10.2 Team Development Over Time

Teams evolve through distinct stages, from initial formation to peak performance. Tuckman's model outlines four phases: forming, storming, norming, and performing. Each stage presents unique challenges and opportunities for growth.

Understanding these stages helps leaders navigate team dynamics effectively. By recognizing where a team is in its development, managers can provide appropriate support, resolve conflicts, and foster collaboration to achieve optimal performance.

Tuckman's Model of Team Development

Stages of Tuckman's team model

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• Forming stage involves team members getting acquainted, understanding their roles and responsibilities, maintaining polite interactions, and avoiding conflict while the leader provides guidance and direction
• Storming stage is characterized by the emergence of conflicts and disagreements as members express their opinions, challenge the leader's authority, form subgroups or cliques, and experience decreased productivity due to interpersonal issues
• Norming stage occurs when team members resolve conflicts, develop cohesion, establish clear roles and responsibilities, agree upon norms, values, and working methods, and build trust and cooperation
• Performing stage is when the team operates at its peak performance level, with members committed to team goals, working collaboratively, making decisions through consensus, resolving disagreements constructively, and the leader delegating tasks and focusing on strategic issues

Team dynamics across development

• Transition from forming to storming involves increased conflicts and disagreements as members express opinions and challenge the leader, formation of subgroups or cliques creating an "us vs. them" mentality, and decreased productivity due to focus on interpersonal issues rather than tasks
• Transition from storming to norming involves resolution of conflicts, establishment of norms and working methods, increased trust and cooperation as roles and responsibilities become clear, and increased productivity as the team focuses more on tasks and less on interpersonal issues
• Transition from norming to performing involves the team operating at its highest performance level, with members working collaboratively towards common goals, making decisions through consensus, resolving disagreements constructively, and the leader delegating tasks and focusing on strategic issues while team members take ownership of their work
• Throughout these transitions, effective conflict resolution strategies are crucial for maintaining team cohesion and progress

Factors in team stage regression

• Changes in team composition such as adding or removing members can disrupt team dynamics and cause regression to forming or storming stages as new members adjust to team norms and working methods
• Changes in project scope or goals can lead to reassessment of priorities and working methods, causing regression to storming stage as members negotiate new roles and responsibilities
• Unresolved conflicts from the storming stage can resurface and cause regression, leading to breakdown in trust and cooperation among team members
• External pressures such as tight deadlines or budget constraints can put additional stress on the team, causing members to revert to less collaborative and more individualistic behaviors, leading to regression to the storming stage

Team Effectiveness Factors

• Group norms play a crucial role in shaping team behavior and expectations
• Task interdependence influences how team members work together and coordinate their efforts
• Team leadership styles can significantly impact team performance and development
• Effective communication patterns are essential for information sharing and decision-making
• Psychological safety fosters an environment where team members feel comfortable taking risks and sharing ideas