Team Skills
I have an idea for a new reality TV show in which I would, of course, be prepared to feature. Take six very different, independent women from various walks of life and plonk them all on a foreign island somewhere for a week together and see what happens. So committed am I to this idea that I have just tried it out. The ‘team’ in question consisted of me and 5 other women, 3 of whom I did not know before my holiday. And we interacted exactly as one might expect.
How do I know what one might expect? Because team development usually follows a very similar pattern. Bruce Tuckman first described the four stages of team development in 1965 as;
Form, Storm, Norm, Perform.
Step 1 – Form: The team comes together. Initially, the team members are polite and interested in one another, asking questions to find out more about one another.
Step 2 – Storm: As the initial politeness wears off, differences of opinion begin to emerge which can lead to argument or conflict. This is usually worse when more than one of the group wishes to become the ‘leader’ or where people have conflicting objectives.
Step 3 – Norm: As roles and personal differences are resolved, the team begins to focus on the job at hand. They begin to identify themselves as a team and not a random set of individuals. They begin to help each other out more.
Step 4 – Perform: Consistency is reached. Personal differences are set aside or managed and the team works together in harmony.
On our holiday, I think Step 2 lasted all of 5 minutes so, on second thoughts, it probably wouldn’t have made scintillating TV viewing. There wasn’t a lot to argue about except what we might have for dinner.
In companies, however, teams can get stuck in the storming phase for months or even years. It requires skilled management to move a team on to Steps 3 and 4.
At think, we’ll guide you through what to do if you are setting up a new team or constantly refereeing an existing one. We’ll provide practical advice on how to get your team performing consistently. Check out our team skills courses or give us a call to discuss what you need.
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