Team development:existing models and improvements
Team development: existing models and improvements...... by Zisis Atsou s210263
ABSTRACT
Team development or in short, teamwork , is an important tool for companies to gain a step in a competitive environment. Bruce Tuckman in 1965 established 4 stages of team development that later became 5 , in order to identify the feelings and behaviors of every teammate, as well as break down the process of creating a team(1). Companies invest a lot of money in teamwork, cause their products , services , or any other activity they have, depends on specific expertise, therefore a well-developed group of people can work efficiently and meet the goals . Additionally, stakeholders want constant information about progress tracking, and an efficient team can help ease the communication by reassuring their money is in good place . Also, recourses are very limited, and the team will be tasked to make do with what they have, that cant be achieved without coordinated work(2,3).
Creating a team can be hard every step has a lot of challenges, that managers have to identify and solve, as well as try to make every team mate feel at home so all the tasks can be achieved. (4).
So, in this article, all the stages will be described in order to explain the concept of teamwork, as well as to identify the challenges in the process, highlight the benefits and suggest ideas for more effective teamwork. In addition real life cases from big companies will be used to prove how porter's model affects their structure!(ITS IMPORTANT TO MENTION THAT REFERENCE 15 WAS USED AS GUIDANCE FOR THE WHOLE ATRICLE)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE BASICS OF TEAMWORK..............................................
DESCRIPTION OF STAGES-IDENTIFING CHALLENGES.............................
FORMING.................................................................
STORMING...............................................................
NORMING................................................................
PERFORMING...........................................................
ADJOURNING...........................................................
IMPORTANT REWARDS FOR EVERY COMPLETED STAGE ...........................
TECHNIQUES FOR BETTER TEAMWORK ........................................
TODAY'S BIG COMPANIES WITH THE PORTER MODEL...............................
REFERENCES...............................................................
THE BASICS OF TEAMWORK
Bruce Tuckman in 1965, stated that teams don't form fast, by accident, or slowly(9). Instead they follow specific stages, going from completely strangers to a cohesive group with a common goal(8). This common goal is what keeps them together, cause later on they will be tasked to handle a specific task that demands their attention(8,9). Additionally, its beneficial for a company, cause(11) :
Better problem solving , more brains ears and eyes on a problem are better than one
Increased chances for innovation , lots of expertise from various backgrounds and education
When the team members are encouraged to be open at each other during the process that in return helps the task at hand
Less fatigue , and more personal time , since the work load is shared
Less mistakes and more creativity, a variety of educations means more and better ideas for any task, as well as attention to detail
DESCRIPTION OF STAGES – IDENTIFING CHALLENGES
Originally, Tuckman ´s model had 4 stages called Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing, and years later in collaboration with Mary Ann Jensen in 1977, they introduced a fifth stage called adjourning(5,8,7). This specific model was crafted in a fluid manner, so when a step is completed the next one follows naturally(9). Additionally, for members to move from one step to the next they have to resolve every issue(7,8).
Specifically the stages are:
FORMING
For starters, it all depends on the team leader , everyone expects guidance from he/she(6,8). Otherwise, people follow visible characteristics, such as sex, looks, nationality, its a wait and see attitude(7).At this point, the weaknesses and strengths, have to be made clear, so everyone knows whos next to them, and for that leaders are important. Also, the main goal has to be stated clearly and understood by all members, as well as limitations, and expectations(7). Members are getting to know each other, since everyone has a past from previous experiences in teamwork, good or bad, scars will be made clear by all team members(6). At this stage nothing is expected from the team, only to meet each other.
STORMING
Here things get rough, communication between members is more free and chaotic, some will be offended, and fights will start(8). Additionally, some may fill inadequate, due to being undermined by others, and less social towards the others(8). Cliques can happen at this point, by education, nationality , beliefs(3). leaders need to show their skills here, set goals and boundaries for team members, and most importantly, communication , it must be done in a way that is acceptable by everyone(7). Furthermore, control, of everyone's contribution must be done immediately, everyone should have a task to do and someone to cooperate with, in order to avoid irritation and strife between members(7).
NORMING
This is where the social attributes of everyone appear! people are slowly see common habits to each other, and learn each other better(6). However, fights are still here, but in a smaller scale, since people have gradually learned how to work with each other(8). In addition, success, risks , failures are all part of the process now, and the teammates know that , since relationships skills and roles have been established(8,6,5). leaders deserve congrats here, cause if they reach this stage, then they effectively resolved major issues in the team (2,6,7,8).
