpful to consider the Tuckman phrases and whether or not they were

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

In 1965, Psychologist Bruce Tuckman came up with a system to describe the formation of teams. Merriam-Webster defines a team generically as “a number of persons associated together in work or activity” (“Team,” n.d.). Every team, whether the cabinet of the President of the United States or a pee-wee football team, goes through Tuckman’s stages of “Forming, Norming, Storming, and Performing.” In 1970, he added a fifth stage of “Adjourning” to account for the breaking up of teams after they have fulfilled their reasons for being (Mindtools, n.d.) In business, teams are formed for departments, independent special projects, or specific duties such as the receiving team in a warehouse.

Team building is centered on helping other move through different stage of a group development which helps each other strengthens their relationship within the team and other member’s to understand the roles and responsibilities required. (Bierema, L. 2014) Tuckman’s stages use the forming; storming; norming and performing model for group development. This was first proposed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965. (Bierema, L. 2014) When it comes to the current team I am linked with, we are currently not involved in any of these stages. Since this chapter, I have brought this suggestion my management so start this process. Prior to me starting in this department, current supervisors would do what they felt was correct which can contradict what the correct

Teams are more than just groups of people assembled in the same area, they are a collection of individuals dedicated to a common purpose and with a series of detailed performance targets, working together with complementary skills. Teams of people are encountered in various scenarios, not just in the workplace, but also throughout life, such as sports, associations, charities and voluntary services.

Bruce W Tuckman (1965) developed a model to describe the differing stages of team development. He gave us a way of interpreting the various stages groups pass through into making an effective team. As you can see from the illustration below, teams go

This balance is often observed difficult to achieve, especially within the solution teams. This is mainly attributed to the team formation stages as described by the Bruce Tuckman’s model (1965). According to Tuckman, the team formation goes through the forming, storming, norming and performing stages in progression. In the forming stage, there is a high dependence on leader for guidance and direction. In the storming stage, team members vie for position as they attempt to

Generally, the team dynamics are good and the team works well together since the members know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Looking at the team from the context of Tuckman’s model of team development, I believe that the team is past the forming, storming, and norming stages, and we are now at the performing phase. The performing stage is usually characterized with optimal task attainment and a high level of cohesion, collaboration, and communication as well as genuine pride in the successes of the team (Management training Australia, 2015). Everyone within the team is strategically aware and understands what the team is doing and what is expected of them. The leader delegates activities with minimum supervision and members within the team look after one another. Although disagreements may arise every now and then, the team is now mature enough to attend to such disagreements and solve them in a positive way. The following are the team members;

To fully discuss this topic, we must start with a simple definition of a team. Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith define a team in their best-selling book The Wisdom of Teams (Harper Business Essentials 1994), as

A theory of team working that details the stages of team development that are typical to any type of team

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