This paper presents a team building training proposal designed for HR staff, centered on Tuckman's four-stage model of team development — forming, storming, norming, and performing — alongside the development of emotional intelligence (EI). The proposal outlines a five-step training design process, including needs assessment, lesson planning, materials acquisition, trainer selection, and methodology. A detailed lesson plan provides objectives, delivery sequence, role-play simulation activities, and evaluation criteria. The rationale draws on authentic leadership theory, using the Enron case as a counterexample to underscore the importance of personal accountability and transparency within teams. Simulation role-playing is identified as the primary instructional method for preparing trainees to navigate real-world team dynamics.
The idea of citizenship is essential to team building, as Werner (2017) points out. Citizenship behaviors are those in which the individual member of a team feels that he has a stake in the team, in the outcomes, and in the processes implemented to achieve those outcomes. Yet, as with any society, there can often be division and differences of opinion that create tension and conflict. Conflict can be seen as normal and natural in a team — and how it is dealt with is what really matters (Chauvin, 2019).
For this team building training proposal, the focus is on a training program based on Tuckman's model of forming, storming, norming, and performing. The intent is for HRD to explain to potential team members that conflict is not only normal but to be expected. What is important is that team members engage in acceptance, understanding, and personal accountability so that they can be effective team members and help the team achieve its objectives. Central to the success of this training is a crucial focus on emotional intelligence (EI), which fosters team processes and effectiveness (Lee & Wong, 2019).
To achieve success with this training program, the key will be the use of simulation exercises so that staff have the opportunity to role-play and put the information they have been given into practice. As Werner (2017) explains, simulation can be highly influential in helping workers gain insight and understanding. This paper explains the proposal, describes the methodology involved, discusses the rationale for the proposal, and details the lesson plan.
The first step before any training program can be designed is to conduct a needs assessment of the trainees (Werner, 2017). This will reveal what areas of understanding the audience already has and what areas they need to develop. Once this information is collected, the training program can focus on those areas that require attention. Prioritizing needs is the central task of the program designer (Werner, 2017).
To prioritize those needs, the design must take shape by first defining the objective. The objective for this training program is to teach workers what it means for a team to come together using Tuckman's model of forming, storming, norming, and performing. It will not always be a smooth ride, and workers need to know that. They need to understand that team members may arrive with personal issues, fears, and doubts, and that conflict may arise — but all of this is to be accepted and anticipated. The key is allowing the team to work through these issues and learn to accept what is going on with each other so that there is no judgment and no personal offense taken.
The second step is to develop the lesson plan. The lesson plan for this training program is discussed in the following section. It essentially acts as the blueprint for how the training program will proceed, with attention to the audience, the resources needed, how information will be delivered, and what exercises — namely simulation role-playing — will be conducted.
The third step is the acquisition of required materials. These are the tools the trainer needs to communicate the program effectively, and may include anything from slides and video presentations to booklets (Werner, 2017). For this program, all that will be needed is the lesson plan and an activity space for role-playing.
The fourth step is selecting the trainer or leader. The trainer should be someone skilled in facilitation who has the knowledge and expertise to answer trainees' questions. The person should be an excellent communicator who possesses emotional intelligence.
The fifth step is selecting the right method or technique for training. For this proposal, the method involves simulating and role-playing a team building process using Tuckman's model of team development. This approach allows trainees to develop and demonstrate EI within a structured, time-limited setting.
The methodology proposed here emphasizes EI as the crux of successful team building, in that it promotes healthy relationships, helps resolve conflicts that naturally occur, and fosters the authentication of the leader (Chauvin, 2019; Lee & Wong, 2019). The use of Tuckman's model is widespread in team building, and simulation is widely regarded as a way for trainees to implement effective learning in preparation for real-world challenges (Werner, 2017).
The rationale for this proposal is that every team member is, in a meaningful sense, a leader in his own right — a leader of himself, if not of the entire team. That means he must be accountable both to himself and to the team overall. To achieve this, one must have personal authenticity, and one has personal authenticity when one owns one's own emotions, needs, and actions (Crawford, Dawkins, Martin, & Lewis, 2020).
An additional perspective that helps elaborate on the distinction between personal authenticity and authentic leadership is the example of the leaders at Enron. Jeff Skilling and Andy Fastow both owned up to their own emotions and needs and did not apologize for their behavior. Skilling actually refused to admit any wrongdoing, arguing that he was simply being who he was and doing what he thought best. He was very upfront and honest about what he considered an honest man's method of gaming the system. The problem was that although he had personal authenticity, he had a significant blind spot when it came to ethics and accountability (Johnsen, 2018). For teams, accountability is absolutely essential for maintaining performance (Werner, 2017).
When it comes to authentic leadership, accountability is also a large part of what it means to be an authentic leader (Crawford et al., 2020). Authentic leaders are not in it for themselves. Skilling at Enron did not even truly believe he was acting for himself, but he was, because he failed to align with a code of ethics that would have afforded him greater transparency about his own actions. Instead, he believed he was smarter than others. He thought that all it took to be a great leader was cleverness, and being open about wanting to be clever was seen as charismatic by those around him. In the end, he lacked understanding of his own inefficiencies and failings. He was not an authentic leader because he was not truly leading himself, much less the teams around him. He was deceiving himself and allowing others to participate in a collective self-blinding. Authenticity, transparency, engagement, and trust all go together, and to some degree Skilling possessed some of these attributes — but he was never fully transparent with others or with himself. He had too many secrets and allowed too many secretive people, like Andy Fastow, to pull strings. So long as the results appeared strong, he was satisfied. An authentic leader would have probed more deeply, looked more closely, and asked more questions (Johnsen, 2018).
For a team to come together using Tuckman's model, there must be this probing phase, which is described as the storming stage — the stage at which leaders rise to the top because they let everything surface and people begin to see, accept, and move forward with the pieces they have.
To develop the emotional intelligence needed to implement Tuckman's model of team building successfully.
One session of three hours.
HR staff.
Whiteboard, marker, and eraser; role-play "scripts" for team members — essentially character parts that will serve as launch pads for trainees as they simulate the various stages of team building according to the Tuckman model.
Direct observation of trainees as they engage in role-playing simulation.
a. What is emotional intelligence (EI)?
EI is the ability to identify, understand, and manage both one's own emotions and those of others. The purpose of EI is to establish a supportive and positive environment.
b. What is Tuckman's model?
Forming: The stage at which new team members express their thoughts, anxieties, and issues related or unrelated to the team and its objective. This is a natural stage and should be accepted as such by all, so that everyone can voice his thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment.
"Objectives, audience, materials, and evaluation criteria"
"Delivery sequence, simulation activities, and feedback"
The issues addressed in this paper were: how to help teams come together effectively and what exercises can be used to facilitate that process. It was determined from the research that EI is a source of strength in building relationships within a team and that fostering authentic leadership is necessary for accountability. Simulation role-playing can help trainees implement knowledge and prepare them for real-world challenges. The use of Tuckman's model of team development can be applied to give trainees context and structure for understanding how a team behaves during the various phases of its development.
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