Team Analysis Using Tuckmans Team Stage Development Model - Essay Example

? Team Analysis Using Tuckman’s Team Stage Development Model As most would do, I took a summer job in a local company as an Office Assistant. I saw the ad that they were accepting summer job applications so I applied and got the job. I was thrilled with the experience that I will be working in a “real world” setting and wondered how the “real world” operates compared to the university classroom. I was assigned to Human Resource Department and was tasked to assist training. My manager was Ahmed, a who is in his late twenties who gladly showed me around when I was introduced into his team as the “new employee”. The training group I belonged to was mostly composed of “summer employees” like me. It was a new group and I think it was under a company’s program to hire university students during summer so that we will be enticed to join their company after graduation. There were only around three long time employees there and the rest were us, around 12 summer employees. Our team had a rough start. Mainly because we came from different background. There was an IT guy, an Accounting guy, african, asian, different university, etch.; basically the group is just very diverse that it was difficult to find a common ground for us to “break the ice” so to speak. We were dependent to Ahmed who graciously provided us the guidance and leadership we needed because the team were not talking to each other that much then. Our first project came and we were tasked to create a training module which will be recommended for approval. The first meeting was dreadful. Everybody was showing off that they are better than the next person. And I supposed that each of us felt slighted after that because each of our idea that was floated was countered, argued upon, no matter how sound it was. There was also a power struggle among us with most team members wanting to catch the attention of the manager as if they will be given a raise or promoted if they were able to do that. Ahmed, initially just let us do our thing and sensing that we are not going anywhere, took over and provided the direction. It was the only time that the team calmed down. Our succeding meetings are already calm albeit there are still subterfuge animosity among team members who do not like each other or felt better than the other. But as we go along, we were able to delineate expertise and identified whose idea mattered most depending on the subject matter. If its about networks, applications, then we refer it to our IT guy Mark. If it involves numbers, financial statements, our accounting guy Steve will take over. Our team’s animosity eventually subdued when we started going out on lunches together. Then the lunch meetings progressed to cafeshops and having fun through the weekend. There, we were able to know each member thoroughly and found that they are in fact interesting person. We spent hours and hours until early morning talking and did not even noticed it because we were so engrossed with our conversations. The team bonded and became really good friends. This new found friendship reflected in our work. Meetings which usually lasted for several hours due to arguments were cut short and we begin getting praises from our boss with the quality of our work. Also, we were enjoying ourselves at work that it was no longer a drag like our first two weeks. I believe that we were doing very well as a team because Ahmed, our manager had been getting praises from the upper management with our output. But sadly, we have to part ways. We already knew this from the first day we begun our work that once class has started, we have to go back to the university. The team members were hugging each other as we bid our goodbye with some teary eyed and we cannot believe that we once hated each other during our first meetings. Analysing my experience with my previous team, I thought that the experience was only peculiar to us. But when I did research and stumbled on the work of Tuckman Model of team development, I found out that what happened to our team was a natural process that every team undergoes albeit our animosity was more intense because we were just teenagers. The Tuckman’s team stages were forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Forming was when our team was formed where Ahmed took over. Storming was during our early phase as we tried to establish ourselves in the group, hence the conflict. Norming was when we begin acknowledging each other’s expertise and having friendship. This manifested in performing stage where our boss (which he in turn gives us praises) was being appreciated by the management for a job well done of handling us. The adjourning was the stage where we have to go back to our respective universities (Bonebright, 2010). I learned an invaluable insight with this experience not only on how the “real world” feels but also on how team develops. Also, the experience enlightened me that the diversity of our team which used to be a source of irritance among us, was a critical factor in performance because diversity provides different perspective to any given problem (Higgs, 2006). It was a worthwhile experience and I suggest that to make the conflict in the storming stage less intense, Tuckman’s team development concept should be explained to the new teams so that they will understand the process that they are undergoing. I believe this experience will make me a better employee in the future because it provided me insight to provide allowance of adjustments during the early stage of the team that I will be joining. That instead of being irritated during the storming stage, I would understand that it is normal and will eventually subside. Also, if ever I will be given a chance to lead a team, I am better equip to handle them and would know when to take over (during the forming and storming stage) and when to let the team work by themselves (during the performing stage). References Bonebright, Denise (2010). 40 years of storming: a historical review of Tuckman's model of small group development.  Human Resource Development International, 13(1):111-120. (Bonebright, 2010) Higgs, Malcolm (2006). What Makes for Top Team Success? A Study to Identify Factors Associated with Successful Performance of Senior Management Teams. . Irish Journal of Management, 27(2):161-188. Read More