Management - Team Development

In the following document I go on to discuss how a team develops via group inputs, group processes and group outputs. Dr. Tuckman had covered the development of a team in his Forming Storming Norming Performing team-development model in 1965. The progression as written by (Tuckman, cited in Chapman, 2008) “is:

1. Forming – high dependence on leader for guidance...roles and responsibilities unclear... processes often ignored.

2. Storming – Decisions don’t come easy...team members attempt to establish themselves...factions form and there may be power struggles. The team needs to focus on its goals...

3. Norming – roles and responsibilities are clear. Big decisions are made by group agreement...delegation occurs...commitment is strong. Fun and social activities may occur... respect for the leader occurs.

4. Performing – the team is more strategically aware. Team has a shared vision... team has high degree of autonomy... disagreements occur but are resolved within the group... the team does not need to be instructed or assisted.”

This model explains how teams develop and mature, relationships get formed and leaders are born.

Group inputs

Nature of the group task

It was once written that "“Like organisational setting, the nature of the task to be performed is an important factor in group input. Different tasks place different demand on a group. A basic rule of thumb is that the difficulty of achieving group effectiveness increases with the degree of task complexity.” (Herold 1979; p99-103) With reference to the B Sharps (group name) the group came together with the same goal at hand, to pass the class. Once the group got together and was given a task that needed to be achieved the task became a little more complex. Once weeks progressed more minor tasks were constantly added to the groups’ agenda and made the once simple task of passing the class a much more difficult one.

General Membership characteristics

The B Sharps contain a diverse group of both male and female students, with a wide variety of different backgrounds and ages. For this reason, this group has the potential to be much more efficient and effective than less diverse groups, but can also be harder to understand and control; “If you have a jar of red jelly beans and add some pink and green ones, diversity is not the pink and green jelly beans, but the resulting mixture” (Reed and Noumair, 2000, p52) As MacDonald states for example the group consists purely of Greek nationality patrons then two Japanese patrons and one French patron is thrown into the group it then becomes a diverse group.

The B Sharps have many team members that have very strong personalities (Baljit, Cathy, Tim, George and myself) this sometime causes conflict amongst one another as we all strive for acceptance and want what we have to say heard and noted. Also at the same time it allows for backup as sometimes when something is mentioned by me, Baljit will back me up and we will both explain to the group how it works. These strong personalities allow for the group to move and grow at a fast rate but also cause conflict when visions of the goal differ from one another.

Group Size

The B Sharps is a large group of 20 people as a final member was added in week 5. This group size makes it difficult to communicate with everyone in the group and also makes it difficult to get to meet everyone as we have such a short timeframe to get the task done that it allows very little time for informal communication between team members. (Katzenbach et al. 1993; pp111-20) states “Even logistical matters, such as finding time and locations for meetings, become more difficult with larger groups, causing performance problems.” I strongly agree with this as just before the Easter break I (as team leader) decided along with Baljit to hold a class on the next Wednesday even though there was no class. Many people agreed to it, so I went to the library to organise a room but no room was big enough to cater for 20 people. So I went to Joyce, one of the lecturers and asked her for help getting a room for the B Sharps on Wednesday of the Easter break. She agreed to help and I wrote an email to all the members stating that the class will be held at 1:30pm of Wednesday and that I would like an RSVP. Five people replied and only two could actually make it. So having such a large group does affect performance.

Organisational Setting

The organisational setting of a team can alter the way in which it acts and what it is able to achieve and accomplish. “Research suggests that the