Developing a project with the Tuckman's model

Why we need this model and how it works?

When it comes time to carry out a project, there are a number of elements that are essential for the proper functioning of the team or group assigned to it. In the first place, the cohesion and synchrony of the team are essential to progress effectively, in addition, good leadership of one or more members (depending on the size of the group) can become one of the key factors for the success of this project.

If you have worked on any of these projects, you will know that this is not easy, since most people come from different backgrounds, cultures, origins, ways of working... and therefore this synchrony is not always achievable. To solve this, B. Tucman designed in the 70s, a model (Tuckman Model), which more than a model can be considered a tool, since it helps to improve the productivity, synchrony and performance of teams through growth and development of the members of it. All this based on giving these people a sense of belonging to a group and some marked phases in the development of these projects.

Therefore, to achieve this through the tuckman model, we can say that this tool consists of a group of phases that a group is considered to have to face for its development and correct functioning, and that are considered necessary to be able to speak of a high-performance team.

How is distributed

Initially, the model consisted of 4 ordered parts in which a non-linear progression was obtained, that is, the effectiveness of the team does not increase as it progresses through the phases, but rather it is about obtaining a better performance as a whole at the end of the phase. these 4 and not during them. We can also consider a fifth phase that is not considered in some cases (adjourning phase), but we will talk about this later.

The name of these phases in an sorted way are forming, storming, norming and performing.

The different stages

Forming phase (Stage 1)

This is the initial stage for all projects, even those in which this model is not intended to be followed, we can see that it is still being carried out, to understand this we are going to explain what this phase consists of. In the first place, we find ourselves in an environment where the members do not know each other, there is greater uncertainty and lack of knowledge about how I can contribute to my team, what they can contribute to me, what is expected of me and what I expect of them.

This behavior leads to an individualistic attitude where it is about standing out so as not to denote insecurity or lack of confidence, or on the other hand so as not to be seen as dominant people, quite the opposite. For this phase it is important that the leader is able to detect the strengths, abilities and skills of the people in his group and thus be able to assign each of them their role, trying to guide all the members towards the same direction where all members can show their strengths, but also learn and show different points of view.

In addition, this is a good phase for the leader to declare his way of working, where he may want the group to perceive a high dominance of the leader in the project or, on the contrary, a much flatter structure where the leader only manages the work but does not is the most important member.

Once these elements are clear, it is about reaching an agreement on how you want to manage this project and its objectives, and although all these may vary, it is important and very useful to have them established and clear beforehand

Storming phase (Stage 2)

This is considered the phase where the participants show less cohesion and less performance in terms of group work. At this point problems can arise, which leads the different members to disagreement and to express the different points of view on how to deal with certain elements or problems, in the same way you can see the different dynamics proposed by the members and their strategies to solve these points based on your experiences, perceptions and opinions.

Although it is necessary to work carefully, since at this time dominance problems may appear on the part of the leader with respect to one or several members, the role of the leader must be marked and the conflicts must occur under his supervision it is important to establish that the team needs to focus on its goals to avoid becoming distracted by relationships and emotional issues as well as make clear that compromises may be required to enable progress. Is in this stage when most of the groups loses the interest in the project based on that, and that is why is important to do this as soon as possible in the lifecycle of the project.

These confrontations, once resolved, show the different members of the team that it is not a negative thing to express their opinion, confront each other or try to change the opinion of the rest and leads to an environment of confrontation and problem solving rather than an environment of avoidance. these, since it must be clear that conflicts are not a negative element but an opportunity to take different points of view.

What is expected at this point (already at the end of this phase, is that the members are able to talk about the problems, expose them and that it does not affect the group individually, in addition, the trust between the members will have been increased and therefore it is more difficult to disintegrate the group.

Norming phase (Stage 3)

At this point, the group should be highly cohesive, demonstrating great trust and communication with each other and a shared goal, viewpoints and objectives. In addition the members are aware of the different abilities of the members as well as their strengths as a team.

Our group has also accepted their roles, which allows us to generate both a complete group feeling and great security when working in it. This allows that despite the fact that big decisions require consensus and debate, small tasks can be delegated to other members without the need for constant supervision, a quality that is present in high-performance teams. In addition, the feeling of leadership by the person in charge of the project will have been completed and this will facilitate many of the problems that occur in other types of scenarios.

Although this stage is very beneficial, it is taken for granted that to reach this stage the acceptance of changes has been required by all the members, including the leader, depending again on what type of project we are in (pyramidal or flat).

Performing phase (Stage 4)

In this phase often considered the last phase, we start from a base which we can consider stable and we have an independent group that does not require the instructions of a leader (although these can be carried out) to advance, in addition the group is focused in completing the objectives established in the initial phases and in completing the project, making many decisions with the own criteria acquired thanks to this method, giving the group high autonomy and reducing the leader's workload. The changes, although heavy due to the advanced situation of the project, are very simple to carry out since the group functions as an individual and the work style has been adapted to it. All members no longer need to be instructed and try to complete the project in the best possible way. It is the members themselves who are aware of this improvement and thanks to the cooperation, coordination and collaboration that has been achieved, we have turned our team into a high performance team. Although this phase is the most productive and having reached it, the chances of finishing the project as a success are considerable, it should be noted that not all groups manage to reach it, dissolving or not functioning as a high-performance team.

Stage five

Characteristics and strategies (adjourning phase) And why this phase was unexistent at first?

Benefits of using this model

Real proofs and assumptions of why the model should work In this part, through documented real experiences, we will try to analyze why this model should or should not be used and in which cases it is more beneficial.

Current problems with the tuckman model

Why is it currently not considered such a good model? Numerous articles are recently written referring to the fact that this model is wrong and lacks effectiveness.

Challenges using this model

Problems you will probably face if you use this model Problems faced by groups using this model and how to overcome these

How to appply Tuckman's model as a group

Tricks and experiences of how the tuckman model has been used in projects and/or programs

References

Developing a project with the Tuckman'S model Raül Ciscar