Team Working

Time when I worked well as part of a team:

An example of when I have worked well as part of a team was when I completed my Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. We were all carrying big bags full of all our clothes, equipment and food for the 3 day hike. These bags (which had our entire luggage in including our tents) were extremely heavy and were certainly the reason this course was so difficult. On this course, our challenge was for every single member of our team to make it to the target destination in the specified time limit. The first two days went swimmingly, and our team was coping very well. By midday of the third day however, a few of our team members were struggling. As the day wore on, one of my team mates actually collapsed on the ground from extreme exertions. He was the team member currently in charge of the map and was at that moment leading our team. We all had to do this at some point of the course, and I had already completed my leading part on the first day. Whilst a few of my other team mates gave him some water and food, I decided that it would be best for us to lighten his load to enable him to continue. We started to split his equipment between us, so that each member of our team was now carrying something of his.

This significantly decreased the weight of his bag, and then I took hold of the map (as we had gotten lost by this point) and lead us back to the correct path that we needed to follow. As we continued along our path, we decided to take more frequent breaks and check on each other more. However as the day wore on, another of our team members claimed that we he could no longer be able to keep up with the burden of his bag. So again, the rest of us started taking things out of his bag and putting them in our own. In the end, we made it back to camp as a team. We all passed the course, and this was a significant team achievement. If it was not for the rest of us compromising and deciding to offload some of our team members stuff into our own bags, then I highly doubt that all the members of our team would have made it back to camp on time.

Our team showed the norming and performing stages of Bruce Tuckman’s (1965) model of team development (shown clearly below). In these final two stages, the norming stage consists of working together to complete the task, and co-operation where individuals listen to, appreciate and support each other. Our team co-operated when individuals in the team could no longer continue, and co-operation was also needed to stop us from getting lost. The performing stage is where the team is focussed solely on completing the task at hand, and our team certainly were. There was no conflict and disagreements were resolved politely and positively.

In 1965, Bruce Tuckman developed a four stage model of team development. The four stages are:
· Forming
· Storming
· Norming
· Performing

He claimed that a successful team would know which stage they are in, and manages transitions between the different stages cleverly. It is possible for the group to go back a stage at any time however. Bruce Tuckman in 1977 did go on to develop a fifth stage called the adjourning stage.

Forming, involves the introduction of team members. It is the early stage of getting to know each other, and committing yourselves to the completion of the task. People focus on being busy with routines, such as team organisation, who does what, when to meet, etc. Individuals are also gathering information and impressions about each other, and about the scope of the task and how to approach it. This is a comfortable stage to be in, but not much actually gets done. The forming stage is ultimately a transition stage, where a group of individuals come together to form a team. As team members become more confident the team are likely to enter the storming stage. Team members will have different opinions as to how the team should operate and it is likely that conflicts will arise. The better teams will listen to each other and make compromises so that they can continue to work together efficiently in order to gain the best results. Other teams may however begin to fall apart through arguments.

The norming stage is a settling down period. The team begins to work together in order to complete the task. Co-operation and collaboration replace the conflict and mistrust of the previous phase. Individuals listen to each other, appreciate and support each other. This may be as a result of fear of the group breaking up, or (as in my group’s case) the deadline for the work drawing ever nearer.

The final stage is the performing stage. The team is now focussed on completing the set task. Relationships are now more at ease, and the team is able to manage more complex tasks. Disagreements occur but now they are resolved within the team positively. Not all teams reach this stage, but the teams that do are able to focus solely on the task at hand.

I believe that our team reached the performing stage; in Tuckman’s theory however we only got there because we started becoming pushed for time as the deadline drew nearer. For a long time our group seemed to switch in between the storming and norming stages.
The main problems our team faced were that we did not really work together as a team. We all completed individual pieces of work before putting it together at the last minute.

I feel that we should have all met up more as a group and then worked together on all the different parts of the work. That way it would have been much more a team assignment, rather than four individual pieces of work put together messily. Although we received a fair grade, our grade would certainly have been better had we done this.

Perhaps if we had reached the “performing” stage sooner (rather than because we had to in order for the work to be completed and handed in on time) and compromised more, i.e. with meeting times etc our teamwork skills would have considerably improved, enabling us to work together and produce a better piece of work than the one we actually did. My only real issue, is that we did not really work together as a team. If we had understood Tuckman’s theory better we would certainly have been able to utilise our skills and roles differently.

P3, The Social Inclusion Charity, was voted the best company to work for in The Sunday Times Best 100 Companies 2010. 87% of all employees claimed that colleagues go out of their way to help each other. This was a top results, and shows great teamwork within the organisation. A female employee called Catherine Fearon admits that she places a lot of emphasis on making time for her colleagues. She claims “You're giving clients individual support and supervision. It's very important that staff get that too".

Managers talk openly and honestly with staff (89% of employees said this) and care about their job satisfaction (87% of employees said this). They also care about them as individuals (88% of employees said this). A male employee, who goes by the name of Steve Sunderland says the people who helped him the day he walked into the advice centre are now his colleagues, and continue to offer support if he needs it. 84% of employees claim that the senior management team really listens to them, and 88% say they love working for the company. All in all, P3 have shown that they have a phenomenal team spirit, and their teamwork has been a major factor in them becoming the best company to work for in 2010.

Beaverbrooks, The Jewellery Retailer, was voted the 3rd best company to work for in The Sunday Times Best 100 Companies 2010. It was in fact, last years winner, however this year it has dropped just two places. Again, teamwork plays a massive factor in Beaverbrooks continued success. Senior members of staff regularly visit the 66 stores and any employee can contact them by email or phone. There are celebration nights for top performing teams and last year the firm stumped up an average of £100 for each member of staff to have fun at party nights and meals out. Beaverbooks people say they have fun with their colleagues (86% of employees said this) and feel a strong sense of family in their team (80% of employees said this). Managing director Mark Adlestone gets a 90% score for staff having a great deal of faith in him and workers say there are plenty of opportunities to learn and grow, earning the firm a 72% positive result. Both are top scores. As managers are also part of the team alongside employees, it is good that employees have faith in him, and again this shows a good sense of team spirit within the organisation.

Bruce tuckman forming storming norming performing team, (n.d), Tuckman team working, Website: http://www.businessballs.com/tuckmanformingstormingnormingperforming.htm
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article7030215.ece
Tuckmans Model Theory for Group Development, (n.d), Tuckman team working, Website: http://www.teambuildingsolutions.co.uk/Default.aspx?pagename=Tuckmans-Theory-of-Group-Development

Stages of group development, (n.d), Tuckman team working, Website: http://www.chimaeraconsulting.com/tuckman.htm
Team process, (n.d), Tuckman team working, Website: http://www.teal.org.uk/et/teampro.htm