tell members what they ought and ought not to do under certain circum-
stances. When agreed to and accepted by the group, norms act as a means of
influencing the behaviour of group members with a minimum of external
controls. This normingstage is complete when the group structure solidifies,
and the group has assimilated a common set of expectations about what
defines correct member behaviour.- Stage IV: Performing.Next, and you may have noticed this in some of your own
group interactions, some groups just seem to come together well and start to
do their work. This fourth stage, when significant task progress is being made,
is called performing. The structure at this point is fully functional and
accepted. Group energy has moved from getting to know and understand each
other to performing the task at hand. In this chapter’s opening vignette, when
Glenforest Secondary School raced its robot in the Canada FIRST Robotics
Games, it was performing. - Stage V: Adjourning.For permanent work groups, performing is the last stage in
their development. However, for temporary committees, teams, task forces, and
similar groups that have a limited task to perform, there is an adjourningstage.
In this stage, the group prepares to split up. High task performance is no longer
the group’s top priority. Instead, attention is directed toward wrapping up activi-
ties. Group members’ responses vary at this stage. Some members are upbeat,
basking in the group’s accomplishments. Others may be depressed over the loss
of camaraderie and friendships gained during the work group’s life.
Putting the Five-Stage Model into Perspective
Many interpreters of the five-stage model have assumed that a group becomes more
effective as it progresses through the first four stages. While that is usually true, what
makes a group effective is more complex than this model acknowledges. Under some con-
ditions, high levels of conflict lead to high group performance, as long as the conflict is
directed toward the task and not toward group members. So we might expect to find sit-
uations in which groups in Stage II outperform those in Stages III or IV. Similarly, groups
do not always proceed clearly from one stage to the next. Sometimes, in fact, several
stages go on simultaneously, as when groups are storming and performing at the same
time. Groups even occasionally move backwards to previous stages. Therefore, you
should not assume that all groups follow the five-stage process precisely or that Stage IV
is always the most preferable.
The five-stage model ignores organizational context.^8 For instance, a study of a cock-
pit crew in an airliner found that, within 10 minutes, three strangers assigned to fly
together for the first time had become a high-performing group. How could a group
come together so quickly? The answer lies in the strong organizational context
surrounding the tasks of the cockpit crew. This context provided the rules, task defini-
tions, information, and resources needed for the group to perform. They didn’t need to
develop plans, assign roles, determine and allocate resources, resolve conflicts, and set
norms the way the five-stage model predicts.
Within the workplace, some group behaviour takes place within a strong organiza-
tional context, and the five-stage development model might have limited applicability
for those groups. However, there are a variety of situations in the workplace in which
groups are assigned to tasks, and the individuals do not know each other. They must
therefore work out interpersonal differences at the same time that they work through the
assigned tasks.
Chapter 5Working in Teams 155norming The third stage in group
development, characterized by close
relationships and cohesiveness.performing The fourth stage in
group development, when the group
is fully functional.adjourning The final stage in
group development for temporary
groups, where attention is directed
toward wrapping up activities rather
than task performance.