Oftentimes, in both corporate structures and small business, it is necessary to build teams to accomplish one thing or another. This is equally true in innovation. The thought is when you have a team, the collective experience of all of those people will be greater than just one individual.
I want to take a minute and discuss the typical stages of a team’s evolution. If we can understand the most common stages of building a team, it will further our chances of success.
The Team Building Evolution:
- Forming – Members share personal information, start to get to know and accept one another, and begin turning their attention toward the group’s tasks.
- Storming – Members compete for status, jockey for positions of relative control, and argue about appropriate directions for the group. External pressures lend to this and tensions rise between individuals as they assert themselves.
- Norming – The group begins moving together in a cooperative fashion, and a balance is struck.
- Performing – The group matures and learns to handle complex challenges as needed. Tasks are dealt with efficiently.
- Adjourning – The team is disbanded, having accomplished a task. The group members proceed with their permanent assignments.
It is worthwhile to note that not all teams go through these stages in this order or at all, but knowing what to look for in team situations will help you better manage them.
Taken from Organizational Behavior
