Team Building Process: A Step by Step Guide

A redefinition of the team’s goals, roles and tasks can help team members past the frustration or confusion they experience during the Storming stage. Good managers give employees space and autonomy to move through the team building process naturally. However, leaders can nudge employees towards the next stages, for instance, by mediating conflicts or initiating evaluations and feedback sessions. The best leaders assume a coaching role and point teams in the right direction instead of spelling out the answers for employees.

The storming stage is when the initial excitement and good grace has run out. At this stage, your team has reached cohesion and team members are working together at their highest potential. Your team follows established workflows and group members feel as if they have a common goal to reach together. As a team lead, it’s your goal to get your team to this stage as quickly as possible. We discuss more about how to get your team to this point below.

Sometimes this stage is followed by another project; when this happens, re-forming occurs and the process starts over. Team building is further described as process of assembling the appropriate individuals and ensuring they work together for the benefit of the organization. Team building is a process which includes training sessions with activities, presentations, performances for a group of people to cultivate bonding among the members. Member agree about the roles and processes required to solve problems. Members of the team adjust their work habits and behavior in order to accommodate other team members and make the work on the team more smooth and natural.

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When a team is first formed, there can be uncertainty and even anxiety, but also excitement. This is normal, and is considered one of the stages of team building. Navigating through the five stages of group development isn’t a walk in the park. During the initial stages, in particular, there’ll be lots of conflicts, disagreements, and a clash of personalities. This is expected when people with different perspectives come together to work towards a common goal.

Once the storming stage gets navigated, the team can achieve a better dynamic. Psychologist Bruce Tuckman was the first to document the different phases that teams go through as they develop. In this article, we discuss the different stages of group development and how you can guide your team through them to optimize collaboration.

With remote work becoming a norm, you might consider whether you would like to move your meeting fully or partially online. Team building meetings are gatherings that fulfill the specific purpose of improving team https://globalcloudteam.com/ relations. Most high-performing teams go through five stages of team development. As mentioned earlier, developing strong team relationships is one of the most important things for leadership in any setting.

There are five stages of the team building process which involves:

She reminds the team that all responses are valuable to the process. Chris thanks Julie for honestly sharing her thoughts and states this is why she’s a valuable member. To run a great meeting, keep the team aligned, and the agenda short, specific, and action-oriented. Teamwork doesn’t exist unless there’s cooperation and collaboration, so spend time working together and celebrating achievements together. Surprise them by telling them good news, ask how their day was, and listen – really listen! When someone talks to you, try to respond and acknowledge them, and make an effort to connect with them as an individual rather than just as part of the team.

• Team performance may actually decrease in this stage because energy is put into unproductive activities.
• Some conflicts might have been resolved or an equilibrium was reached.
• The apprehensive behavior usually arises because members are unsure about the project goals and their roles.
• So, conducting icebreakers and team bonding activities is desirable.
• You should also ensure that your team has the means to communicate, especially if the team is remote.
• Once you nail down organizational details, you can start planning exercises to engage and educate your teams.

Team members are generally on their best behavior, and tend to behave independently. For team members who do not like conflict, this is a difficult stage to go through, but this is also the point where real teamwork begins to develop. Team members start to settle into their individual roles and learn to put aside their differences and listen to opposing viewpoints in order to solve problems as a unit. Tuckman linked the formation stage to the time exhibited by young infants of orientation and dependence. If this phase is not carefully managed it can get out of control and be destructive to the effectiveness of the team.

FAQ: Team building process

We’ll expand on them here, along with the best team building activities for each stage. In an organization, the adjourning stage could translate into a change in employees’ job responsibilities. For instance, if the team develops a new work process for improving the customer experience, members may be asked to oversee the new and improved process. Renowned psychologist Bruce Tuckman created an easily-understood model in 1965. It illustrates how teams in different fields undergo five similar stages of group development. Understanding the stages of team development enables you to build successful and high-performing teams.

