Key Concepts and Theories of Tuckman’s Model
There are many advantages when people work in a group as it helps in providing an adventure and a greater outlook as well as employees gain an experience of working and staying in a group. Working in a group also makes a person gain knowledge about different cultures and people. For an organization to succeed, it is essential that they work in a group as teamwork is essential in building strength and that will help in befitting the environment. There are varied models that will help in understanding the functioning of a group. Teamwork is mostly applied in scenarios where work can be delegated and also where work can be done in a group efficiently. As per Tuckman’s model, group should be studied in the light of teamwork. There can be various issues in dealing with teamwork’s, mostly in cases of decision making as they might lead to difference of opinion or conflict. As was observed by Bush, LePine and Newton (2017) conflict or problems arising out of difference in opinion should be internally resolved for an efficient team performance.
Tuckman had devised a team model that helps in understanding team dynamics in an organizational set up. According to his team model, there is a need to form a group with the aim of reaching the goals and objectives that are predetermined and by collaborating with other teams and groups, it will be easier to achieve organizational success. According to Bolman and Deal (2017), every organization has a set of goals and objectives that they wish to achieve and therefore, such groups will help in advancing those objectives and will also help in understanding how team functions. These stages are essential in the functioning of the group. The various stages that are involved are, namely: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. As held by Söderhjelm et al. (2015) these five stages are very important in understanding how a team will collaborate and it will also bring in success within the framework of a team. It is, therefore essential to point out the contribution of the Tuckman model in analyzing critically the functioning and the development of groups.
By breaking the model into the stages, the first stage is the most nuanced where it involves the setting up of the team (Kelly & Watts, 2017). First, the team is formed and it is the most important step as it forms the foundation of the team and the success of the team depends on the principles it follows in forming the group. A team can a diverse and varied population and the group can have people from different culture and background. Whenever people from different backgrounds come together to function in a group, there are chances that there will be difference of opinion which will give rise to conflicts. The first advancement of the formation of the group is the element of performance because the success of a team shall depend on how the people in the group perform and how apply their skill, technique and knowledge to achieve the set targets and goals of the group. In the stroming stage, the strength, weakness as well as the performance skills of the people can be determined. The conflict also arises due to delegation of work. The third stage is dependent on this stage and therefore the norming stage is the one where the conflict in the group is solved. The final stage is the departure from the group once the goals have been achieved and this stage comes right after the goals have been achieved.
Critical Analysis of Tuckman’s Model
The group where I am involved also had to apply the Truckman model and therefore similar rules had to be applied. There were many disagreements that happened as people from different backgrounds came together to work and they disagreed on the tasks that were delegated to them based on their skills and abilities and they wanted to similar tasks that accentuated their skills. The group had to be adjourned after reaching the target and the group of mostly involved in the application of skills and technique to further the goals. Therefore, it is important to apply the Truckman model which ensured that people worked together keeping aside their disagreements. Therefore the model has to be understood with the concept of conflicts along with mitigation techniques. The conflicts are mostly seen as obvious culmination of the differences that people face because of their different background and fir a tea to function efficiently it is important that they resolve their issues and come together to form a strong and robust bond.
In the development of group, it is important thing to consider that conflicts are inherent to a group when people from different backgrounds come together. These conflicts are more common in the inception of the group. These conflicts can be both interpersonal as well as intrapersonal and it should be treated s natural occurrence. On the contrary, it was further opined by Katzenbach and Smith (2015) that intrapersonal conflicts mostly arise out of psychological issues and that are also attributed to work. The conflicts can be resolved with the help of working together and by aided coordination and trust as well confidence in the group members.
In the opinion of Bradley et al. (2015) decision making is very important as it helps in understanding the interest of every member who are present in the group and decision making helps in the advancement of ideas and opinions of every member. On the other hand, Turner (2014) opined that though there are many advantages to the decision making process, it is not a very fact process and sometimes could be termed as a very slow process that will help in gaining valuable knowledge about the group. The members should be mandated to express their opinion and in cases they fail to comply, the team will be made to not progress further (O’ Mara, 2018).
There is a difference in the role played by a leader and a work leader, where the former works in facilitating the group and the latter helps in controlling the group. Therefore, there is a difference in the roles played by both. In a work-team, the opinion of every member is taken into consideration and in case of a conflict negotiation, the leaders and individuals are taken into consideration (Reimer, Russell & Roland 2017). The conflict that ensues due to the difference of opinion should be mediated with the help of discussions and also the negotiation helps in the resolving of the disagreements that keep happening in a group. Therefore, if the two models are compared, it can be said that the work team is a more preferred forum because the support that is given to a leader is essential for the functioning of a group.
Conclusion
Team effort is all about the coming together of the leaders as well the people working in a group. A team will only be successful if people come together keeping their conflicts aside. The inception of the group development might face some impediments as it becomes difficult for the leaders to understand the skills and abilities of the individuals working in a group. The work team is a preferred platform that will advance the interests of the leaders and working in a work group might be embedded with difficulties. The leaders can gain some valuable opportunity from matters that are related to the functioning of the development of a team.
References
Armstead, C., Bierman, D., Bradshaw, P., Martin, T., & Wright, K. (2016). Groups vs. Teams: Which One Are You Leading?. Nurse Leader, 14(3), 179-182.
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. John Wiley & Sons.
Bradley, B. H., Anderson, H. J., Baur, J. E., & Klotz, A. C. (2015). When conflict helps: Integrating evidence for beneficial conflict in groups and teams under three perspectives. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 19(4), 243.
Bush, J. T., LePine, J. A., & Newton, D. W. (2017). Teams in transition: An integrative review and synthesis of research on team task transitions and propositions for future research. Human Resource Management Review.
Carmeli, A., Dutton, J. E., & Hardin, A. E. (2015). Respect as an engine for new ideas: Linking respectful engagement, relational information processing and creativity among employees and teams. Human Relations, 68(6), 1021-1047.
Kelly, R., & Watts, L. (2017). Slow but Likeable? Inefficient Robots as Caring Team Members. Robots in Groups and Teams, 1.
Keyton, J., & Heylen, D. K. (2017). Pushing Interdisciplinary in the Study of Groups and Teams. Small Group Research, 48(5), 621-630.
O’Mara, S. (2018). Working in Groups and Teams: Group Deliberations. In A Brain for Business–A Brain for Life (pp. 93-105). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Schmidt-Wilk, J. (2014). Fritz Roethlisberger Memorial Award Goes to “Groups Meet… Teams Improve: Building Teams That Learn”. Journal of Management Education, 38(4), 486-488
Söderhjelm, T., Björklund, C., Sandahl, C., & Bolander-Laksov, K. (2018). Academic leadership: management of groups or leadership of teams? A multiple-case study on designing and implementing a team-based development programme for academic leadership. Studies in Higher Education, 43(2), 201-216.
Turner, M. E. (Ed.). (2014). Groups at work: Theory and research. Psychology Press.
Woolley, F. (2015). The Rocket Model: Practical Advice for Building High Performing Teams. Military Review, 95(3), 97.
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