Learning Experiences and Conflict

¶ … Five Stage Model of Group Development is a helpful way of conceptualizing the growth of a team, and for understanding group behavior. It can help shake up teams in a rut or increase team productivity. First developed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965, the model now includes five stages, up one from the original four stages Tuckman originally presented (Tuckman & Jensen, 1977). The five stages include Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning.

The first stage is formative, and this is when the members of the group are just starting to get to know each other and recognize their roles in the group. At this Forming stage, the group members tend to play it safe, avoiding conflict or controversy in the preferred interests of group harmony. The members of the group may also focus more on tasks than on big picture issues ("5 Stages of Group Development," n.d.).

Strengths at this stage involve the willingness to listen to others and get a "feel" for the dynamic, but an individual might need to resist becoming too narrowly focused on immediate tasks and safe activities at the expense of vision. The second stage builds on the first stage. Whereas the first stage involves conflict avoidance, conflicts are inevitable and do start to emerge at the Storming stage. Her, individuals start to settle into their ascribed or self-designated roles.

This may cause conflict, especially if individuals start competing for power or recognition. Role clarity and open communication can help mediate some of the problems that can arise through an unsuccessful Storming phase. The individual's "ability to listen" also seems to be apparent at this stage, because the individuals are risking themselves by sharing their feelings and opinions and those need to be heard ("5 Stages of Group Development," n.d.).

During the Norming stage, the members of the group have hopefully resolved many of the conflicts that arose during the Storming stage. Now they settle into a new routine, with increased role clarity and greater sense of vision. Ideally, an individual's ideas and creativity flow during this stage, but having become attached to the group, individuals need to remember the big picture issues, why the group exists in the first place.

A person might need to reflect on why the group is performing well, in order to engender results at the next stage. If the group moves onto the next stage, Performing, it may achieve some of its overall visions and goals. The individual may exhibit strengths such as implementation of a plan or communicating a grander vision to the rest of the team. Finally, the Adjourning stage is inevitable in most situations.

Healthy group dynamics lead to constructive ways of concluding the group by reflecting on its successes and building on failures through learning experiences. If some individuals need to leave a group prematurely or if the group takes on new members, then it may revert back to earlier stages. The Tuckman model proves extremely helpful in organizational dynamics. When an individual recognizes why a conflict happens, or why a group is underperforming, it becomes easier to make changes.

Insights gained from this model include greater self-awareness of my own role in the group, how I can sometimes be an aggressive leader and not allow minority voices to be heard,.