Team Development

Katzenbach and Smith (1993a) recognise teams as the basic units of performance in organisations and identify a team as '...a small number of people with complimentary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.'

Creating Effective Teams: a Guide for Members and Leaders is a book by Wheelan (2013) designed to do as the title states; guiding members and leaders to create effective teams. Wheelan (2013) begins the book by highlighting the reasons that groups are important. Wheelan (2013) states that throughout history, “Groups have played a major role in both the survival of human beings and the development of human culture” (p. 1). The majority of the book is based on 4 stages that create a group of individuals into an effective team. The first stage is called dependency and inclusion. According to Wheelan (2013), the first stage of the group is

The features of effective team performance are set out in Brian Tuckman’s phases of team development theory, ‘Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing.’ This outlines the phases that a team will go through in order to become effective and reach maturity. At the ‘Forming’ stage of team development individual roles and responsibilities are unclear and each member of the team is concerned to avoid conflict with each other. From this point the team will go through the ‘Storming’ phase which is when they start to conflict as individuals put forward ideas which will be challenged by others in a bid to gain power and position over others. After this the ‘Norming’ phase follows and it is at this point that individual roles are defined and accepted

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

The five stages of team development were first introduced by Bruce Wayne Tuckman in 1965. His research into the way teams function and coordinate provided reoccurring trends towards very specific points in the life of a team, which became the premises of each of the first four “Tuckman’s Stages.” The fifth stage was co-created by Mary Ann Jensen over a decade later. The five stages discussed in this essay are as follows: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning.

First, here is a summary of the development stages of a team. In the forming stage, team members come togetherand form initial impressions. They socialize in order to get to know each other and bond with other team members. In the storming stage, team members experience hostility and infighting over tasks and how the team works. In the norming stage, team members start to come together and realize what needs to be accomplished. In the performing stage, team members are well-organized and well-functioningand maintain a positive balance. In the adjourning stage, team members achieve closure when the project is accomplished.

The third stage is norming, which means that agreement and accord largely forms among the team and its members. The disagreements that happen in the first two stages have decreased, and roles within the team have been firmly established. Also, the aims and objectives set by the leader are done without disagreement. Big decisions are made by group agreement. Smaller decisions may be given to individuals or small teams within group. Commitment and harmony within the team is strong, meaning they are working well together. The team may engage in fun and social activities, and therefore forming better relationships between people. This would only improve the way they complete work

As mention earlier, Tuckman’s stages for developing teams was the blueprint for building effective teams. Tuckman argued that these stages were necessary to building highly effective teams (LAW, 2007). The stages were “Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning”. (Tuckman, 65). In the forming stages where the team meets, the teams outline the goals and agree on team roles, rules a guideline for decision making. The next stage in the model was the storming stage, this is where conflict is met, and goals are established. Conflict will arise in this stage and the team leader must facilitate the discussion and ensure that there is a common understanding of agreements. Once the team has accepted the goals, roles and rules, the team starts the norming stage this is where they begin to work in a positive direction. The leader coaches and

Teamwork is essential to the smooth running of many projects, organisations and companies. Much research has been conducted into the effectiveness of teams and their contributions to organisational success.

Group development begins with the forming stage where members ask questions, get to know each other and discover acceptable behaviors. The storming stage, or second step, is the period where there may be emotional outbreaks and tension within the group. This progresses to the third or norming stage where team members start to work together as a unit, the performing stage where the team is well integrated and functioning as a team. And lastly the adjourning stage when the team is ending as a group and group accomplishments are celebrated.

Outline the process of team development according to (Tuckman) the process of team development is in 4 stages and the development is as below

The developmental stages of a group can be viewed through the team-development model forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Tuckman, 1965) but as each group is unique, these stages may not run concurrently.

Teams have become very common and effective since they have proven to be effective in areas as cost reduction, developing new and innovative products, and improving quality (Effective Human relation, 2008). Team development is supported, in fact, required by almost all managements today, but still it may take quite a long time for the members to learn the task and activities and to fit themselves in the particular environment. Team work may vary as the organization or company varies. Team work involves a lot of important aspects such as relationships, cooperation, learning, leadership etc. since a team works together in

A team is a group of people working together to achieve the same objectives. Katzenbach and Smith state in their report The Discipline of Teams (1993) that ‘the essence of a team is common commitment. Without it, groups perform as individuals; with it, they become a powerful unit of collective performance.’ Throughout this study, I will analyse the many different advantages and disadvantages of working in teams and its effects on team members and their performance and commitment within the team. I will consider many different aspects of team work and refer to certain established theories in

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.