Team-building theories
Tuckman’s theory
The man behind Tuckman’s theory was Bruce Tuckman. His theory is one of the oldest theories regarding team building, with Tuckman releasing it in 1965. This theory focuses on five different stages of development that teams generally experience: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. According to Tuckman, the stages begin when a team first gets together and continues until the project ends and the team disbands. Each stage plays a critical role in team development. An understanding of all the stages is essential for creating high-performance business teams. The stages are as follows:
1. Forming
This is the stage where people first meet each other. Team members behave independently during this time and are still establishing trust in each other. Members often discuss skills, rules, goals and project timelines.
2. Storming
Once the initial excitement fades, team members understand their responsibilities and the importance of the task at hand. Disagreements are common at this stage and strong leadership becomes a necessity. Finding compromises can enhance the project and keep team members happy.
3. Norming
Once the initial disagreements subside, teams start cooperating. Members focus on automating tasks and relying on each other for help. Conflicts are still possible at this stage, though they are easier to manage.
4. Performing
This is the key stage where the team members develop synergy and begin to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Familiarity sets in by this stage, and confidence and motivation begin to rise. Team members also require less careful supervision and can perform quite well by themselves.
5. Adjourning
Originally, Tuckman’s theory only had four stages. In 1977, adjourning became the fifth stage. This occurs when teams disband, leaving a void among team members who have grown close to one another. If team members have had positive experiences with each other, they can often work well together in the future.
Maslow’s pyramid
Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, or Maslow’s pyramid, is another popular team-building theory that focuses more on individual behaviours. Maslow’s theory states that individuals first try to cover their physiological requirements, which include food or subsistence. Once they fulfil their physiological needs, they start focusing on security needs, such as their health. Over time, their needs continue to change. Team members next start looking for a sense of belonging, eventually moving on to self-esteem. At this stage, individual members of a team demand respect from each other. The final stage of Maslow’s pyramid is self-actualisation, which is the stage where an individual reaches their maximum potential and begins to appreciate things around them.
Belbin’s theory
Belbin’s ‘team roles’ are nine clusters of behaviour that indicate how people work with each other in teams. Dr Meredith Belbin’s findings state that for teams to operate effectively and efficiently, it’s critical to fill these nine key roles:
- Shaper: Shapers are individuals who thrive in pressure situations and are highly driven.
- Completer-finisher: Completer-finishers are perfectionists by nature, often searching for errors and worrying about results.
- Implementer: Implementers are practical and reliable members who execute ideas, turning them into actions.
- Plant: The plants are generally the creative thinkers of the team, with imaginative natures and a focus on idea generation.
- Monitor-evaluator: With a broad focus on strategy, monitor-evaluators carefully review multiple options before passing judgment.
- Specialist: Specialists are self-starting members with high levels of dedication. They also have specialist skills.
- Team worker: Team workers have a diplomatic nature and are highly perceptive.
- Resource investigator: Resource investigators are enthusiastic members of the group, often focusing on networking.
- Coordinator: Coordinators clarify team goals and are generally quite confident and mature about their decisions.
Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y are important theories that focus on the motivation of humans. Theory X states that most people find work inherently distasteful and that they try to avoid it as much as possible. It also asserts that a vast majority of people lack creativity when solving organisational issues. It suggests that people’s primary motivation is money. Conversely, Theory Y states that in favourable conditions, work is generally easy. It also maintains that people’s creative capacities tend to spread throughout the business. Theory Y suggests that people’s motivation increases if the company can improve their commitment.
John Adair’s leadership theory
John Adair’s theory focuses primarily on leadership. His action-centred leadership model became popular in 1973, focusing on the key actions of leaders that can motivate teams. Instead of focusing on leadership styles, this theory focuses on key actions in specific areas. According to Adair, leaders have three key areas of responsibility: task, team and individual. The task area focuses on the leader’s actions to achieve a particular goal. For the team, the focus is at a group level, with leaders devising strategies to improve teamwork and cohesion. For individual areas, leaders work with each member of the team to meet their specific needs. This approach creates high-functioning teams with increased motivation and better performance.
Strengths-based leadership theory
This is a popular method for maximising the efficiency and productivity of teams. When teams become more productive and more efficient, business performance improves. The theory assumes that people have more interest in maximising their growth than in overcoming their weaknesses. This theory focuses on maximising the strengths of individual employees in a team. Organisations or leaders that focus on strengths-based leadership are still aware of weaknesses. But they primarily focus on and invest in improving the employees’ strengths. The underlying assumption is that when strengths grow to a considerable level, they can eclipse an employee’s weaknesses and significantly improve team efficacy.
Team analysis theory
The team analysis theory focuses on identifying factors that cause teams to fall apart. It requires business leaders to re-evaluate and analyse key elements and events that led to the team breaking apart. This theory only applies retrospectively, as it focuses on analysis after a team disbands. The information that leaders gather through careful analysis can help them avoid team collapse in the future. They can focus more on connecting team members with shared interests to improve overall team performance.
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