The Five Stages of Team Development Principles of Management

Regardless of the tools used for team development, the process must be maintained through long-term awareness. Team development sets businesses up to thrive—not just survive. This article will guide you through the significance of team development, its stages, and action steps business professionals can take to orient their teams toward a development mindset. Team members may feel a variety of concerns about the team’s impending dissolution. They may be feeling some anxiety because of uncertainty about their individual role or future responsibilities.

All good things must come to an end, and at a certain point, the project will wrap up. Leading a team can be a challenge, especially when there’s a big project and tight deadlines. Understanding the lifecycle of a team, however, can help you keep your team productive and happy.

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I have been working with teams for a while now and I find this model to be very helpful. I have found that it is a good way to track the progress of a team. Hopefully the cycle is shorter the next time around, especially if team members are aware.

• Changes, such as members coming or going or large-scale changes in the external environment, can lead a team to cycle back to an earlier stage.
• It is important for the team leader to set aside time specifically for the adjourning stage.
• Make sure everyone steps back each day or week to take a look at the larger picture.
• Providing consistent feedback prevents team stagnation because everyone is always striving to do and be better.
• Encourage team members to share their ideas and contribute to the discussion.
• Everyone is high on the same page and working hard towards the ultimate goal.
• Finally, share the project roadmap so the team can see the starting point, the proposed check-in points, and the end goal.

You’ll be able to access all of your important documents in one location so your team won’t waste time searching for important materials. Here are 6 ways Teamwork Spaces can power your marketing team. To advance from this stage to the next stage, each member must relinquish the comfort zone of non-threatening topics and risk https://globalcloudteam.com/ the possibility of conflict. In this stage team members are comfortable with each other and utilize their different perspectives to find workable solutions. Adjourning – Teams complete their project and discuss what worked well and can be further improved. Forming – This is where the team members first meet each other.

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In this stage, team members are creating new ways of doing and being together. As the group develops cohesion, leadership changes from ‘one’ teammate in charge to shared leadership. Team members learn they have to trust one another for shared leadership to be effective. The performing four stages of group development stage is when your team is truly interdependent. Teamwork and creativity is at an all time high, and team members step up to take ownership over multiple parts of the project. Leaders provide little direction, meanwhile team members share new information and solutions constantly.

Bottlenecks get addressed promptly and with purpose since the team can easily collaborate and create the solutions required to get everyone back on track. Most teams get to the adjourning stage at some point but that’s not always the case. Some teams get created for projects with endpoints, while others are ongoing. However, even teams built for permanent projects can still undergo the adjourning process due to restructuring and re-allocation. The stage can cause uncertainty, especially among team members who are unsure about their subsequent roles.

Using the Stages of Team Development

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This stage of a group can be confusing and is usually reached when the task is successfully completed. At this stage, the project is coming to an end and the team members are moving off in different directions. At this stage, the morale is high as group members actively acknowledge the talents, skills and experience that each member brings to the group. A sense of belongingness is established and the group remains focused on the group’s purpose and goal.

The 5 Stages of Team Development

While teams move through the four stages in sequence, the phases may overlap or be repeated. This is the second stage of team development, where the group starts to sort itself out and gain each others’ trust. This stage often starts when they voice their opinions; conflict may arise between team members as power and status are assigned. At this stage there is often a positive and polite atmosphere, people are pleasant to each other, and they may have feelings of excitement, eagerness and positiveness.

These authors suggest that team effectiveness increases as teams move through phases of team development, from a working group to a high-performance team as illustrated in Figure 4. While all phases of team building are important, many leaders consider storming to be the most important stage of team development. During the storming stage, team members encounter initial obstacles and master conflict resolution.

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For project-based teams that have been formed for a limited time period, this stage provides an opportunity to formally mark the end of the project. The team may decide to organize some sort of celebration or ceremony to acknowledge contributions and achievements before it disbands. The adjourning stage is an important way of providing closure, and it can help team members successfully move on to the next work project or team with the sense of a job well done. An organization is only as strong as the teams it creates to handle various projects. For this reason, organizations should invest in team development since it impacts the bottom line significantly.