This is the second stage of team development, where the group starts to sort itself out and gain each others’ trust. This stage often starts when they voice their opinions; conflict may arise between team members as power and status are assigned. At this stage there is often a positive and polite atmosphere, people are pleasant to each other, and they may have feelings of excitement, eagerness and positiveness. The leader of the team will then describe the tasks to the group, describe the different behaviours to the group and how to deal and handle complaints.
For your team to work collaboratively with few interruptions, they need tools that operate intuitively and will save them time. Find tools that don’t require hours of training and automate basic functions to get the job done. For example, if the project includes updating social media, sending email marketing campaigns, or even creating lead magnets, a tool like HubSpot is great for this level of marketing automation. Before committing to a tool, give your team some time to work with it and test it out to make sure it fits their needs. Lots of tools offer free trials, so use that time to experiment and check its compatibility with other products you use.
Tips to create group norms for high-performance teams
The performing stage offers the perfect opportunity to check in with each employee to work through roadblocks, give feedback, and discuss individual growth. At this stage, leaders should communicate regularly with each team member to ensure expectations are clear and to avoid slowing down their progress. During one-on-one meetings, determine what resources employees need to work efficiently and equip them with the necessary tools. As a team lead, it’s your goal to get your team to this stage as quickly as possible.
None of us have perfect information, but we can get closer by sharing what we know and what we see. I like to play a game I call “Pin the Tail on the Tuckman” to uncover those differences in perception and align on where a team is at. Remove obstacles by coordinating tightly with adjacent and upstream teams. Validate your assumptions about what your customers need, then proactively decide what you’re not doing right now so you don’t get distracted.
Modern team development with Charma
Team dynamics and rapport may not develop naturally, as members don’t have a water cooler or coffee machine to interact around. This means it’s all the more important for managers and team leaders to prioritize and facilitate team development. It’s critical that virtual teams learn to collaborate and communicate effectively.
The table below showcases the main components of the original phases of group development. During the Norming stage, members shift their energy to the team’s goals and show an increase in productivity, in both individual and collective work. The team may find this is an appropriate time for evaluating team processes and productivity. At this stage people avoid conflict and “play nice” with each other because they want to be accepted into the group.
Stage 5: Terminating/Ending
So, a lack of conflict would be just as dysfunctional as prolonged disputes among team members. As you’ll soon learn, each of those phases comes with unique challenges and opportunities you can take advantage of. If any team members feel uncertain about what’s ahead, boost their confidence and career prospects by praising them at company meetings. And offer to provide LinkedIn recommendations and references if they’re moving on.
This is when the team has developed processes that work for the team and people follow them. As people begin to feel safer, they will push the boundaries set up by the team in the forming https://www.globalcloudteam.com/ stage—and conflicts may begin to erupt. Beloved by managers, HR, executives, and ICs alike, Charma is the best practice toolkit for managers to organize, motivate, and engage their teams.
The forming stage
You and your teammates trust each other enough to get a little creative and innovative, while still delivering top-notch work on time. When you start to sense that the left hand knows what the right hand is doing, you’ve made it into the “norming” stage. The challenge now is to move a bit faster while keeping the quality of your work high. Pose lots of questions to your team, even if you think you know the answer. Take a cue from the Atlassian Team Playbook and make time for these three activities.
- You need to invest in tools that enhance team development meetings, workshops, and training.
- The forming, storming, norming, and performing stages of group development indicate a path most teams need to take to reach a state of effective collaboration.
- And a good leader watches for these shifts in order to step in and support the team back to higher levels of group functioning.
- As roles solidify, it’s important to make those responsibilities clear and distinct so that everyone knows who is doing what by when.
- Almost all teams lack one or more of these criteria at some point in their tenure.
The adjourning or mourning stage of team development is where the group parts ways. The project has reached its natural end, and group members acknowledge that while the group has found success, it is time for the team to split and move on to new challenges. The mourning stage paves the way for more growth and learning and new opportunities.
Stage 2: Storming stage
While people are competing, they are also beginning to open up to each other too. And as they do this, the team begins to establish how they will work together going forwards. Individual team member behaviour can vary greatly during this stage. You may find that some team members are openly hostile and attempt stages of team development to dominate the group, while others withdraw and remain silent. Ultimately, the goal is to make sure you can provide psychological safety as a baseline, evaluate team patterns of behaviour and notice when you’re in a negative cycle. When this happens, it’s important to take stock of what your team needs.
The second stage, Storming, is characterised by competition and conflict. Team members are unfamiliar with the groups tasks and so they rely heavily on the group leader for guidance and direction. After all, their ability to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals is a reflection of a management job well done. Here’s the thing, the line between certain stages can get blurred since team members evolve at different times. How they trust each other to remain accountable for their tasks without dropping the ball. You book 1-on-1 meetings with team members to learn about each of their experiences.
The Four Stages Of Team Development
They may feel some anxiety because of uncertainty about their individual role or future responsibilities. They may feel sadness or a sense of loss about the changes coming to their team relationships. And at the same time, team members may feel a sense of deep satisfaction at the accomplishments of the team. Individual members might feel all of these things at the same time or may cycle through feelings of loss followed by feelings of satisfaction. Given these conflicting feelings, individual and team morale may rise or fall throughout the ending stage. It is highly likely that at any given moment individuals on the team will experience different emotions about the team’s ending.