Section Fourdevelopment of effective teamwork. Teams go through phases
before they reach peak performance, and certain behaviors
occur at different phases. For example, teams go through the
forming phase as they attend to organizational issues such as
who will per-form various tasks. Next, they typically encounter
conflict with each other as they work through procedures for
dealing with various issues. This phase is often referred to as
the storming stage. The next phase, called norming, involves
the establishment of understanding of how things should oper-
ate and what conduct is acceptable behavior. Finally, when the
team has worked through these growing pains and has
developed team skills, it reaches the performing phase.^13
Managers also need to provide frequent feedback to
teams about their performance. When teams are working on
projects, they need to be tracked on their performance of the
various mile-stones required for completion. In the case of
project teams, it is important to celebrate the accomplishment
of these milestones. For example, a product development team
may have milestones for detailed development of the product
specifications, development of a prototype, consumer testing,
and so on. When teams complete these milestones, the team’s
members need to celebrate their accomplishment, and
managers should provide rewards and contribute to such
celebratory events. Managers also need to be aware that,
because of the emphasis and focus on teamwork, that teams