Stages of Team Development: What about Your Team? (Content is from a presentation delivered by Amber Mayes, Team/Organization Development Expert and CHAMP Faculty, at CHAMP s Geriatric Medication Management Workshop). This tool will support you in becoming more aware of where your team is currently and determining what they might need to develop into a high performing team. It includes a review of the typical stages that teams go through (based on a model by Bruce Tuckman) and a self-assessment exercise. OBJECTIVES Learn the 4 stages of team development Complete a self-assessment exercise about your team s current stage Plan how you can apply team stages of development to your team TEAM DEVELOPMENT MODEL Adapted from Tuckman model Can be applied to how teams emerge Can be used to diagnose and explain team behaviors at any given time Can be used to move teams to the next stage of development 4 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT Stage 1 Dependency and Inclusion o Inclusion o Dependence o Lack of structure o Centralized communication o High conformity Stage 2 Counterdependency and Fight o Conflict emerges o More tension in the group o Authority issues with leader o Increased participation by team members o Role clarification begins o Difficulty making decisions
Stage 3 Trust and Structure o Greater consensus on goals o Division of labor o Focus on tasks and productivity o Increased trust o Conflict managed effectively o Leader is more consultative Stage 4 Work and Productivity o High clarity and agreement about group goals o Cooperation and cohesion high o Focus is on relationships with external groups o Conflict is managed well; is brief o Communication is open/inclusive o Leadership is shared SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE: INSTRUCTIONS Assessment can be completed individually or with your team Place an x in front of each item that describes your current team situation Mark all items that apply across all stages DEBRIEF What is the most important learning resulting from this exercise? What questions do you have about the results? How can you apply the results as you work with your teams back home? APPLICATION Share with your team members the stages of development Ask for team members input about their perspective on the stage you chose Talk about how knowing your team s stage of development can help explain the team members level of functioning
Self-Assessment Exercise: Stages of Team Development Based on Bruce Tuckman s model 1 Each stage of the Tuckman model is listed below. Place an x before each statement that describes a characteristic your team is demonstrating now. It is fine if you mark items across some or all stages. STAGE 1 DEPENDENCY AND INCLUSION 1. Members are concerned with acceptance and inclusion. 2. Members communicate in a tentative and polite manner. 3. Members behave in ways that suggest a need for dependable and directive leadership. 4. The leader is seen as benevolent and competent. 5. The leader is expected and encouraged to provide members with direction. 6. The leader is very rarely challenged. 7. Goals are not clear to members, but clarity is not sought. 8. The team assumes that consensus about goals exists. 9. Role assignments tend to be based on external status rather than on matching competencies with goal and task requirements. 10. Member compliance is high. 11. Communication tends to be centralized. 12. Participation is generally limited to a few vocal individuals. 13. Overt conflict is minimal. 14. Conformity is high. 15. A lack of team structure and organization is evident. 16. Subteams and coalitions are rare. 1 1 Tuckman, Bruce W. (1965) 'Developmental sequence in small groups', Psychological Bulletin, 63, 384-399. The article was reprinted in Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal - Number 3, Spring 2001 and is available at: http://dennislearningcenter.osu.edu/references/group%20dev%20article.doc.
STAGE 2 COUNTERDEPENDENCY AND FIGHT 1. Conflicts about values surface. 2. Disagreements about goals and tasks emerge. 3. Increased feelings of safety allow dissent to occur. 4. Dissatisfaction with roles may surface. 5. Clarification of goals begins. 6. Role clarification also beings. 7. Members challenge the leader. 8. Subteams and coalitions form. 9. Team intolerance of subteams and coalitions is manifest. 10. Increased member participation is evident. 11. Decreased conformity begins. 12. Deviation from emerging team norms occurs. 13. Attempts at conflict management are evident. 14. If efforts to resolve conflicts are successful, increased consensus about team goals and culture become evident near the end of this stage. 15. Conflict resolution, if successful, increases trust and cohesion. 1. Increased goal clarity and consensus are evident. STAGE 3 TRUST AND STRUCTURE 2. Roles and tasks are adjusted to increase the likelihood of goal achievement. 3. The leader s role becomes less directive and more consultative. 4. The communication structure appears to be more flexible. 5. The content of communication becomes more task oriented. 6. Pressures to conform increase again. 7. Helpful deviations is tolerated. 8. Coalitions and subteams continue to form. 9. Increased tolerance of subteams and coalitions is evident. 10. Cohesion and trust increase. 11.Member satisfaction also increases. 12. Cooperation is more evident. 13. Individual commitment to team goals and tasks is high. 14. Greater division of labor occurs. 15. Conflict continues to occur. 16. Conflict management strategies are more effective. 17. The team works to clarify and build a team structure that will facilitate goal achievement and productivity.
1. Members are clear about and agree with team goals. STAGE 4 WORK AND PRODUCTIVITY 2. Tasks are appropriate to team versus individual solution. 3. Members are clear about and accept their roles. 4. Role assignments match member abilities. 5. Delegation is the prevailing leadership style. 6. The team has an open communication structure in which all members participate. 7. The team gets, gives and utilizes feedback about its effectiveness and productivity. 8. The team spends time defining problems or decisions, as well as planning how it will solve problems and make decision. 9. The team chooses participatory decision-making methods. 10. The team implements and evaluates its solutions and decisions. 11. Voluntary conformity is high. 12. Task-related deviance is tolerated. 13. The team norms encourages high performance and quality. 14. The team expects to be successful. 15. The team encourages innovation. 16. The team pays attention to the details of its work. 17. Subteams work on important tasks are rewarded by the team. 18. Tasks contain variety and challenge. 19. The team contains the smallest number of members necessary to achieve its goals. 20. The team has access to the technical and people resources necessary to accomplish its task, including training as needed. 21. The team has defined work territory. 22. The team is allotted sufficient time to develop a mature working unit and to accomplish its goals. 23. The team is highly cohesive and cooperative. 24. Interpersonal attraction is high. 25. Periods of conflict are frequent but brief. 26. The team has effective conflict management strategies.