Group Development and Interaction Theory
Group Development and Interaction Theory
Within the business setting, the shift from yesterday’s “singular” culture to today’s “team” culture has brought about a new era of learning, development, and innovation. However, this shift has also brought with it a certain amount of dissatisfaction, conflict, and confusion. This paper will focus on the Tuckman Theory, and discuss how Tuckman’s five stages of group development and interaction applies to the work environment and leadership effectiveness.
The Tuckman Theory
Tuckman’s theory maintains that groups enter four foreseeable and elementary stages of development, and each of these stages contain both task and maintenance functions. These stages are Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. Later, in 1977, Bruce Tuckman, in collaboration with Mary Ann Jensen, updated his model with a fifth stage called “adjourning” (Smith, 2005). To this Tuckman stated:
We reviewed 22 studies that had appeared since the original publication of the model and which we located by means of the Social Sciences Citation Index. These articles, one of which dubbed the stages the 'Tuckman hypothesis' tended to support the existence of the four stages but also suggested a fifth stage for which a perfect rhyme could not be found. We called it 'adjourning' (Tuckman 1984).
The Five Stages of Development
Forming. Forming consists of the orientation of team members, the testing of boundaries between team members, and gathering information about the task and how the team should approach it. Team members are also busy deciding on the organization of the team, roles, and schedules. During this stage, individual team members are assessing his/her acceptance among other team members as well as avoiding any controversy or conflict.
While this may be a more social and comfortable stage for team members, not much work is accomplished because of the members’ avoidance of threat or conflict.
Storming. When important issues are beginning to be
Within the business setting, the shift from yesterday’s “singular” culture to today’s “team” culture has brought about a new era of learning, development, and innovation. However, this shift has also brought with it a certain amount of dissatisfaction, conflict, and confusion. This paper will focus on the Tuckman Theory, and discuss how Tuckman’s five stages of group development and interaction applies to the work environment and leadership effectiveness.
The Tuckman Theory
Tuckman’s theory maintains that groups enter four foreseeable and elementary stages of development, and each of these stages contain both task and maintenance functions. These stages are Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. Later, in 1977, Bruce Tuckman, in collaboration with Mary Ann Jensen, updated his model with a fifth stage called “adjourning” (Smith, 2005). To this Tuckman stated:
We reviewed 22 studies that had appeared since the original publication of the model and which we located by means of the Social Sciences Citation Index. These articles, one of which dubbed the stages the 'Tuckman hypothesis' tended to support the existence of the four stages but also suggested a fifth stage for which a perfect rhyme could not be found. We called it 'adjourning' (Tuckman 1984).
The Five Stages of Development
Forming. Forming consists of the orientation of team members, the testing of boundaries between team members, and gathering information about the task and how the team should approach it. Team members are also busy deciding on the organization of the team, roles, and schedules. During this stage, individual team members are assessing his/her acceptance among other team members as well as avoiding any controversy or conflict.
While this may be a more social and comfortable stage for team members, not much work is accomplished because of the members’ avoidance of threat or conflict.
Storming. When important issues are beginning to be
References: Lagace, M. (2004). Working knowledge for business leaders. How team leaders show support – or not. Retrieved November 5, 2006, from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/4155.html. Mackintosh, A. (2003). The Coaching Manager. Stages of team development. Retrieved November 2, 2006, from http://www.performance-am.com/coaching_models.htm. MacLeod, C. (2002). Leadership tips. 5 Stages of group development. Retrieved November 1, 2006, from http://www.gmu.edu/student/csl/5stages.html. Miami University. (2006). The leadership handout series. Retrieved November 3, 2006, from http://www.units.muohio.edu/saf/sac/handout/stages.html. Smith, M. K. (2005). Bruce W. Tuckman - Forming, storming, norming and performing in groups. The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. Retrieved October 31, 2006, from www.infed.org/thinkers/tuckman.htm.