Four Stages of Team Development
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=== Forming === | === Forming === | ||
Stage 1: Immature group | Stage 1: Immature group | ||
| − | *Confusion | + | |
| + | In the first stage, Forming, members try to get to know one another and reach common understanding of what the group is trying to accomplish and how group members should behave. This is also a good opportunity to see how each member of the team works as an individual and how they respond to pressure. The individual's behaviour is driven by a desire to be accepted by the others, and avoid controversy or conflict. | ||
| + | |||
| + | *Feelings | ||
| + | During the Forming stage of team development, team members are usually excited to be part of the team and eager about the work ahead. Members often have high positive expectations for the team experience. At the same time, they may also feel some anxiety, wondering how they will fit into the team and if their performance will measure up. | ||
| + | |||
| + | *Process | ||
| + | Behaviours observed during the Forming stage may include lots of questions from team members, reflecting both their excitement about the new team and the uncertainty or anxiety they might be feeling about their place on the team. | ||
| + | |||
| + | *Content | ||
| + | The principal work for the team during the Forming stage is to create a team with clear structure, goals, direction and roles so that members begin to build trust. A good orientation/kick-off process can help to ground the members in terms of the team's mission and goals, and can establish team expectations about both the team's product and, more importantly, the team's process. During the Forming stage, much of the team's energy is focused on defining the team so task accomplishment may be relatively low. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development. The team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The principal characteristics of the Forming stage are: | ||
| + | *Confusion: they haven't fully understood what work the team will do | ||
*Uncertainty | *Uncertainty | ||
| − | * | + | *Assessing situation |
| − | *Testing | + | *Testing ground rules: people start to work together |
| − | *Feeling out others | + | *Feeling out others: they make an effort to get to know their new colleagues |
*Defining goals | *Defining goals | ||
*Getting acquainted | *Getting acquainted | ||
Revision as of 23:23, 18 November 2014
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to perform up to its true capabilities. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team's effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to reflection and on-going evaluation. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.
Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of group development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the Four Stages of Team Development, developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman suggested that all teams go through a relatively unproductive initial stage before becoming a self-reliant unit.
Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team maximize its process and its productivity.
Contents |
Introduction to the Model
Forming
Stage 1: Immature group
In the first stage, Forming, members try to get to know one another and reach common understanding of what the group is trying to accomplish and how group members should behave. This is also a good opportunity to see how each member of the team works as an individual and how they respond to pressure. The individual's behaviour is driven by a desire to be accepted by the others, and avoid controversy or conflict.
- Feelings
During the Forming stage of team development, team members are usually excited to be part of the team and eager about the work ahead. Members often have high positive expectations for the team experience. At the same time, they may also feel some anxiety, wondering how they will fit into the team and if their performance will measure up.
- Process
Behaviours observed during the Forming stage may include lots of questions from team members, reflecting both their excitement about the new team and the uncertainty or anxiety they might be feeling about their place on the team.
- Content
The principal work for the team during the Forming stage is to create a team with clear structure, goals, direction and roles so that members begin to build trust. A good orientation/kick-off process can help to ground the members in terms of the team's mission and goals, and can establish team expectations about both the team's product and, more importantly, the team's process. During the Forming stage, much of the team's energy is focused on defining the team so task accomplishment may be relatively low.
In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development. The team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.
The principal characteristics of the Forming stage are:
- Confusion: they haven't fully understood what work the team will do
- Uncertainty
- Assessing situation
- Testing ground rules: people start to work together
- Feeling out others: they make an effort to get to know their new colleagues
- Defining goals
- Getting acquainted
- Establishing rules
Storming
Stage 2: Fractional group
- Disagreement over priorities
- Struggle for leadership
- Tension
- Hostility
- Clique formation
Norming
Stage 3: Sharing group
- Consensus
- Leadership accepted
- Trust established
- Standards set
- New stable roles
- Co-operation
Performing
Stage 4: Effective group
- Successful performance
- Flexible, task roles
- Openness
- Helpfulness
- Delusion, disillusion and acceptance
Further Development
Adjourning
Stage 5: Disbanding group
- Disengagement
- Anxiety about separation and ending
- Positive feeling towards leader
- Sadness
- Self-evaluation
