The Tuckman and Jensen model of small group development is a powerful yet straightforward model that consists of five stages of development. Borrowing from Tuckman and Jensen, Fulk et al. (2011) show that future work is prepared when teams come together at the first stage, forming. Here, members are introduced to the team’s goals and purpose and their respective activities are assigned to achieve the goals and purpose. While members are enthusiastic and motivated, effective member interaction is the primary barrier faced by low trust, anxiety, and shared opinions and ideas reluctance. Success in this stage comes from establishing the team’s foundation to realize production. Storming, the second stage, is where disagreements and conflicts arise due to differences in team members’ priorities, working ways, and ideas. Personal development resistance manifests among members due to the polarized conflict within and outside the team (Fulk et al., 2011). However, conflict is essential in the team’s development since it guides members’ comprehension of their responsibilities.
At the norming stage, cohesion is attained by the team. A shift is evident from how members relate with others to how they come together to make decisions. Earlier role ambiguities are replaced by attempts to negotiate and resolve differences, with members feeling committed to the team’s purpose (Fulk et al., 2011). The experienced challenges pave the way for the team and propel it to move to the next stage. At the performing stage, managers ensure team performance is effective by regularly monitoring the assigned responsibilities and offering feedback based on members’ performance. Here, the significance of feedback enables workers to engage in self-control, which is central to ensuring objective effectiveness by the members (Fulk et al., 2011). Effective communication makes change in operation pace evident while collective goals are realized as the members use the available resources efficiently.
At the adjourning stage, work is coming to an end, and the management implications soon manifest. Success results in achieving the objectives and purpose, and the manager dissolves the team (Fulk et al., 2011). The development concepts have applied in my previous work relationships where initially, despite the excitement of being selected to form the team, personal preferences and opinions dictated our ineffectiveness. However, by acknowledging the team was more significant than each of us, we came together to make collective decisions and achieved success in what we set out to do.
Reference
Fulk, H. Kevin; Bell, Reginald L.; and Bodie, Nancy L. (2011). “Team Management by Objectives: Enhancing Developing Teams’ Performance”. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 12(3), 17-26.