Bruce Tuckman's Theory

A team is defined as “a small number people, with complementary skills, who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they are mutually accountable" (Katzenbach and Smith, 1993). The theory of individual varies according to how they interact within a team mainly Tuckman, Woodcock and Belbin.

Bruce Tuckman’s (1965) theory of group development focuses on the way in which a team tackle a task and is made up of 5 stages. These are forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. In the forming stage, the team is assembled and tasked allocated. Internal struggles, tension and conflict between team members all arise in the storming stage. The norming stage is where the team would start agreeing by the value and rules by which they would operate. The performing stage is where team members evolve, develop interdependency, become self-assuring and lead towards solution and development towards their achievement. The final stage is adjourning where the task is accomplished after reaching their goal and the group is disengaged. (Smith, 2005)

These stages were undeveloped team, experimenting team, consolidating team and the mature team. The undeveloped team relies on the leader to make decisions as their objectives are uncertain. The experimenting team listen actively, addresses issues openly and become introspective. The consolidating team agrees upon objectives, implement procedures, clarify task and establish personal interaction based on cooperation. The mature team takes into consideration the group’s methodical working method, considers a wide range of options and recognise responsibility towards the organization. (Ecoforum,