If you read my last article about building a cohesive team, “Do You Know And Use The 4 Most Powerful First Steps In Team Building?” Then you are already familiar with these powerful ”first steps” for anyone leading a team:

1. Know the core purpose and top priorities of your team, and how these relate to the organization’s core purpose and top priorities.
2. Develop a crystal-clear understanding of how your team is aligned with other “internal” teams that your team interacts with.
3. Understand the path from your team to the end-user, customer and purpose of your organization.
4. Communicate the teams’ core purpose, top priorities, alignments and customer needs to your team members clearly and often!

When you’re undertaking a teambuilding effort it is also helpful to know a little about a few theories that are prevalent in the team development world. The First model we’ll look at addresses “Stages of Team Formation”, It was developed in the mid-60’s by Bruce Tuckman and is often referred to as Tuckman’s model.

What stage is your team in?

Here are the 4 stages:

1.Forming

2.Storming

3.Norming

4.Performing

Forming

Overview: The team is new. There is little agreement or knowledge of team objectives other than what has been received from the leader or gathered during the “enlistment process”. Processes are often unclear or yet to be designed. Individual roles and responsibilities are somewhat undefined. It is easy to think of this as the “Honeymoon Stage”.

Team Members: Individual behavior varies of course, but is often driven by the desire to be accepted to the team, and to avoid controversy or conflict. Typically, serious issues and feelings will be avoided.

Team members will likely function quite independently at this stage.

The Leaders’ Role: The Leader needs to be prepared to communicate and answer questions about the team’s purpose, objectives, priorities and external relationships (sound familiar?).

Sharing knowledge of the concept of Tuckmans’ model; Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, can be helpful to the team at this point. From a leadership point of view, the leader needs to be Decisive, Directive and Communicative.

Storming

Overview: Team members are exploring limits.  Team members may begin to confront each other’s ideas and perspectives. The storming stage is necessary for the evolution of the team.

Team Members: The Storming Stage can be contentious, unpleasant or possibly painful for team members who are conflict averse.

The Leader’s Role: In this stage the leader needs to be alert to allowing enough creative tension and conflict to occur to allow the team to begin to experience it and reach a level collective emotional stability, but to not allow the conflict to become too heated or corrosive. Your Leadership style during this stage will likely need to fluctuate from directive to coaching and back as needed.

Norming

Overview: The team is beginning to develop habits and patterns for working together. Team members have begun to adjust their behavior to develop work habits that make teamwork seem more natural and fluid. During this stage, team members will begin to trust each other’s work. Cohesiveness can increase as the team becomes more familiar with the project and processes.

Team Members: Individuals will begin to take on specific rles during meetings, and to be relied on for specific skills.

The Leader’s Role: The Leader can become more participative than directive during this stage, depending on individual style of course.

Performing

Overview: The team is functioning as high-performing unit. The team is able to get the job done smoothly and effectively without the need for external supervision. Team members are highly interdependent. Conflict is expected and allowed as long as it is expressed appropriately to the team.

Team Members: Will make decisions independently according to team norms, or collaboratively as needed.

The Leaders Role: During this stage the leader can lead the team to excel through maintenance and the removal of “barriers or roadblocks” as necessary. It is also important for the leader to note best practices, identify future leaders and look at the role of team in the larger organization through a strategic lens.

At this point, teams do not “Live Happily Ever After”, and this model is not linear. Teams may cycle back through the stages at any time for a variety of reasons, such as:

• „ Adding or removing members
• „ A change to the teams’ role in the organizational process.
• „ Major changes in deliverables or mission.

To begin the journey through these stages, here is an activity to do with your team, be ready for some laughter, some intense conversations and a sense of increased openness among team members.

Team Building Activity Idea:

1.The Perfect Question: Partner team members with one to two others and ask them to answer questions for each other.

Question Ideas:

• „ What was your proudest career moment?
• „ What was your most embarrassing career moment?
• „ What is your biggest challenge in working with a team?
• „ What is the “super power” that you bring to a team?
• „ What is something that no one in the room knows about you?
• „ What is your dream vacation?

In the next article, we will cover another team development model, plus more activities and when to use them.