Question

Sally, Roda, Yousef and Nasser were assigned as a team by their instructor. They have a project to work on for 2 weeks.  They met 5 times so far, and it seems that everything the team discusses becomes an argument. Yousef keeps accusing Sally of being late and careless. Roda agrees with Yousef and thinks Sally is putting useless effort on the research. Nasser on the other hand is supporting Sally's perspective by being flexible and supporting her approach to the team.

A. Looking at the group dynamic and based on the team development model, which stage of team development is the team experiencing? Why?

Answer 1

Team development consists of 5 stages. They are as follows:

1. Forming

2. Storming

3. Norming

4. Performing

5. Adjourning

This model of team development was suggested by Bruce Tuckman. As we can see in the problem, the team has already been formed consisting of 4 members and they have also met 5 times. They have to work on the project for 2 weeks. Since the process of team orientation and acquaintance is over, we can conclude that forming stage is over.

Next stage is Storming. This is the most critical phase of team development. This phase is marked by conflicts and competition as the personalities of different individuals emerge. Members may disagree on team goals and subgroups might be formed around strong personality or areas of agreement. Due to lack of clarity, team performance also gets affected because a lot of energy is put into unproductive activities.

Here,we can see exactly the same situation. Yousef has emerged as a strong personality and is supported by Roda. He targets Sally for being careless and late. Due to lack of consensus on project goals, they think Sally is wasting time in unproductive activities. Nasser is trying to bridge the gap between the team members by supporting Sally's approach and trying to bring them to one table. He is working to overcome obstacles and persuading everyone to accept individual differences. This is precisely what is necessary to resolve conflict and form unity while proceeding to the norming stage.

Hence the stage described in the problem is Storming.