From the course: Project Management Foundations

Understand team dynamics

From the course: Project Management Foundations

Understand team dynamics

“

- People who work on your project may be working together for the first time. You know how it goes when people are getting to know one another. Work progresses in fits and starts while folks learn how to work together. To get high quality results and productivity from your people, you have to help them develop into a team. Like people do, teams grow up through several stages before they're truly productive. One model that describes the typical phases that teams go through is called: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. Bruce Tuckman proposed it back in 1965. The first team stage is called forming, because the individuals are just starting to form into a team. They aren't sure of their goal as a team, and they don't know who does what. During the forming stage, you as their leader have to clearly define the team's goals and give them direction. Like other youngsters, teams in the forming stage tend to resist and challenge authority, so be prepared to answer their questions and earn their respect. The second stage is called storming, because things with teams usually get worse before they get better. As team members start to work out their relationships with each other, power struggles often occur. Storming teams have difficulty making decisions because of disagreements. The good news is that those disagreements lead to communication, which helps people grow as a team. When a team is storming, you have to help them stay focused on their goals and help them make decisions. After the storm has passed, you finally have a team. That's the norming stage. The team understands their common goal, and everyone pitches in to be successful. Teams don't always reach the performing stage, but if they do, it's pretty impressive. They know what they're supposed to accomplish, who's supposed to do what, and they often get things done very quickly, all without any help from you. You only have to step in if the team asks. Helping your people develop as a team will help your project run smoothly and deliver quality results. For practice, review the case study in the exercise files and determine which stage the team is in.

Contents