Team Development

1. Team Defined

You've heard the word team before: "I play on a volleyball team," "my daughter plays on a soccer team." A team is a group of people working together towards a common goal. On any given team, there may be different roles, but there may also be the same roles. The individual strengths of the team members determine what role each plays. Ideally, members will have strengths aligned to the goals of the team.

A team may be as few as two people. There really is no maximum to the amount of people that can be on a team, but generally, fewer than 12 is what's recommended.

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2. Types of Teams

Strengths of individuals vary quite a bit, so teams can be composed of many different strengths in many different ways. However, for this tutorial, you're going to focus on four types of teams:

• Functional
• Cross-functional
• Problem-solving
• Self-managed

A functional team is called the working team. These are the people that have similar areas of strength, and they all serve a similar function. This team is often long term.

EXAMPLE

An advertising print buyer may be on a team of other advertising print buyers. Everyone has the strength of negotiating print ads. That's what they will all do.

Cross-functional teams are on the opposite side of the fence. This is where you'll see multiple areas of expertise. This team is generally comprised of peers. If you were to imagine a hierarchy in a workplace, they're all on that same line. A cross-functional team may be long term, just like a functional one, but it may also be short term, depending on the goal.

Problem-solving teams may have multiple or similar areas of strength. It's really a hybrid of both cross-functional and functional when it comes to an area of strength that the individual is performing. Unlike cross-functional and functional teams, problem-solving teams are only temporary. People from multiple areas of strengths come together to achieve a specific task or a specific goal. The types of people that come together for a problem-solving team are really defined by the goal.

big idea

First, you have the goal. Then you have the people to achieve that goal.

Just like problem-solving teams, self-managed teams have various areas of expertise or strengths. These people come together from various areas. They have their various strengths that are pulled together for a goal, but this team works independently. They're very autonomous in the nature of what they're doing. They have freedom to determine their own rules.

Types of Teams	Description
Functional	Similiar area Management Long term
Cross-Functional	Multiple areas Peers Long or short term
Problem Solving	Multiple or similar areas Temporary
Self-Managed	Various areas Independent

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3. Team Development Process

How are teams developed? Bruce Tuckman identified five phases of development in 1965:

• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• Adjourning

Bruce Tuckman was a psychologist who analyzed 50 articles of group development processes and found that five stages rose to the top and were common of all teams.

In the forming phase, you're looking at what you need for strengths for this team to meet its established goal. You'll communicate how you'll achieve this goal, and develop any needed hierarchies, depending on the type of team.

Storming is the stage when you might see some individuals resisting the structure developed in the forming stage. There may be some competition within the team for certain positions.

did you know

Many teams, unfortunately, fail and disassemble at this stage.

If the team makes it past storming, the next stage is norming, when the team starts to come together and gain momentum.

Performing is when the team members work effectively and efficiently. Everyone is moving toward the same goal. Everything comes together, and the team has learned the process of resolving conflict.

Adjourning is when the team dissolves, either because the goal has been achieved or because of other, external factors.

IN CONTEXT

Forming:
Say your restaurant is having trouble serving all its customers, but you can't afford to move to a larger space yet. You decide to create a food truck to solve the problem for a very specific amount of time. This is going to be a temporary situation formed to address a specific need.

You bring in your spouse to watch the books and set the pricing on the food that you are going to sell.

Next, you bring in your friend, Triny. She's a big foodie, and she loves to bake high-quality foods from scratch. This is exactly what you are looking for in your food truck.

Then you bring in your children to work the truck by selling the food and taking money.

Storming:
Triny needs to buy some high-quality ingredients, but your spouse says that the price that you've set isn't going to allow for them. You're going to need to compromise just a bit on your quality. Luckily, this conflict is resolved, and you're going to reach that norming stage.

Norming:
This is when you're all going to start to come together with the same goal in mind of serving good food from your food truck.

Performing:
Everything is going well because everyone is on the same page. You're all working toward that same goal of providing this good food.

Adjourning:
Then your team is going to dissolve in the adjourning stage. You've reached your goal. You've all come together and done a great job.