Wheelan's Four Stages

Tuckman in his "Stages of Development' model identified 5 stages of team formation: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (CIPP, Unit 1). Based on his analysis and characteristics of each stage it becomes possible to recognise that the team has reached the stage of 'Performing'. According to Tuckman it is the final stage of development when a team is fully functioning and produces its 'best work'. The main features of the ‘Performing’ stage are (CIPP, Unit

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.

In the third stage, the group develops solidarity. Team members understand each other’s trait and express personal opinions. In this phase norms and roles are established. “Neuman and Wright (1999) described this as a stage of developing shared mental models and discovering the most effective ways to work with each other” (Bonebright, 2010, p. 114). Tuckman (1965) stated that in this phase, the team becomes an entity because members develop in-group feeling and seek to maintain and immortalize the group as a result the conflicts are avoided for effort to ensure

I have been given more confidence, better public speaking skills, but most importantly I learned to

I personally think I took on the roles of co-ordinator, team leader, monitor-evaluator and completer (Hartly, 2010 p.6), for example, I was the first to comment on the wiki and continue with the groups week to week activities to keep the group moving forward. I also kept the wiki up to date, while also making sure everyone was on task with the assessment. Even though it was a long drawn out process, I tried to get everyone collaborating on the group wiki provided and also took the lead to keep in contact with our eLA about the progress of a team, due to complications with team members not showing or disappearing through the

One of the more important skills students will learn outside the classroom is teamwork. This quality can not be taught it must be learned by experience. Members will be on teams to compete in competitions. Students must learn the limits and strengths of their team member if they wish to succeed. This skill prepares students for the team work assignments which will be required in classes, as well as in everyday

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

I still remember the time I was chosen to lead the public relations team at one of the student activities back when I was in college, an experience that shaped a lot of the person I am today. I had to establish and maintain good relations with all stakeholders and media, prepare newsfeed updates for all social media platforms, and above all manage a team of 20 members. I spent a lot of time thinking that I am now donning the shoes of my seniors and becoming the person that freshers would look up to. Being an influential leader is not easy, I was sure, and it is more than just telling others what to do. In the following few lines, I employ Tuckman's stages of group development: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing to outline my journey

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.

This novel written by Keith Sawyer held so much information on how to better group interactions- anyone can walk away from this book with broader outlook on creating a “Group Genius”. Sawyer has laid out all of these great concepts and ideas in front of readers. It was an amazing way to express the possibilities that both, groups and teams can achieve. Whether these be small or big business teams, one or a couple inventors beginning their story or a sports team- all of these groups can apply what Sawyer has written, into their work and group atmosphere. A group has the choice to take these skills and adapt them into their own experiences, it can all spark from just one person making a change. I learned a lot

Byrd, J. T., & Luthy, M. R. (2010). Improving group dynamics- Creating a team charter. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 14(1), 13–26

Tuckman proposes that groups develop via five stages; forming, storming, norming, performing and finally adjourning (Archee, Gurney, & Mohan, 2013a). The first stage, known as forming, involves clarifying the task and purpose of the group, and identifying boundaries of both the task and interpersonal behaviour (Archee et al., 2013a). For the presentation task we were randomly allocated into groups. This worried me greatly as I have struggled in the past with group members who do not contribute equally or see the task as important as other group members. To avoid this problem, the group collectively determined and agreed upon a number of ground rules. For example, we decided that all group members were expected to contribute equally to the presentation, all group members were expected to attend and contribute at all group meetings, and all group members would adhere to agreed upon deadlines. Having failed to do this in previous group assignments, this clarification stage

Comment on the following quote by Katzenbach, Smith "simply put, teams will be the primary building block of performance in the high performance organization of the future. As a result, effective top managers will increasingly worry about both performance and the teams that will help deliver it." (p. 239, The Wisdom of Teams). By referring to the concepts you have learned in this course including the different dynamics teams bring to the workplace discuss what have been the key lessons learned about teams and leading them for you and how you will or would apply those in an organization.

Teamwork can be complex and challenging given task and interpersonal issues, level of group motivation and expected performance standards. The concrete experience spoken about in this reflection piece is in reference to the effectiveness of myself as a group member and the group, working to write a report outlining the organisation and structure of Volkswagen. Dennison (2009) applies Kolb’s learning cycle (1981, 1984) which suggests that learning moves through a continuous cycle, between having an experience, and then reflecting on that action. This cycle has been developed from Lewin’s (1951) model for experiential learning. Reflection termed by Boud, Keogh and Walker (1985) ‘is a forum of response to the learner to experience’(p. 18). On reflection, the early set group dynamics was a defining factor in the experience, and how the team conducted themselves throughout the task. Meyerson, Wick and Kramer (1996) note that ‘such rapidly converging groups require methods for developing “swift trust”’ (p. 8), which can explain why initial group dynamics are so important. I took on multiple team roles, including group leader, which could be translated into the team not performing collectively on a high level, however, I could view this as a personal ineffectiveness of my leadership style.

When this course started, I didn’t know what to expect. Quickly did I learn that it was more than just about a single individual and his or her ideas and behaviours. As the course progressed, I learned that it was very important to understand how small groups work. Reflecting upon my personal journey with my group, I have learnt that working in small groups requires commitment, synergy, communication, listening, conflict resolution and decision making and problem solving. This brings me upon my personal journey with my small group and how I have learned to work in such an environment.