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After seeing where your team stands, you can take the essential measures to help them move to the next stage. In addition, you also need to keep an eye on your team even in the performing stage. Their progress can decline if there’s no one to keep a check on it.
As roles solidify, it’s important to make those responsibilities clear and distinct so that everyone knows who is doing what by when. If you haven’t already, consider creating a RACI chart to let each team member know who’s responsible, accountable, contributing, and informed for a specific initiative. Establishing group collaboration early on can help reduce the impact of—or even prevent—this stage of group development. In fact, disagreement is critical to effective team collaboration.
As a team manager, you can delegate your work without having to micromanage its completion. For example, if you’re working cross-functionally, the individuals from one team are assigned the role of reporting back to their team what they’re working on. Another individual may be responsible for managing status updates. Getting to know individual team members gives you the insights you need to foster trust, and structure your team in a way that empowers their best work.
These social connections are especially important right now, as more of us work from home. Creating a closing celebration that acknowledges the contributions of individuals and the accomplishments of the team, and that formally ends this team’s existence. End each meeting with insightful and constructive feedback that improves the group process. Encouraging your team to share their ideas and opinions is the key to finding the “big ideas”. When conflicts are resolved, it can improve existing processes and bond members together.
Performing stage
At this stage, teams are unsure of their purpose as they begin to form. They are excited, curious, and eager about their new journey. The team meets and learns about the opportunities stages of team development team building and challenges, and then agrees on goals and begins to tackle the tasks. They may be motivated but are usually relatively uninformed of the issues and objectives of the team.
Members might disagree over how to complete a task or voice their concerns if they feel that someone isn’t pulling their weight. They may even question the authority or guidance of group leaders. They know and rely on each other’s strengths and can work together to achieve ambitious goals and meet deadlines. We would like to inform you that the contents of our website are for non-binding informational purposes only and does not in any way constitute legal advice. The content of this information cannot and is not intended to replace individual and binding legal advice from e.g. a lawyer that addresses your specific situation.
Stage 5: Terminating/Ending
Most teams get to the adjourning stage at some point but that’s not always the case. Some teams get created for projects with endpoints, while others are ongoing. However, even teams built for permanent projects can still undergo the adjourning process due to restructuring and re-allocation. The stage can cause uncertainty, especially among team members who are unsure about their subsequent roles.
Keep to the project’s timeline and keep referring to the organizational tools you’ve developed. In the earlier stages of your team’s formation, establish a clear communication plan. A communication plan is an outline of how your team is going to communicate important information to key stakeholders. Establishing a communication plan can help you do all of these things in a way that’s easy for your team to follow. In addition to establishing your team’s mission or goal, it’s also important to set roles for individual team members. As you add people to the team, pay attention to what qualities and skills you’ll need to complete the project.
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The team members will therefore resolve their differences and members will be able to participate with one another more comfortably. The ideal is that they will not feel that they are being judged, and will therefore share their opinions and views. The forming stage of team development is the first step in team bonding.
As they grow more comfortable working together, team members are more comfortable asking for help completing a task or getting constructive feedback. Your team starts to increase their productivity at this stage as they become more familiar with their teammates and their working styles. Psychologist Bruce Tuckman was the first to document the different phases that teams go through as they develop. In this article, we discuss the different stages of group development and how you can guide your team through them to optimize collaboration. To make sure they’re performing well, keep up the regular review sessions. During the session make sure you hear the quiet team members and see what they have to say.
At the Storming Stage:
These roles could be the official title they were hired to do, or the role they fit into naturally within the group dynamic. Boost motivation by helping your employees understand why their work matters. In this free ebook, learn how to create a shared sense of purpose on your team. Check in frequently with your team, both individually and as a team.
- Your team members might be snippy at each other, but at least they won’t have the added frustration of dealing with multiple platforms.
- Be as candid as possible when discussing issues with your employees.
- At the end of the day, when your team implements the five stages of team development, it sets up everyone in all roles for success.
- Your organization benefits significantly from the five stages.
- Schedule regular reviews of where your team is at and adjust your behavior and leadership approach.
- Pursuing the same goal and being able to solve problems by themselves, without the leader’s help, teams demonstrate high performance.
- They can rely on each other to do the hard work they were hired to do, despite any differences that arise.
When your marketing team is remote, you can hire the most talented people regardless of where they’re located geographically. But you have to find a way to make sure team members are aligned and on the same page. Having a way to identify and understand causes for changes in the team behaviors can help the team maximize its process and its productivity. Tuckman’s doctoral student, Mary Ann Jensen, added this phase to acknowledge the process of closing out a project. Clockwise automatically shifts meetings to create uninterrupted blocks of Focus Time.
Tuckman’s 5 stages of group development
You can also choose to end each meeting with insightful and constructive feedback that improves the group process. To take it one step further, leave specific time for this feedback when you outline the meeting agenda. That way, it’s built-in to the time and it’ll never go forgotten. Similarly, establish ground rules and make sure they’re followed.
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It’s best to set clear expectations at every stage so that the team has seamless alignment when proceeding to the next. In an organization, the adjourning stage could translate into a change in employees’ job responsibilities. For instance, if the team develops a new work process for improving the customer experience, members may be asked to oversee the new and improved process. The imposing personalities in the team will become evident at this stage, especially when members start to share ideas openly. Those who stand out start to get accepted by their peers as potential leaders.
Very few team members will have your perspective on the entire project (or the full scope of your team’s segment of the project), so don’t be afraid to jump in. When you do find a good solution or process to help resolve difficult situations, make sure you document those immediately. The team can consult this record when future problems arise and make adaptations as needed. Your teams will soon learn that conflict is not to be feared, and that they have the tools to find a productive compromise.
Pursuing the same goal and being able to solve problems by themselves, without the leader’s help, teams demonstrate high performance. They know how to use resources efficiently, take risks, and adapt to change – in other words, they demonstrate team resilience. Team members start to develop trust and respect for each other, and they start working together as a unit.
TUCKMAN TEAM BUILDING STAGES FOR BEST PERFORMANCE
Under Tuckman’s model, the group will then move on to the norming stage. Keep in mind that groups will vary in how much time they spend in the storming stage. Larger groups are likely to spend more time in this stage of group development than smaller groups. Navigating through the five stages of group development isn’t a walk in the park.
The Storming Stage
Be patient and give your team time to progress through each stage. Encourage team members to share their ideas and contribute to the discussion. The adjourning stage can be difficult for team members who have become close. They must say goodbye to one another and may never see each other again.
