Teamwork may not always be easy, but it is a necessity.
Teams are a powerful tool that can amplify, accelerate, and improve progress towards a shared goal. When the right minds are partnered together in a constructive environment what they can accomplish is astounding. Teams can range anywhere from two people starting up a company to 10 people accomplishing a marketing project, or even a developed company of over 40 employees.
Your team is exactly how you define it, and there may be teams within your larger sense of a team. This makes it extremely important to understand the foundational attributes of choosing good team members and the stages of team development. With an understanding of how the creation and development of teams work the path towards goals will be much more efficient.
Who Should Be On The Team?
If you are in charge of creating a team it is deeply important to consider it’s members. A well-rounded team will have diverse members who can join their different thinking styles to achieve a common goal.
Team Thinking
To be sure that the members you chose will be able to share ideas and work in unison you should look for individuals who are considerate of others. People who show consideration for the feelings and thoughts of others are often good listeners. This is crucial because the ability to listen to ideas, process them, and offer feedback is what allows a group to produce higher-quality work than a lone individual.
Mixed Experience
Group members should also have some experience relating to or have a deep passion for the project at hand. Choosing a mix of members serves to balance reliable experience with vivacious new ideas. The ratio of seasoned members to novice members is dependent on the task at hand, but it is always helpful to have at least one of each.
Complimentary Personalities
Even in professional settings, personality styles are a key element of cohesive teamwork. Some workplaces have employees take personality tests that are backed by research. These tests identify things like leadership, creativity, strictness, a tendency towards risk-taking, and many other attributes. By knowing the traits that people display you can choose members for a group whose traits would enhance the project at hand and mix well together.
It is important to balance traits within a group. Just as a soccer team does not choose exclusively goalies for their team you should not choose members with only one personality or experience type.
Once you identify the best members for your team and a goal is set in place the 5 stages of team development begin.
Stage 1: Forming
The first stage, in a team’s 5 stages of development, is called forming.
This stage begins as the team members are introduced to each other and are given their goal.
Like most social settings, time is spent getting to know each other and this introductory time should be encouraged. By offering opportunities in the form of conversation starters or low-risk team bonding games you can spark a positive and welcoming group atmosphere.
Many members will likely present a sense of excitement about joining a new team and working towards a project they are interested in. This may be mixed with a sense of stress or anxiety about how difficult the goal may seem or about how the new team will play out. These emotions are completely normal at this stage and when members share these feelings it can start to create a sense of community.
The progress a team should be expected to make during this stage is towards creating a clear path and timeline that depicts how they plan to achieve their goal. This may seem like a small step, but it is crucial in determining how the rest of the process will advance.
Stage 2: Storming
The storming stage is aptly named because this is where things within a team can get a little rough and rocky.
All of the feelings of excitement from the forming stage start to collapse into frustration and irritation. These emotions commonly stem from a sense of disappointment in how slow the team is moving towards their goal or any complications of communication within the team.
With groups of people who are working together, conflict and disagreement are inevitable and normal. What determines how the team will move on and grow from this experience is how they manage their conflict. This is where it is crucial to have members who understand team development as well as conflict mediation.
If all criticisms can be reformed as constructive and opinions are well discussed instead of argued over, then the team will continue to make progress.
At this stage, it is also very common for groups to refine over-ambitious or impractical plans from stage 1 into a more manageable approach. The refining of plans may seem counterproductive, but it is actually a big step in making the team’s goal more achievable and it should be praised.
Stage 3: Norming
Norming is the calm after the storm.
In this stage, teams have grown closer and more confident in their capabilities after overcoming complications from the storming stage. Differences between members are recognized and respected as they continue to grow more accepting of each other.
A desire for harmony within the team is pursued by the entire group at this point, creating a higher rate of communication. Rules that foster positive communication may also be put in place to help avoid any regression back to stage 2.
Stages 1 and 2 were very team member-focused, but here the focus begins to shift back to the goal at hand since the group has reached a sense of stability.
Stage 4: Preforming
As the title suggests, this stage is the most productive in terms of advancements towards the team’s shared goal.
In the performing stage, team members are the most in sync with each other. Members clearly understand their own position within the group as well as the skills and positions of others. At this point, progress has also been made towards the goal which creates a sense of confidence and satisfaction within the team. Differences have turned into assets and the team easily plans around or through complications in their work.
The productivity in this stage is the highest because team members are feeding off each others drive to accomplish their shared goal. They also have the added motivation of accomplishing steps leading to their goal. The celebration of these small accomplishments as a team reinforces their work ethic, camaraderie, and drive to achieve the team goal.
Tip: Preforming may be the most productive and enjoyable stage of a team’s development, but it is not an infinite experience. Alterations to plans, addition or loss of team members, and notable failures can regress the development to any of the earlier stages. For this reason, team members should always promote positive communication and be aware that these challenges can be overcome.
Stage 5: Concluding
This stage is not always discussed as some teams continuously cycle through the first 4 stages towards a seemingly infinite goal. However, for most teams, the goal they came together for has been accomplished and they must part ways afterward.
This stage can be very emotional for team members as they have formed close friendships and a working atmosphere that they are proud of. A mix of sadness about the end of the team environment they have grown to love and pride in what has been accomplished will be felt by most members.
Whether you are a member or a supervisor of a team that is concluding it is important to foster a sense of accomplishment and pride. Remind members that they have grown through this experience and have learned valuable lessons that will apply to their next achievement. In some settings, it may be appropriate to host a celebration to positively reinforce the team’s efforts and provide a sense of closure on what may be a large chapter in the team member’s lives.
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Citations:
- Using the Stages of Team Development. (n.d.). Retrieved October 08, 2020, from https://hr.mit.edu/learning-topics/teams/articles/stages-development
- McClain, M. (2017, October 17). Council Post: How To Choose A Winning Team. Retrieved October 08, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2017/08/28/how-to-choose-a-winning-team/