Team Tactics: Leading through the Life Cycle of Teams

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Leading through the Life Cycle of Teams
by Sharon Feltham

As a team leader you need to be able to assess and recognise your team's stage of development. Bruce Tuckman (1965) gave us a very effective but simple five stage model to helps us do this.

If you havent already done so read Excellerate's article The Life Cycle of Teams which explains each of the five stages in detail.

Matching the Right Style and Strategy with the Right Stage
Each stage of team development requires a style of leadership coupled with specific interventions to help the team progress successfully through each of the five stages. The wrong intervention or leadership approach can stunt the team's progress or worse. It can seriously undermine a team's development thus preventing it from ever achieving the ultimate goal of performance.

Use the matrix below, which is based on Tuckman's model, to select the appropropriate interventions to help your team progress through its Life Cycle

Team Stage

1. Forming

2. Storming

3. Norming

4. Performing

5. Adjourning

Leader's Focus

Individual Tasks

People interactions

Task interactions

Team self-development

Team & Individual Recognition

Leader's Style

Tell & Push

Sell & Consult

Listen & Advise

Observe & Support

Listen & Support

Leader Tasks

Establish leadership in the group

Clarify the team's purpose, mission, and goals.

Get to know team members
Discuss strengths, weaknesses, similarities and differences

Identify and agree group goals and objectives

Set up the process e.g. how decisions will be made, who will make them

Establish team-operating procedures.

Identify tools and resources available to the team.

Manage conflict. Discuss tension, causes and possible solutions.

Surface and recognize the value of differences in the team.

Generate ideas, and explain decisions

Reiterate & Remind members of the team's purpose & goals

Check on tasks and review resource needs – reassign if necessary

Check on achievements celebrate however small

Foster everyone's involvement- don't leave anyone out.

Prepare team performance plan

Clarify and agree on roles.

Establish methods for solving problems and resolving conflicts.

Build in feedback and evaluation mechanisms for individual and team performance

Establish and maintain traditions for how the team works together

Push for implementation

Review performance

Evaluate results, make adjustments.

Strive for continuous improvement

Recognise and reward team success

Celebrate accomplisments

Recognise the team

Bring the team together to discuss the experience

Acknowledge & Celebrate achievements

Support individuals to adapt to change, Identify options, plan ahead

Bring the team to a close.

Reaction to Leadership

Members take a wait and see approach. Leader allowed to lead but there's no guarrantee of support

Leader pressured by more vociferous team members

General support for the leader within the team. Mutual respect underpins this

Personal relationships have developed which underpin the leadership relationship

Relationship is valued

Summary

Individuals

Relationships

Processes

Self Development

Closure

Related Articles:
The Life Cycle of Teams The Storm before the Team Performs
The Way we do things around HereTeam Norms

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Team Tactics: Leading through the Life Cycle of Teams

Leading through the Life Cycle of Teamsby Sharon Feltham

Leading through the Life Cycle of Teams
by Sharon Feltham