Bruce Tuckman\'s Model of Team Formation Suggests

Bruce Tuckman's model of team formation suggests that all teams go through a process of 'forming, storming, norming, and performing.' Tuckman's model conceptualizes teamwork as a process. Teams are forged, they are not immediately realized. After proceeding through the first stages, the group that I am currently working in has now finally transitioned to the 'performing' stage. This has been facilitated by the fact that it is not the first time all of us have worked on a team together, although this particular combination of personalities is a new one. Before embarking upon the team-formation process, there was a mutual level of respect between all members.

Even teams where everyone knows one another still must go through a process of 'forming' and 'storming' given that the leadership dynamics may be different, and the specific talents of workers may vary. Every team has its own character. Also, there may be some past 'baggage' from the past that can hamper the ability of the team to create a new and productive sense of energy. But I still believe my team is in the 'performing' stage because there is a mutual level of respect for the unique gifts of all team members. Functioning in a multidisciplinary team requires team members to listen to others and acknowledge their departmental worldview. For example, a marketing person cannot 'latch onto' a good idea without understanding how the decision can be supported in a financially feasible fashion. The gifts of new technology provided by IT can create a source of creative ferment for the advertising staff, which can seek to discover new ways to use new technology to reach the organization's consumer base. "Roles become flexible and functional, and group energy is channeled into the task. Structural issues have been resolved, and structure can now become supportive of task performance. This stage can be labeled as performing. (Tuckman 2001: 78, cited by Smith 2005).

Our team does not have extensive set procedures by which we operate, but that is because we have sufficiently internalized the rhythms of how we interact with one another, so that slavish adherence to protocols are not required. There is a fair amount of 'banter' and personal discussion, too, which is part of the discussion and bonding process. Meetings do have formal beginnings and endings, but there is also a period before and after the official meeting where we interact socially. This type of social interaction, I believe, is an important component of being a true 'team player.'