Academic Leadership: Fundamental Building Blocks
146
Understanding and Working With Teams – Personality and Team
Differences
There is a substantial amount of information on groups and teams and how they
perform. A detailed examination of these concepts is beyond the scope of this program.
However, there are several useful concepts that can be of great benefit to Academic
Coordinators to help them understand why groups perform in a certain way. These
include:
- The Five-Stage Group Development Model
- Group Cohesiveness and Performance.
The 5-Stage Group Development Model
Tuckman (1965) described 5 distinct stages groups go through while they work on their
projects:
- The first stage is called forming because the group is uncertain about the scope of
the project, the structure and leadership of the group at this early point.
- Once members start to conceptualise their membership within the group the second
stage, storming, begins. In this stage there is some intra-group conflict because
influence, power and ego may manifest in the group as each person attempts to
establish their 'role' in the membership. Often, a clear hierarchy of role and
leadership (formal and informal) is established by the end of this stage.
- The third stage is norming and involves the group becoming more cohesive with
relationships developing among group members. This stage is complete once a
common set of expectations and the group structure have been established.
- The fourth stage, performing, is about moving forward to get to know the other
members of the group and to get on with the task at hand. This is the last stage of
the group's developmental process if it is an ongoing group.
- If it is a short term project, then the fifth stage, adjourning, takes place and
relationships come to an end and work gets completed.
As an Academic Coordinator, you need to understand this process, particularly when
you bring together a team of academic staff to work on a project such as a course
review. Since many of these individuals work relatively independently, moving too
quickly into the performing stage may interfere with the success of the group. Allow time
for the group to work through the stages.
Note: Robbins, Millett, and Waters-Marsh (2004) point out that it is also important to
recognise that effectiveness does not necessarily increase as a group works toward
performing stage. For example, some highly “performing” groups may not necessarily
produce good results and other groups stuck at stage two may still produce some good
outcomes. Progression through the stages may not always be clear and concise and
there may be some overlap and regression to earlier stages in a group's history.
The 5-Stage Group Development Model provides a framework that Academic
Coordinators can use to support a group towards achieving good productivity. For
example, by applying strategies such as team building during the forming and storming
stages, the performing role of the group may increase when this stage is reached.
