Team Management Group Paper

Team Management Group Paper

To achieve certain goals, one must form a team. The goal is unattainable alone. A team is two or more people working together to accomplish a task or goal. A group of people must work together in unison to reach said goal using a variety of skills such as effective communication, time management, leadership designation, and task sorting. Another important aspect of teamwork is team management. According to Bruce Wayne Tuckman, (1965), there are four stages of team management. His theory on this issue later became known as "Tuckman's Stages” (Tuckman, 1965).

According to Tuckman (1965), the four stages of team management were known as: forming, storming, norming, and performing. Tuckman believed that all of these stages needed to be completed in order for a team to grow to the point where they are functioning effectively together and delivering high quality results (Tuckman, 1965). It was not until Tuckman began doing research in conjunction with Mary Ann Jensen, that a fifth stage was added to the team management mix. This fifth stage became known as the “warming” stage (Tuckman, 1965). Some also refer to the “warming” stage as the “adjourning” stage (Tuckman, 1965).

Each phase is imperative to work through in order for a team to build an effective relationship. The success of a team is dictated by the synergy that is achieved throughout team development. In order to understand how the entire process works, we must first understand each individual stage of the process. We will first begin with the “forming” stage of the team management process.

Forming

During the first stage of the team management process, team members will meet for the first time and begin to get to know one another. Individuals will try to make themselves known and tension will be high but members will be respectful. Those team members with strong leadership abilities will try to get the group to brainstorm and set the pace for the team. This stage is not productive work wise but is very important as it sets the tone for the team. Objectives and challenges are introduced and the team will outline what the ultimate goal is. Even though no tasks are assigned the group will discuss what the objective is for the group.

All stages of the team management process are important, the forming stage is one in which not much happens because team members are getting a feel for their team. However, this stage is crucial because members will introduce themselves and discuss their experience and expectations. Leadership roles are not assigned during this