Five Stages of Team Development:







Bruce Tuckman, an educational psychologist, identified a five-stage development process that most teams follow to become high-performing. He called the stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning Lumen learning, n.d.). Team progress through the stages is shown in the following diagram.


This process of learning to work together effectively is known as team development. Research has shown that teams go through the final stages during development.

The adjourning phase has been the most difficult for me of all the projects I have been involved in. In my bachelor's degree final year, we had a team assignment. In my group, we had great chemistry, so the adjourning phase was the hardest for us. The bond we formed was so strong that we still keep in touch through social media platforms to this day.

In the adjourning phase, the team's goals have been accomplished. The focus is now on tidying up the documentation and results. As the workload diminishes, the group is dissolved. So to keep the spirit high, we had an informal "get-together" at a restaurant near the school to acknowledge the work, the contribution of each member, and the team's success.

I have learned a lot from colleagues through the discussion board and their blogs in this program. However, I will be missing the personal experience they weekly share with the class as the program rounds up. It is always a "breath of fresh air" to dive into the discussions and blogs weekly, which I will miss! 

As stated earlier, the adjourning stage is the final stage of the group team, and members prepare to say goodbye. The main goals of the Adjourning stage are to achieve closure and end on a positive note. In addition, it is the time group members reflect on their participation and growth. 

It is also a critical phase where group achievement is recognized as a whole. This is a time to celebrate all that's been accomplished! Members have bonded and may feel sad about the impending dissolution. Activities are often planned to ensure a sense of closure and a chance to say goodbye. Planning a celebration or ritual that promotes closure and excitement about the future is always an excellent way to bring the group to an end  (Stein, n.d.).


References:

Lumen. (n.d.). The Five Stages of Team Development

     https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-principlesmanagement/chapter/reading-the-five-stages

      of-team-development/

Stein, J. (n.d.). Using the Stages of Team Development

     https://hr.mit.edu/learning-topics/teams/articles/stages-development

Comments

  1. Lucy, great post on this topic and I love your visuals used. I too used the top one because I like how it depicts each of the stages. I love that you set up informal get-togethers as part of this stage so that everyone has a chance to connect and celebrate all that has been done and how far they've come as a group!

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  2. Great blog post and visual images used this week. I feel that any kind of celebration in the adjourning stage is good for the group members. Because of the trust and relationship building through the different stages one can actually “let the hair down so to speak” to celebrate the team accomplishments. Sometimes depending on how well the group worked together some or all of the team members may choose at this point to work on another project together. During group assignments, you have the opportunity to learn so much about a person beyond that project. I will definitely miss reading my colleagues blog post the most. For me, the blog posts are more relaxed and personable. We get an opportunity to get a glimpse of our personal similarities which we can bond over by committing on colleagues’ blog post. I see blog post as lunch or after work conversation with colleagues which could result in true friendship.

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  3. You make a great point about chemistry. I think this is ultimately the comfort and likelihood of risk taking in groups. This is a true testament of a team's trust. You used great visuals in this post that make the topic easily understandable and relatable. Great post!

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