248 Part 3 Group and Organizational CommunicationAction
Define a clear
purpose for the team
Foster team spiritTrainClarify expectationsSet boundariesConsiderations
What are the team’s goals—short term and long term?Build a sense of energy, excitement, and commitment
in your team by engaging in team-building activities
and events, rewarding members who demonstrate
commitment, and identifying new challenges for the
team to take on.
Working on a self-directed team may be a new experi-
ence for some members. See if your organization can
provide training to help members understand and imple-
ment the defining practices of self-directed teams.
Make sure all members of the team understand what’s
expected of them in terms of their roles and performance.
For example, what functions will each member serve?
How, specifically, will the team define “success”?
Articulate where the team’s responsibilities begin and
end. If necessary, remind members that they are working
in the service of the organization and that they need to
stay focused on their specific purpose.Sources: Capozzoli (2002); Nelson (2002); Rosenthal (2001).TABLE 9.1SELF-DIRECTED
WORK TEAMS: TIPS
FOR WORKING
COLLABORATIVELY
Tuckman’s Model of Group Development
Tuckman’s model states that as groups develop, they progress through five stages:
forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. The model proposes
that these stages are linear—that is, groups go through them in order over time.
Although the model was originally proposed for face-to-face groups, recent
research has also applied these stages to how “virtual” teams develop online
(Johnson, Suriya, Yoon, Berrett, & Fleur, 2002). Let’s look more closely at each
particular stage:c Forming. When a group first comes together, its members are unsure how
to act around one another, nervous about how others perceive them, and
unclear on their roles and the group’s task. In this forming stage, group
members try to figure out who will be in charge and what the group’s goals
will be. The primary purpose of this stage is for group members to learn more
about one another and the group’s objectives. Once individuals feel accepted,
they can begin to identify with the group (Moreland & Levine, 1994).
c Storming. After forming, group members move into the storming stage, in
which they inevitably begin experiencing conflicts over issues such as who
will lead the group and what roles members will play. Group members also
begin to disagree on goals, tasks, and cliques, and other competitive divi-
sions may even begin to form (Wheelan, 2012; Wheelan & Burchill, 1999).
The group members must work on mending these differences and resolve
conflicts if the group is to continue to function effectively.Developing a relationship
with a group isn’t so dif-
ferent from starting a new
interpersonal relationship.
In both contexts, we re-
duce uncertainty about
our relational partners so
that we feel secure and
confident about roles, in-
teractions, and so on. So
whether you’re beginning a
new romance or forging a
new student organization,
try the passive, active, and
interactive strategies that
we discuss in Chapter 7
(see pp. 195–196).
Developing a relationship
CONNECT