Using The Stages Of Team Development

They try to conform to norms because they want to maintain their relationships in the team and they want to meet team expectations. Teams with strong performance norms and high cohesiveness are high performing. Most high-performing teams go through five stages of team development. As a leader, you want to recognize what stage your group is in and do your best to facilitate them into the next stage. Once your group makes it to the performing stage, they should need very little direction but always keep an eye on your team to ensure they are not slipping back into one of the previous stages. The first stage groups go through, is the forming stage also known as the developing stage.

Throwing a group of talented people together doesn’t mean that they will form a great team. Hoping that your company or project will be a success won’t make it Debugging happen. Groups are so in-sync during the performing stage that it seems to happen naturally. The most effective and high-functioning teams are cultivated.

An Overview Of The Team Development Model

For teams who can problem solve and find a way to complement each other, the smooth road of understanding and acceptance of the team dynamic is what’s around the corner. Borrow insights from this teamwork theory, and you might finally understand how your team can push past average and unlock a higher level of productivity together. If you collect and focus on too many, they may be obstructing your field of view. team development stages Teams go through phases of development, and Bruce Tuckman established a popular framework on the subject. According to Tuckman, all phases—Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning—are necessary for teams to grow, tackle problems, find solutions, plan work, and deliver results. Scott M. Graffius developed a related custom illustration, Phases of Team Development, which he revises periodically.

You cannot treat a team the same at each stage of its development because the stages dictate different support actions. These support actions, taken at the right time, will allow your teams to successfully meet their challenges. In the first stages of team development, the role of the leader is quite dominant. This means that at the beginning, you’ll have to control and monitor the team and assign tasks to each team member.

Forming Stage

These reflect conflicts over leadership, structure, power, and authority. There may be wide swings in members’ behavior based on emerging issues of competition and hostilities. Because of the discomfort generated during this stage, some members may remain completely silent while team development stages others attempt to dominate. I first heard of his stages of team development when I attended advanced leadership training offered by the Boy Scouts of America. Tuckman’s theory is that every group moves through four stages on its way to becoming a high-performing team.

Help your team check in with each other by holding daily stand-up meetings or mid-week progress reports to see if everyone is on track and has the materials they need. When teams work in the same space, it’s easy to see what everyone’s doing. Designers are talking to product managers to get direction, or product managers meet with analysts to talk about user data and reports. It’s different for remote marketing teams because you can’t see what people are working on. Disagreements are unavoidable on teams, especially when each person on the team has a different perspective on how to approach the issues the team encounters.

The 5 Stages Of Team Development For Growing Companies

Crossed wires and missed connections – good communication among teams is tablestakes for effective teamwork. Get best practices and sound advice on how to create understanding and work together better. Goals, Signals, and Measures – One of the best investments you can make at this stage is clarifying what you’re trying to achieve and how you’ll know you’re successful. This workshop involves brainstorming, discussion, and decision-making. It can be tough at times – I won’t lie – but the shared understanding you’ll build is worth powering through. Sounds great in theory, but putting it into practice can feel daunting.

Additionally, the team members are helping each other to grow and develop their skills. The team has now been working together for nearly 3 months. There are few arguments and disagreements that can’t be resolved among the team. They support each other on the project – problem solving issues, making decisions as a team, sharing information and ensuring that the ground rules put in place for the team are followed. In the “performing” stage, teams are functioning at a very high level.

Navigating The norming Stage

Members feel confident in their individual abilities and those of their teammates. This team development model is useful for leaders because it highlights what to expect when creating a new team, or adding people to an existing team. Even if your team isn’t brand new, adding or removing team members can cause your team to move through different stages of the team development process. When looking at all 5 stages of team development, it’s important to remember that at the core of each stage is the team itself.

Likewise, a strategic pivot for the company sends your team back to the “storming” phase. For a big and successful business, the idea “If you want to do it well do it yourself” doesn’t work. A group of united and skilled professionals is usually behind a high-quality service or a product. So, if you aim to have a profitable, sustainable empire, you need a close-knit team to make it happen. To get there, learning more about team-management skills and the stages of group development is the way to go. Having reached this stage, the team begins to identify and solve problems with relative ease.

Group Dynamics: Storming Stage Of Team Development

Pose lots of questions to your team, even if you think you know the answer. Take a cue from the Atlassian Team Playbook (our free, no-BS guide to unleashing your team’s potential) and make time for these three activities. Click the name of each activity below to get step-by-step instructions and other helpful resources like templates and videos. The team needs clarity and connection more than anything else at this stage. Take the time to call out assumptions about the work and how you’ll work together.

Author: Eli Blumenthal