Stages of Team Development Good Morning! Guten Morgen! Buenos Dias! Bonjour! Dobri Ranok! Chao buoi sang! Pardon me, but H.C.’s talk on inclusiveness and diversity has inspired me. This morning, Bob Efird and I are going to explain the Stages of Team development. Why do we need to learn about Team Development? As leaders, whether in Scouting, church, or our occupations, we will all experience this dynamic, and it is important that we can recognize the stages, and realize that when all seems lost it may just be one of the stages your team is going through that is necessary for it to develop successfully. Almost all teams go through these stages when brought together and given a task, or a goal to complete. These stages are called Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. We will show you these stages with some diagrams and pictures that depict each stage. Keep in mind there are 2 important variables present throughout the 4 stages- Enthusiasm, and Skills. So let’s take a look at these stages. Bob Efird & Ron Alexander

First, we have the Forming stage First, we have the Forming stage. This is where the group has first assembled, all is good. The team members are excited about their upcoming project together, they are getting to know one another, but little is actually getting accomplished. An example of this occurred yesterday morning when you arrived. You were formed together as a group, but you were not yet a team. As you meld together as a team, look at the diversity within your Patrol, and see that if you utilize it properly it will be beneficial to your overall success. At this stage you will typically see high enthusiasm, but low performance. Let’s look at a more familiar example of this step.

Clearly this group is in the Forming Stage! All is good. Until…they are given a task to complete, a Vision to accomplish. Then things change quickly. Now let’s look at the next step, Storming.

Have we gone through any Storming yet? How about last night? In this stage the team members have a common goal, but differing ideas on how to proceed. There is usually some friction, maybe some arguments, and it doesn’t really look like much is getting done. However, this is an important step for a team to go through, and it will lead to future success once the team resolves their differences and focuses on the goal. It is also important to keep in mind that different teams will progress through this stage at different speeds. In this stage you will see Lower enthusiasm, and lower performance. Here is a more familiar example of this stage.

Could this be your Unit Committee. Or a church committee perhaps Could this be your Unit Committee? Or a church committee perhaps? Or maybe the team going through this stage is your Crew, or one of the Patrols in your Troop. Remember, all teams experience this stage and it is important to let the team go through this step. At this point Enthusiasm is low, and again not much is being accomplished towards the goal. Now we’ll move onto the Norming stage.

For the most part, differences have been resolved, and the team is now focused on the goal, and putting all their energies into successfully achieving it. As you can see Enthusiasm and Skills are increasing. Maybe Norming looks something like this-

The team is focused on the task The team is focused on the task. Maybe some internal leadership has become established. This team is ready to move forward. The enthusiasm is going up and their combined efforts are resulting in positive accomplishments in their task. What comes next?

Performing! Now we are at the Performing stage and life…is…good! Enthusiasm is high and the combined efforts of the team are yielding good results and success is in sight. Would you like to see what a high performing team looks like?

Just look at them!

TEAM A group of people brought together to accomplish a set task or GOAL!

Remember the Titans-1, Forming

Remember the Titans-2, Storming Let’s see an example of the Storming stage- This involves two players, representing different factions on the team, and clearly things are not going well. Look for some signs of the storming stage during this clip- Clearly this team is in the Storming stage. What signs did we see of this-’ Low morale, low performance, negativity, frustration and dissatisfaction with leadership, in this case the team captain, not the coach. Trust is an issue. What else is occurring- Communication, not positive, but frequently communication of this sort proceeds moving on.

Remember the Titans-3, Norming

Remember the Titans-4, Performing

This scene takes place at halftime of the biggest game of the season, and the Titan’s are losing. Look for the signs of a performing team in this clip- When the Titan’s retake the filed they go on to win the game. What did we see that indicates they are a high performing team- They have set aside their differences and are working as a team. They took responsibility for their destiny. Remember, the coach let them off, he told them no matter the outcome they could hold their heads high. But they said no, they were not satisfied with anything less than perfection. They took the filed with a goal, a common vision, and as a high performing team accomplished it.

Team Development Performance, morale and trust are a key part of each stage. Leaders must set expectations, roles and give direction to team. Team members may go through different stages at different speeds and even regress. We, not I!

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■ The stages enable us to anticipate what a team is likely to go through. This will prevent team members from being surprised or depressed by various events such as disagreements during the “Storming” stage. ■ The stages enable us to use appropriate strategies to smooth the progress of a team as it evolves. For example, we can suggest a procedure for establishing ground rules for a team in the “Norming” stage. ■ Different teams may proceed through different stages at different speeds, a process that can be affected by the fact that team members may also have varying rates of progress. Members of a team should avoid making selffulfilling prophecies about how long each stage will last. ■ A team may sometimes regress to an earlier stage. For example, team members may return to a previous stage if they discover that the team’s vision or membership has changed, such as when a significant number of new boys are added to a patrol. ■ It is possible for a team to be in different stages with respect to different aspects of its vision. For example, it may still be in the “Storming” stage with respect to implementing its final plan, even while it is in the “Performing” stage with respect to efficiently generating ideas for the plan.

SUMMARY Teams are brought together to accomplish set tasks or GOALS. Leaders must understand and recognize the different stages of team development Leaders must use appropriate strategies to move team through different stages. Performance and morale are a key part of each stage. We, not I!