There are many books and articles for group leaders and facilitators. There appear to be none specifically for group members, in my mind the most crucial part of the group. And, while there are several on developmental stages, most are incomplete, and more importantly fail to address themselves to positive member behaviors.

This is a blog to teach members of any group how to make it better … more productive, more satisfying, more collaborative, more fun.

It actually helps if you understand the purpose of each developmental phase in a group, identify and make the contributions that will help the group move through each stage effectively, even if it means going back and picking up a piece that was missed but is still causing problems in a group.  Only then can you achieve the critical result necessary to the group’s success, and avoid those moments of total OMG. ”Did we really meet for 20 weeks and just now get clear that half the group is convinced we are responsible for a completely different task than the other half ??!!” So rather than disconnected behaviors, these behaviors will be suggested in context.

How will we do this?

THE PLAN We will trace Tuckman’s work on Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and how amazingly ubiquitous it still is. Often people use the terms with no real understanding of what they mean. On the other hand, many consulting groups and researchers have continued to develop this information in quite creative ways.

I identified the main purpose for each of these stages, the critical result to be achieved, and tasks that help group members execute the purpose and achieve the critical result. It helps to know this. I will share these with you. Look for them under their category – Forming purpose/tasks/critical result under Forming, etc…

Knowing what you are doing, and enacting specific behaviors to accomplish key stage tasks decreases unnecessary drama and increases quality, comfort, fun, and creativity. This in turn, helps everyone contribute to a competent work group, here defined as one that uses valuable member task and relationship skills to work together effectively. So, each time I talk about a useful behavior (there are so many!) I will  identify where and why it is most likely to move group members, and even group leaders, forward.

I will use small case studies to make it real. I will present specific groups, articles, interviews and how groups and individuals have grappled with different developmental challenges.

BACKGROUND: Some background basics to provide context. First, why Tuckman? Tuckman himself, said his findings were not a new theory, but a categorization that emerged in his review of group development literature in the field in the early ‘60s. He found, as he reviewed over 100 group articles/books, that consistent types of developmental stages appeared in many authors’ work. Yet,  all were named differently,

From his understanding of the similarities, he coined the terms Forming, Storming, Norming & Performing. And, they have stuck, though as stated, many people who use them don’t actually understand what they mean. Tuckman was straight forward, practical; his categorization is reasonable and useful. He expected that once offered, others would comment, add, and in fact that has occurred.

Others have added Adjourning or Closing as a stage. So, we will include that stage as well.

And I, tired of the misuse of the Storming term, and the heightened drama that it insisted on, divided the Storming phase into 2 sections, the 1st where group members need to differentiate among each other, see and accept each other as individuals, and the 2nd where they need to develop a method for handling disagreements. One can see how the 1st step creates the structure for managing disagreements and conflict. The group really needs to ‘get’ that each member is different and brings different skills, different viewpoints, different contributions all around. If not, then it is difficult to have conflicts without seeing yourself as the injured party and the rest of the group as dysfunctional. More on that in the future.

I have not been able to think of another way to coin the two phases of Storming, so they are Storming – Individuation, and Storming  – Conflict,  a reflection of how I understand them. Both sections have to do with differentiation, just different aspects of it. If anyone has a good naming idea, which would fit with Tuckman’s genre, I would be interested in hearing it.

So, I will be working through 6 stages: Forming, Storming  – Individuation, Storming – Conflict, Norming, Performing, Adjourning.

I originally defined the purpose of each stage based on Tuckman’s articles (1965 & with Jensen, 1975), and the work of Don Brown, MD, (unpublished article, 1987). I then added the Individuation Stage to Storming, included teh Closing stage, identified the purpose for each stage, the key member & leader behaviors that made each stage happen, and the critical result that the group has to reach in each stage before they could authentically move on to the next stage. It is not that groups can not move through the developmental process without accomplishing these critical results, it is more that the group limps along, different parts of the group are working on different understandings,  or the work is done by a few rather than the group as a whole.

COPYRIGHT with a generous bend: I developed a workshop based on this for a Gas & Electric Company, but retained the rights, which I copyrighted in 1991. When I redesigned this interactive workbook for Masters’ classes at the University of San Francisco, and then at John F Kennedy University, both in the Bay Area, it was given to students to use in anyway they wanted, hopefully attributing me. I taught  over 110 students how to analyze and improve their chosen work group by focusing this framework one developmental stage at a time, regardless of where the group was in its process. Many of the diagnoses and changes students made in their own work groups have been stunning, and have led to promotions, or at least better working groups and mores satisfied members. Many left with a confidence that they could walk into any group and do the same. It has pushed me to share this with more of you.

So, that’s the background and the plan. Let me know what you think. Sharon