5 Stages of Team Development – Summary

Five Stages of Team Development December 17, 2012 Abstract This paper will evaluate the five stages of team development; Forming stage, Storming stage, Norming stage, Performing stage and Adjourning stage. “Building effective, cohesive teams has never played such a pivotal role in a company’s success as it does today”. PI Worldwide 2010 Retrieved from http://www. piworldwide. com/Solutions/Leadership-Development/Team-Building. aspx on December 17, 2012. Team building is an important part of ensuring success within an organization.
All the stages may not be used in every instance, however it is a guideline that, if used correctly, will ensure better communication, decision making, increased productivity and overall success. PI Worldwide 2010 Retrieved from http://www. piworldwide. com/Solutions/Leadership-Development/Team-Building. aspx on December 17, 2012. I will evaluate each stage and compare it with real-life experiences to show how effective this system can be. Forming Stage The forming stage is where a group of people come together to work on a project.
In this initial stage of team development the members take a more formal approach to how they communicate with each other, “there would be no clear idea of goals or expectations”. Management Study Guide 2008-2010 Retrieved from http://www. managementstudyguide. com/team-development. htm on December 17, 2012. This stage reminds me of a project I was chosen to be part of. A group of us were chosen to develop a plan of action geared toward increasing patient satisfaction in the hospital, due to poor results from a survey taken.

During this Forming stage, we took the time to get to know each other’ what our strengths were, and by doing this we were able to create a mission statement for the team and begin our creative process. Storming Stage “The storming stage of team development is a period of high emotionality and tension among group members” “Organizational Behavior” (Schermerhorn J 2012,pg. 156). Competition and resistance to the ideas offered by other team members begin to occur in this stage. Everyone wants their own ideas or that of their friend to be chosen.
In my experience with team work, this stage is where member began to become more relaxed and sure of themselves, throwing ideas on the table and thinking their ideas are the best ones. Norming Stage In this stage, members start to remember the reason they are there and re-focus on the task at hand. “While enjoying a new sense of harmony, team members will strive to maintain positive balance” “Organizational Behavior” (Schermerhorn J 2012, pg 156). Members begin to feel like they have perfected the ability to work in groups at this time, developing a premature sense of accomplishment.
At this stage my team started putting a plan in place to revamp how patients are treated during their hospital visits. Performing Stage In this stage of development, the team becomes more mature and organized. They know what the goals of the team are and work together to achieve success. Team members are able to do their own problem solving since they are sure of themselves and what their duties are. Team members came together and all the ideas that we shared now became a plan of action to improve patient satisfaction at our Hospital’s six facilities. Adjourning Stage
At this stage team members learn to come together, get the job done quickly and go about their own business. “Their willingness to disband when the job is done and to work well together in future responsibilities, team or otherwise, is a long-term test of team success. ” “Organizational Behavior” (Schermerhorn J 2012, pg 157) The five stages of team development really helped me to put the process of team work in perspective. Knowing what these stages all means and represents, gives me a better understanding of how to organize projects and what stage we are at in any given project.