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High-performing teams go through four defined stages to reach their potential. This is true whether your team works remotely https://globalcloudteam.com/ or works in person. Leaders of a team in the Forming stage have a lot of responsibility in helping the team come together.
Now that the team is past the introductory stage, personalities can start to conflict due to differing opinions and approaches. Team members will begin to question things such as responsibilities, rules, and criteria for success. This can make team members uncomfortable to a point where isolation can occur and the team can fall apart. The final stage, adjourning, involves the termination of task behaviors and disengagement from relationships. A planned conclusion usually includes recognition for participation and achievement and an opportunity for members to say personal goodbyes.
Key Features
No one is afraid to ask a question, bring up a concern, or pose a new way of going about certain tasks. Everyone can bring their whole self to the team, play to their strengths, and will step up and help one another when it’s needed. Think of this phase like when you move in with a friend you’ve never lived with before, and you slowly start to notice the little things about them that get on your nerves. While some teams think they can skip this stage, it’s important to dive into it with the expectation that there may be some conflict.
Members on the team trust one another and the structure is strong. Because of their strength, the team needs little supervision, and members all work together to make the best decision and move towards their goals. Members continue to rely on the leader for help with navigating this stage, but not quite as much as in the Forming stage.
Team Building in Health Care Systems
There is little intervention needed from leadership at this stage, but it is important to continue providing support where needed to prevent the team from lapsing back into the storming stage. This is when the team first meets each other and is on their best behavior. As part of a new group, individuals seek acceptance from their new teammates and try to develop bonds through common interests. Every team moves through the four stages of development, and may slip back a stage or two as new challenges or opportunities arise. Being resilient, laying aside ego and working together will allow the team to meet the challenges and emerge stronger than when they started. The performing stage is a clear indication that your team is in a state of alignment.
On a remote team, you need to be more thoughtful about the tools and the processes that you use to identify and deal with disagreements. Your role here is to act as the team’s champion, securing resources and minimizing roadblocks in the organization. Your participation should be much more focused on how the team is tackling problems rather than solving the problems for them.
How to help your team through the stages of group development
Establishing a communication plan can help you do all of these things in a way that’s easy for your team to follow. Timothy Biggs suggested that an additional stage be added of “norming” after “forming” and renaming the traditional norming stage “re-norming”. After the team members have moved past the forming, storming, and norming stages of group development, they can finally produce work and rely on team members for support. Their working styles and skills complement one another, and they rely on the each other to perform tasks more efficiently.
If that is the case, the leader may need to step in to assist the team through these changes. However, generally, the leader is more involved with delegating and overseeing the process during this stage. Note that teams can lapse back into earlier stages four stages of group development when changes occur with personnel or the project itself. Ideally, the end of this phase is the successful completion of the project. The team, which will potentially remain the same in a smaller company or startup, can now move on to the next project.
Pivoting Your Services in Challenging Times
To advance from this stage to the next stage, each member must relinquish the comfort zone of non-threatening topics and risk the possibility of conflict. They’ll look to you for guidance and support, and when you establish a trusting two-way conversation, you’ll pave the way towards their professional growth. When this happens, it’s important to take stock of what your team needs. Your team feels confident, excited and satisfied with their work. This gives them an opportunity to recognize their abilities as well as those of their teammates.
- The leader of team should focus on Job enrichment as a job satisfaction strategy when money and hygiene factors cannot be increased or no longer motivate a staff member.
- Understanding that each stage is normal and expected can relieve a lot of tension and free the team up to break through and move on.
- A team that works together to resolve issues will trust each other more.
- The Performing Stage — mainly characterized by overall synergy.
- Later, during the norming and performing stages, norms focus on relationships and levels of performance.
- Try to involve as many members as you can in conversations and decisions, but know that the ultimate responsibility lies with you.
- Leadership, power, and structural issues dominate this stage.
This gives them insight into the bigger goal but also breaks down the timeline into smaller increments. Project scheduling is a critical and crucial part of project management and planning. It’s the yellow-brick-road that, when followed, will lead you to the gleaming project closure right on time. Motivators would increase job satisfaction while the hygiene factors would reduce job dissatisfaction. Money as a reward would be a motivator otherwise a hygiene factor. The leader of team should focus on Job enrichment as a job satisfaction strategy when money and hygiene factors cannot be increased or no longer motivate a staff member.
Storm To Perform: The 4 Stages Of Team Productivity
If the team is successful in setting more flexible and inclusive norms and expectations, members should experience an increased sense of comfort in expressing their “real” ideas and feelings. Team members feel an increasing acceptance of others on the team, recognizing that the variety of opinions and experiences makes the team stronger and its product richer. Members start to feel part of a team and can take pleasure from the increased group cohesion. Team Tasks during the Storming stage of development call for the team to refocus on its goals, perhaps breaking larger goals down into smaller, achievable steps. The team may need to develop both task-related skills and group process and conflict management skills.