PERFORMING
All the arguing and problem solving from the previous stages pay off, the teammates have learn to solve any problem between them , individually everyone feels like they belong to a family(8,4). The team consists of interdependent members who strive to succeed a common goal , everybody wants to show their skills for the benefit of the team(8,10,3). Additionally, team members understand their roles , have developed self constraint , and respect for each other (6,2).
ADJOURNING
The project is about to finish, and its celebration time for the team, they made it. But did it go right? have they learned anything as far as teamwork goes? its up to the leader to figure out and point out to the members(2,4,7).
IMPORTANT REWARDS FOR EVERY COMPLETED STAGE
The Upwork team(8) suggested during and at the completion of each stage, some rewards or tasks should be done to congratulate a milestone. Specifically:
FORMING
An informal introduction night should take place, so people can talk to each other, as well as trivia game about any topic, ex favorite sport, activity etc. That should help ease their minds about the task ahead as well as simply meeting each other.
STORMING
Work can make people feel insecure, especially when judged by a group in the same working space. Therefore compliments, and achievements should be acknowledged either by a graph or gift, or something as easy as a slide on a blackboard.
NORMING
here no moves are really necessary cause the teams is starting to bond together, so its better they do it them selves
PERFORMING
the only reward in this stages is contemplate on what is fine, what didn't work, and generally where to go next, which is different for each member
ADJOURING
A share of each others next step after the current task is completed
TECHNIQUES FOR BETTER TEAMWORK
According to (12,11,10) things to do in order to improve team work can be:
Team building can be an overwhelming task, but the start should be about the task, what kind of expertise they need to fulfil all the tasks. If that's predetermined then the managers should shift their attention to the team itself. An interview should be carried out to each team member individually, asking simple things such as activities that they would like to do with others in order to get to know each other. Additionally, what's their dream team, what kind of people it includes, as well as strengths, weaknesses and changes that they would like to see.
Since everybody's opinion is established, the next part should be about creating a routine that feels natural for team members to participate. Such as, a daily group chat , challenge day, weekly meeting that involve one on one coworker , and monthly hangout to celebrate a success or just to have fun.
If the type of tasks has been agreed by everyone, the managers need to set the time frame for all this. Generally, being flexible in such cases is recommended, no specific days just a timeframe for the team to figure the time that suits them, activities should be free to choose, as well as any plan alterations should be accepted by the managers. Team members have to feel being part of the team not forced to take part in activities.
Smaller additions to the teambuilding process can be a bravo every to one team mate who succeeded on some task, or a short email about a question that everybody can answer, or even a small joke at the beginning of every meeting. Furthermore, a bulletin board should be given for the team to use as they see fit, fun facts or goals are useful and most importantly treats , everyone likes treats, its the most thoughtful move to make the team connect.
Setting goals and achieving them. In this case goals have to be vary specific and related to the teams, it can boost morale, improve communication and problem solving skill, but more importantly the managers can get a clearer view of how long till a task is complete or if the timeframe can be achieved.
Other things such as, introducing new employees on the team, being available for a chat whether its questions or concerns, keep track of the employees personalities , and buy a round of drinks in a special occassion ex birthdays , anniversaries.
TODAY'S BIG COMPANIES WITH THE PORTER MODEL
One of the best examples of classic organizational structure is Apple. Their old model relied on leadership doing everything, now its expertise that's taking the lead. Specifically, the company has 3 important guidelines for managers: deep expertise.... leaders don't oversee other employees they coach and mentor them, in other words the care for their team. Immersion in the details....managers need to know whats happening in the company , more levels than what their are responsible for, so they can make decisions faster instead of wasting time in more meetings. Willingness to collaboratively debate.....one product revolves around decisions made by multiple departments and they have to collaborate. This example with illustrates how the transition from stage norming goes to performing immediately! furthermore it seems that apple knows about the difficulties of stages forming and storming so they are getting ahead of those by simply using people with high expertise as managers, and do a lot of coaching instead of being in charge. (reference 13 covers this entire paragraph)
Another big case is Microsoft's change of structure after the CEO stepped in. Their structure became fully product based, meaning that each employee is assigned duties according to their skills and education. In addition, managers or product specialists are given full freedom to tinker as much as they want with the product, cause after all, innovation is the company's main principle. Furthermore, each division is given specific activities, with specific resources and talent tied to it. That way their structure is more adaptive, meaning they can be added to other departments , removed , or split in different divisions, without any impact to the employees or the leadership. Here Microsoft anticipated the potential conflict that can happen during formimg and storming, by creating division with specific resources each, that way they dont have to fight over collaboration and additionally leadership is very free and adaptive , so any opinion about changes is welcomed.(reference 14 covers this entire paragraph)
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