Intervening Along the Way: Building Stronger and More Efficient Teams

Understanding Tuckman’s Model

Teams form similarly each and every time. Bruce Tuckman broke this process into five essential phases. Most all teams progress through the first four of the five phases and some teams find themselves progressing through all five. The five stages, forming, storming, norming, performing, and sometimes adjourning are sequential and present different challenges and benefits along the way. Excellent leaders constantly work to mitigate potential problems and arming themselves with the evolution of team development can be a great tool. Presented below are key interventions at each of the five phases to develop a strong, effective, and highly productive team. In addition, if it is a temporary team that does in fact progress through the fifth phase of adjourning, participants should look back on its run favorably. In addition, there is an honorable mention to Connie Gersick’s model known as Punctuated Equilibrium as well as a brief analysis of its challenges.

Implementing Strategy at Each Phase

Forming

After a team is composed, meaning all members are selected they begin to feel the situation out. Testing the waters to see what is expected of them, what their personal skillset may offer, and most distinctly searching out who the leaders are amongst them (Colquitt, LePine, and Wesson 2016).

Intervention: Develop the Role of The Leader

This stage can be uncertain and tumultuous. It is important that the leader of the team take time to foster an environment where teammates are not punished for their vulnerabilities. Leaders can do this by demonstrating risk and not being afraid to “lose face” or potentially demonstrate their own vulnerabilities (Lencioni 2002).

Intervention: Build the Foundations of Trust utilizing the MBTI Test

A major hindrance to teams is the lack of trust. Trust that you can fail in front of one another, and that everyone has each other’s best interest in mind. Feelings of caution and trepidation are sure signs of a lack of trust. To break down these barriers teams should consider taking a personality test known as the Meyers Briggs Personality Type Indicator (Lencioni 2002). This opens communications between teammates and allows for mutual empathy in a comfortable environment. It will also act as the foundational building blocks for the next phase, Storming.

Storming

Storming is likely one of the most tumultuous phases of the process. It is defined as a period where people are unwilling to accommodate ideas that are not their own. Team members act as strong individuals, and not a team (Colquitt, LePine, and Wesson 2016).

Intervention: Balance Cooperation While Fostering Healthy Competition

The strongest leaders are able to braid the strands of cooperation and competition together (Plesek 1997). Utilizing the foundations of trust built in the previous intervention continue to maintain open lines of communication.

Intervention: Setup a Schedule to Drive Productivity

The storming phase is known for lower productivity as members are prone to conflict (Colquitt, LePine, and Wesson 2016). Set up a critical project management plan with assigned tasks to continue driving the team forward leveraging accountability.

Norming

The norming stage is when team members begin to settle in and work with one another. During this phase norms develop and people learn their role and contribution to the team (Colquitt, LePine, and Wesson 2016).

Intervention: Have a Roundtable Discussion

At this point people are mostly comfortable being honest in front of one another. Set up an opportunity for people to submit topics anonymously for a round table discussion. This can be a great time to highlight norms that are both positive and negative. Cementing the positive and mitigating the negative will prepare for a better transition to the performing stage.

Intervention: Utilize Partnership to Foster Affective Commitment to the Team

Teams become a lot friendlier during this stage of the process. Leaders should utilize this time to develop the bonds between team members personally and professionally. This could include attendance of an event outside of work or an office party. Something social and non-work related. Friendly workspaces foster affective commitment to the workplace, or the desire to stay part of the team because one wants to (Colquitt, LePine, and Wesson 2016).

Performing

Performing is about just that, performance. Ultimately the team strives to spend most of its time together in this stage. The team is now working as a well-oiled machine.

Intervention: Introduce a Reward System and Set Clear Goals

One danger of the performing stage is stagnation of work. This is based on personal experience. Surely everyone has been in a situation where working on the same thing becomes monotonous. Monotony does nothing for the team environment and productivity. Be sure to mitigate this by setting clear goals and rewards or celebrations for meeting them.

"The Chinese character for crisis, Weigee, incorporates two figures: The upper character represents 'danger,' the lower one 'opportunity'."

-From the book Leading at the Edge

Intervention: Foster Optimism through Reframing

During this time, likely the longest period of time spent throughout the whole process, your team will incur problems. Some big, and some small. Strong leaders must possess the ability to foster optimism within themselves, and project that viewpoint to their teams. Leaders can do this by reframing. Reframing bad situations is done first by visualizing all positive outcomes both positive and negative, then choosing the best positive and attainable outcome, and finally maintaining this outlook despite resistance and cynicism (Perkins et al. 2000).

And Sometimes Adjourning

Permanent teams do not adjourn where temporary teams, or teams working on projects that end, go through this final phase of adjourning. That being said, these interventions can be applied to individuals who leave the team for other reasons as they will have a similar experience.

Intervention: The Light in the End of the Tunnel is a Celebration not a Train!

Team members during this stage can feel anxiety, begin to disengage early, and sustain strong emotions (Colquitt, LePine, and Wesson 2016). Before everything comes to an end, set up the expectation of a big celebration when it is all over. The celebration should be oriented around the hard work put in, and it should be offered as a “thank you” to everyone involved. Thoroughly recognizing everyone’s contribution, talent, and even growth will promote future projects that you lead.

Intervention: Establish Next Steps

The end of your project can sometimes mean the end of someone’s job depending on your work situation. This leads to anxiety. If you, the leader are in a position where you can help someone get onto another project or begin to network you should set aside time to do so. At the very least, you should offer deserving teammates your willingness to be a reference, and contacts that you may have.

Punctuated Equilibrium

Some teams enter into a different process all together. This process, coined by Connie Gersick as Punctuated Equilibrium, demonstrates a certain level of controlled dysfunction. Teams get together and have some inertia setting up norms and grasping the initial concepts of a project, but the momentum stops and almost no work is completed until the project’s midpoint. The team then realizes, under the pressure of the impending deadline that there is work to be done and begins. This course correction usually saves the project and allows for its timely completion.

Intervention: Utilize a Gantt Chart and Critical Path Management

A specific function of critical path management is assigning tasks to specific people. It’s important that everyone know in these situations who should be doing what and by when it needs to be done.

"Everyone needs deadlines. Even the beavers. They loaf around all summer, but when they are faced with the winter deadline, they work like fury. If we didn't have deadlines, we'd stagnate"

-Walt Disney

Intervention: Reinvigorate Commitment Amongst the Team

If you find yourself on a team that appears to be taking the path of Punctuated Equilibrium, commitment can be low, especially before the midpoint. One strategy to reinvigorate commitment is an analysis of the worst-case scenario, failure. Get everyone on the same page, and refocused.

Conclusion

Teams need maintenance no matter what path they take. Key motivators along the way include optimism and vision. Leaders and team members need to consistently check-in with one another to assure progression forward. Staying ahead of problems through mitigation and intervention fosters much healthier and productive teams.

References

Colquitt, Jason, Jeffery A. LePine, and Michael J. Wesson. 2016. Organizational Behavior: Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace. Fifth ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

Gersick, C. 1988. “Time and Transition in Work Teams : Toward a New Model of Group Development.” Academy of Management Journal 31 (1): 9–41. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3610677.

Lencioni, Patrick. 2002. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. Jossey-Bass.

Perkins, Dennis N.T., Margaret P. Holtman, Paul R. Kessler, and Catherine McCarthy. 2000. Leading at the Edge. New York: Amacom.

Plesek, Paul. 1997. “Working Paper: Complexity Basics.” 1997. https://directedcreativity.com/pages/ComplexityWP.html.