BA 421 Week 5 Discussion Stages of Team Development

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Teams play an important role when it comes to organizing work and achieving the set objectives in the corporate world. Teams have the ability to instantly disperse, organize, amass and relocate. However, teams are example of effective tools of team player motivation. It is important to note that team development and maturity is realized gradually. Team development promotes an atmosphere that is conducive through encouraging teamwork, co-operation, building trust and interdependence among team players.

There are four stages of team development namely: forming, storming, norming and performing. The first stage is forming; in this stage team players are always anxious and they adopt the wait and see behavior. They tend to be formal towards other team members and there is no clear picture of the team’s objectives. It is at this stage where the team is required to clarify its objectives as well as come up with its own mission statement. This enables the team to set boundaries and deduce what is expected of them. One way of facilitating team development at this stage is by ensuring that each objective has personal buy-in (Tuckman, 2001).

The second stage is known as storming. Here, team members want to get going and conflict may arise because of different ideologies on how to realize the set objectives. It is at this point that team members begin to note the differences; as a result some team members may drop out physically or mentally. Tensions will rise and the members become impatient. A way of facilitating development at this stage is by ensuring that there is effective communication among members and learning how to control member’s frustrations and disappointments.

The third stage is norming. It is at this stage that members realize their similarities. They recognize that they share common objectives. Therefore, they begin to socialize and somehow get derailed on what they are supposed to do in favor of enjoying themselves. One way of facilitating development at this stage is through conflict resolution. The last stage is performing. Here, team members are competent, well trained and have acquired problem-solving skills. Team development can be facilitated through encouraging growth by challenging the team.

References

Tuckman, B. W. (2001, Spring). Developmental Sequence in small groups. Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal, 71-72.