Stages of Team Growth

Previous | Next

All groups go through fairly predictable stages of group development. Understanding these stages and predictable behaviors is useful when leading a group. Being able to recognize the behaviors often associated with these stages is helpful in managing the group dynamics and facilitates movement to a productive stage where real work gets accomplished.

These stages are often described using form, storm, norm/conform, and have these characteristics:

  • Form: Excitement, energy, pride, some suspicion, fear, anxiety

  • Storm: Testy, blameful, resistant, sinking attitude and energy, bickering

  • Norm/Conform: Cohesion, criticism expressed constructively, and more discussion with less arguing; Differences are tolerated and worked through

Navigating through these stages of group development requires leaders to use three key skill sets: Active Listening Skills; Effective Discussion Skills; and Conflict Resolution Skills.

Active Listening Skills

  • Involves listening, summarizing, and clarification

  • Listen

    • Make eye contact

    • Appropriate non-verbal cues

    • Ask exploring questions

    • Repeat questions back for confirmation of understanding

  • Summarize

    • Compile what has been said

    • Repeat back to the group for understanding and agreement

    • Helps keep discussion on track

  • Clarification

      • Ask for more explanation, data, examples, pictures, diagrams, etc.

    • Test understanding with others to help clarify

Effective Discussion Skills

  • Requires a number of techniques for facilitating dialogue

  • "Gate keeping" is a facilitation skill which can be applied to help balance the participation; it includes calling on members who may be more silent but have appropriate content knowledge that is important to be included and it may involve tactfully limiting excessive contribution from more vocal members

  • Ask for full participation (encourage those not speaking up to do so)

  • Ask those who are more verbal to silence their opinions (Hold up the dominating participant)

Conflict Resolution Skills

  • Contain digression

  • Prevent long examples from dominating the discussion

  • Re-focus irrelevant discussion back on topic

  • Ask participant how statements or examples relate to the topic

  • Thank participant and advise that the group needs to move on and hear from others as well

Previous | Next