Forming Storming Norming Performing

Whenever a team changes it’s new team:

• If someone leaves, it’s a new team.
• If someone joins, it’s a new team.
• If someone rejoins, it’s new team.

Excellent managers understand the process of team building, accept that a new team means there will be some conflict and a drop in performance and manage the team to shorten the time between the new team formation and high performance.

The Forming – Storming – Norming – Performing model of group development was first proposed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965, who maintained that these phases are all necessary and inevitable in order for the team to grow, to face up to challenges, to tackle problems, to find solutions, to plan work, and to deliver results.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forming-storming-norming-performing accessed January 2009

Forming

Someone leaves, someone joins – team productivity will drop below the previous level.

Storming

 Team members will have to adapt to each other, find out who is good at what and decide how they will interact. Team productivity will drop as conflicts emerge and suspicion may grow.

Norming

The team works out who will be taking on which roles, who is good at what and how they will work together. Team performance stops dropping and starts to improve.

Performing

The team now know each other and are performing as expected.

Managers can intervene to shorten the time between forming and performing - often by organising a team building event, especially if the team have to work together to achieve something.

Managers may also need to intervene to move a team along to the next stage. For more information – just contact me and ask.

Yesterday I launched the upd8 hints ( a very quiet launch!). A new way to deliver information – which starts with a series of short messages:

                   upd8 hints   help    inspiration    news    tips
It’s a difficult job management and as anyone who’s been on one my management courses or worked with me will know, I’m all for sharing my knowledge to help make management easier. Managers are also busy people, so management hints are very short messages, gentle reminders to help keep focused.
Sign up – and tell me what you think.

Today I launched the first phase of the upd8 hints. A new way to deliver information – which starts with a series of short messages

      H - help
      I - inspiration
      N - news
      T - tips

Two are now available – Study Hints and Management Hints.

I decided to produce the Study Hints to help anyone who is studying to achieve more. I see too many of my students struggling with the same problems, so I’ve written this short series of hints, delivered one each week, so there’s time to implement each suggestion and the whole series is delivered over 6 months – a reasonable length of time to build up study skills without having to wait until the week before an exam for exam hints and tips.

Each hint is short, but useful. I know that if more of my students followed these hints then their study skills would improve and that leads to improved course results. Great for them and great for me too
Sign up today – and tell me what you think