As you might expect, leaders play an important part in establishing productive norms by acting as role models and by rewarding desired behaviors. This is the stage at which teams address how they will function as a team, including issues of leadership. Ensure roles and responsibilities are clear to reduce the risk of employees getting frustrated by the lack progress. The most commonly accepted model of team building, developed by Dr. Bruce Tuckman, consists of four primary stages. The model was created in the mid-1960s, and in the early 1970s Tuckman added a fifth stage to his model. The model is based on the fact that teams must feel each other out, work out conflicts, and set aside their differences before they can become an effective unit.

The five stages of team development are forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Team development plays a critical role in your organization’s success. When the five stages of team development get successfully implemented, a sense of partnership and community is fostered. It’s best to set clear expectations at every stage so that the team has seamless alignment when proceeding to the next.

Create a team environment

The expectancies of members will be difficult and different in most cases. The members will have the most precious opportunity at this stage to improve their communication skills and gain novel ones. Identifying power, resources and control circumstances falls on the shoulders of the team leader. Also, the leader should approach the team members cautiously to make them embrace his/her leadership.

At this stage, the leader is relied on heavily to maintain order and keep the group on task. They may also test the resolve of their leader to see what they can and cannot get away with. Once the group is formed there is generally a pre-group meeting. Each group member is screened to make sure they will be an asset to the group rather than a setback. Is made up of managers, subordinates, or both with close associations among group members that influence the behavior of individuals in the group.

During the Forming stage of team development, team members are usually excited to be part of the team and eager about the work ahead. Members often have high positive expectations for the team experience. At the same time, they may also feel some anxiety, wondering how they will fit in to the team and if their performance will measure up. Team effectiveness is enhanced by a team’s commitment to reflection and on-going evaluation. Team building requires effort, and when you achieve success in any or many of the team building steps, you should take time to acknowledge the win.

Clarify roles and responsibilities

When people feel more connected, it creates a sense of solidarity which aids in workplace cohesion. Behaviors during the Norming stage may include members making a conscious effort to resolve problems and achieve group harmony. There might be more frequent and more meaningful communication among team members, and an increased willingness to share ideas or ask teammates for help.

#3. Norming

For example, you give the first clue at the start, then they find that item and get the next clue. This activity helps you understand how your teams respond to change. In this activity, you can tell some change-related words like “alteration”, “conversion”, etc., one by one. Then, the participants should respond to each word by moving forward if it induces a positive response or backward if it induces a negative response.

At the start of each project, either assign tasks or oversee the team’s delegation of duties. You should always be aware of team member responsibilities to ensure an even workflow distribution. You can always reallocate tasks and send help as necessary during projects, but establishing clear positions helps everyone set realistic expectations and stay on track. This is the stage in which employees actually work together as a team and get the job done. Literally, the three key terms in this stage are teamwork, performance, and goal achievement. The reason is overall goals are accomplished by a team through teamwork.

That’s particularly for new teams because members need to get acquainted with each other first before they start to work towards the common goal. You may also want to see if there are any team building events in your area that others have enjoyed. There may even be online resources available or ways to organize one at your workplace. By giving credit where credit is due, you create an environment in which people feel comfortable being more open and honest. Because we are all human, acknowledging our mistakes helps us to understand ourselves better. The most commonly used framework for a team’s stages of development was developed in the mid-1960s by Bruce W. Tuckman.

As mentioned before, team building is an integral part of any professional’s career. If your team is expecting an authoritative type and you’re a born collaborator, the team might not feel you’re effective. Team members need to be able to rely on each other to deliver, so the team can move faster and further. Leadership can, once again, show the way; Hu says team members will gradually learn and emulate the leader’s behavior. Even bringing on one or two dependable teammates will, over time, change the culture of a team, Hu says. To cultivate psychological safety, leaders need to examine their own attitude toward failure and how they project it, Hu says.

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Roles on the team may have become more fluid, with members taking on various roles and responsibilities as needed. Differences among members are appreciated and used to enhance the team’s performance. Having a way to identify and understand causes for changes in the team behaviors can help the team maximize the four stages of team development its process and its productivity. To achieve great performance, colleagues must depend on each other. Teammates must believe that other group members will complete the work quickly and correctly. Team members must also feel comfortable confronting other teammates and approaching teammates for help.