Introduction
"It's so nice - anyone can really talk to anyone here." I don't know how many times I've heard this sentence. Be it from the manager or from the team itself. However, in many cases this initial assessment turns out not to be entirely accurate...
A step back for an overview
It may be a little older now, but it is still as tangible as ever in my everyday consulting work and numerous newer models are ultimately based on it: Bruce Tuckman's phase model. Tuckman initially differentiated between four phases in his model:
1. forming
In this phase, people get to know each other, get to know each other, show their best side, try to form themselves and new team members try to become part of the team. Structures and rules help to deal with possible uncertainties. At some point, however, the point is reached and it is time to stand up for your own views and needs.
2. storming
The second phase is the so-called conflict phase: how these conflicts are resolved and against whom they are directed is very important for the further development of the team. After all, it is also true for teams that every challenge they overcome together brings them closer together. It is therefore time to establish a productive conflict culture in which conflicts are seen as an opportunity for development. Only when this succeeds will teams be ready to move on to the next phase in a sustainable way.
3. norming
This phase is characterized by a workable attitude in cooperation. The individual team members know who they are good with and who they prefer to avoid on which topics. The interaction is live and let live. For long stretches of everyday life, it is absolutely perfect when a team is stable in this phase. And when it comes down to it, it's time for the...
4. performing
To get here, the team members need to know a great deal about their respective strengths and potential. Depending on the goal set, it is possible to distribute the positions and tasks in the team in such a way that the best possible result is achieved with the least possible effort. Everyone is in their element here!
For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned here that Tuckman later added a fifth phase - the so-called adjourning / dissolution phase. So there also needs to be a deliberate phase of breaking up and saying goodbye. Otherwise, the team runs the risk of dwelling on the "good old days".
And now to the practice!
As already indicated in the first paragraph, teams often tend to be wrong in their assessment. I like to use the term "pseudo-norming" for this. People are initially peaceful and polite in their dealings with each other, and then eventually become peaceful and polite. The team's potential in terms of communication and cooperation is not fully exploited for fear of conflict. But where does this come from?
In teams, it is important to experience conflicts as a learning opportunity as early as possible and to communicate on an equal footing in the event of conflict. It is not possible to remain objective here - emotions are always involved in conflicts and these may or should even be expressed. And better early than too late and with too much emotion.
In the long term, neither managers nor teams do themselves any favors if they try to avoid conflicts out of a need for harmony. Every conflict that is overcome together makes a team stronger!
What do teams need in...
...Forming:
- Clarity and structure
- a defined framework with concrete targets
...Storming:
- Opportunities to exchange different points of view in a "protected environment"
- Time to use the dynamics productively
...Norming:
- Increasingly more freedom
- Increasingly more feedback
...Performing:
- Regular new challenges
The aspects listed here can all be taken into account by a manager and supported accordingly. At the end of the day, time invested in team dynamics proves to be time well spent: team members feel comfortable in their team and have a higher level of commitment to their colleagues and employer.
Attention:
It is a dynamic model! Just because a team has performed once, it will not remain stable. But the good news is: if you've already been in a certain phase, you can usually get there again quickly. And every "setback" makes the team all the more stable in the long term. So the motto is "keep at it" - after all, collaboration is always relationship work...