Explain the Various Stages of Team Development

Stages of Team Development

Each team takes sometime to start functioning effectively towards problem solving. Each team goes through six distinct stages in its development. These are forming, storming, norming, performing, maintenance, and evaluating, as given in Table 1.

Table 1. Stages of team development

1. Forming stage: When a team is created, it consists of group of individuals and team work does not exist at this stage. Team’s purpose, members’ roles, acceptance of roles, authority and process of functioning are learnt in the formation process.

2. Storming stage: Initial agreements and role allocations are challenged and reestablished at this stage of team development. At this stage, hostilities and personal needs often emerge which may be resolved.

3. Norming stage: During norming stage of team development, formal and informal relationships get established among team members. Openness and cooperation have been observed as signs of team’s behaviour.

4. Performing stage: At this stage, the team starts operating in successful manner. Trust, openness, healthy conflict and decisiveness of a group’s performance can be reached at this stage.

5. Maintenance stage: Functioning of team does not deteriorate overtime. At this stage, the performance of teamwork at the earlier stage will be maintained for some period of time.

6.Evaluating stage: At this stage, team’s performance is to be evaluated in view of the set targets. Both self-evaluation and management-based evaluation form this stage of team development.

Barriers to Team Progress

The various roadblocks to team progress are:

1. Insufficient training.
2. Incompatible rewards and compensation.
3. First-line supervisor resistance.
4. Lack of planning.
5. Lack of management support.
6. Access to information systems.
7. Lack of union support.
8. Project scope too large.
9. Project objectives are not significant.
10. No clear measures of success.
11. No time to do improvement work.