How teams work

(and why sometimes they don't)

Whether you’re a leader or a team member, understanding how teams work is essential to good collaboration.

A lot of my work is with teams. Every team I have worked with is different. Not just because they are teams of different sizes, working in different functions, or from different industries with different cultures and pressures. They are different because every individual is different, so the dynamics and interactions are different.

I’ve seen the difference that just one new person can make to how a team works together. I’ve seen leaders really boost their team’s success by focusing on how they communicate and behave. I’ve seen teams really struggle because they don’t have shared values or purpose.

So this week I thought I would share a useful model to think about what your team dynamics, and why.

You may have come across Bruce’s Tuckman’s theory of team formation. Developed back in the 1960’s, he looked at how teams evolve.

The stages are:

Forming: This is the initial stage where team members come together and get to know each other. At this point, everyone tends to be polite or cautious as they try to suss out other people and their place in the team. Here, team members tend to look to their leader or manager to provide direction and clarity.

Storming: As the team begins to work together differences in opinions, personalities, and working styles become apparent. Questions are asked and challenges raised. There might be disagreement, conflict and competition, either above or below the surface. Whilst it might feel unpleasant, this is a necessary stage to develop understanding and trust.

Norming: In this stage, the team starts to resolve their differences whilst recognising and accepting each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Roles and responsibilities become clearer as shared goals are established. The team establishes shared expectations around how they behave, make decisions and disagree.

Performing: At this stage, the team begins working together effectively and successfully. They are functional and productive, because their focus shifts from internal dynamics to delivering the work and achieving their goals.

It’s a simple model. And sometimes it is applied too simplistically.

It is not a “four step” process leading to a nirvana where everything works perfectly. In fact, teams may move backwards, stages may overlap, and outside changes and factors will impact team dynamics and can shift us from one stage to another in any direction.

But stopping to recognise behaviour in the team and how it relates to these stages is really helpful in identifying what needs to happen next.

It’s also a really useful reminder that team dynamics are constantly fluid – which is natural and ok. Dynamics and relationships will shift. As leaders our job is to recognise and work with that.

This model also clearly sets out what is important for teams working together:

• Shared purpose or goals

• Shared values

• Trust

• Respect for each other as individuals with different strengths and weaknesses

• The ability to manage disagreements or conflicts effectively

• Psychological safety (more on that next time)

We know that effective teams make the most impact – and that people working in effective teams are happier and more engaged at work. So it’s not something we can afford to neglect.

How does your team perform on the checklist above?

If you’d like to have an informal chat about my work with teams, you can book a call with me.

My online training course Lead and Develop your Team covers all aspects of being a line manager, including team dynamics. You can access the course for just £50 until the end of March using the code launch50.