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It's a fact of human beings, that while we need to form people into teams to get big jobs completed, it's not easy because people often don't work well together. So discovering ways to develop "team spirit" and get teams cooperating efficiently has been studied for a long time. An academic paper by Bruce Tuckman, published in 1965, has come to be accepted as the correct description of how teams form and work together. In this ground-breaking paper, Tuckman proposed teams build through four distinct stages which he called forming, storming, norming and performing. Tuckman's conclusion seems to be right, as researchers since then have widely agreed that when a team forms the members will first want to find out about the others, will need to make adjustments to fit in with them, will inevitably have arguments, and may after some time become efficient and effective. Bruce Tuckman named the first stage in a team's life Forming. This is a time of exploring. Members learn about each other and the "laws" that determine the boundaries for the group. At this time, members are depending on each other or, if it's a team that has been in existence for some time,, on the patterns laid down earlier. Then the Storming begins. The right term for the sparring that often springs up between people in new groups and influences how they work at their particular jobs on the team. It is a sort of resistance to being pushed around by the others. Interestingly, this leads to a third stage, which Tuckman called Norming. Now, group members start to tell each other what they actually think, they become a group, and a new way of acting as a group develops and is unchallenged. When this happens Tuckman's final stage develops. Performing is what he called it. This is the high point. Because members know and like each other they work together. They all focus on doing what's important, helping each other where that's needed and changing jobs when needed. Everyone supports the team leader and other team members. Tuckman further developed this four-stage model in the years that followed. Never-the-less the general premise of these four stages is still widely accepted. He found them in the journals of the 1960s, managed to put them down clearly on paper, gave each stage a memorable label, and gave us a way of studying how small teams develop that is grounded in what is real.
Article Source: http://www.rightarticle.com
Len McGrane has written widely on corporate team building programs and teambuilding ideas. He recommends this team building web site for programs www.teamworx.cc
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