According to Tuckman team develops in these stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. In my experience, that’s an accurate team life cycle. Interestingly, this model has a lot of overlap with SCARF and change management.
Tuckman and SCARF
In the forming stage, everyone is feeling each other out. As professionals, our inclination is to act politely and avoid challenging each other too much. We find ways to relate. We avoid saying things like “I think Led Zeppelin sucks” when a teammate proclaims John Bonham is the best. We can comfortably continue our same level of autonomy as collaboration workflow have not yet been established so. In all, this is a gentle phase. Still, leadership needs to communicate strong goals for the team to coalesce around. The leader also needs to make sure to dedicate time not just for the ‘tasks’ realm, but for ‘group structure’ too with inclusion activities.
Storming is the ‘two steps forward, one step back’ phase. This critical phase includes confrontation, resistance and limited productivity. All the SCARF domains get touched during this phase. Team members are less relatable b/c we let our hair down and shout “Zeppelin is overrated!”. Things like status and certainty are diminished as roles and workflows are introduced. If there is a lack of communication, transparency or information management, decisions can appear less fair. There may even be a loss of autonomy. That said, working through this phase builds a stronger team with more trust and a more honest understanding of each other’s values, work styles, and strengths. A leader needs to identify members of the team that have high tolerance for conflict that can support the manager throughout this stage.
Norming is when the new-group-generated norms are institutionalized and turned into muscle memory. Without re-enforcement, it is easy for a team to slip back into the storming phase. In this stage things may not be quite automosly b/c there is and extra level to ensure the new process sticks. So a leader needs to be attentive, work to continue to define the roles and make sure the processes are being followed.
Performing is when everyone really understands their roles and goals. The team is a well oiled machine. Now, things are certain, fair, we know how we related to one another and there is an increase in autonomy.
Tuckman and Change
Tuckman and Tears goes into a deeper analysis on how the Tuckman and Kubler-Ross model complement each other. What I find very interesting is the correlation. The second stage, storming, has the most conflict and touches all of the SCARF domains which are based on approach-avoidance behavior. In the second phase of transition, the neutral zone, approach-avoidance and conflict are listed. Some of this can get confusing. When does one model end and the next begin? BUT overall I think an accurate timeline and sound strategies for anticipating and overcoming resistance emerge. Now I just need to commit some to memory.
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