Most of us know the Tuchman Model by now. This is the idea that teams go through stages of development that are more or less predictable; and, they are more or less sequential. These stages are:
– Forming : The team members are polite to each other and try not get in each other’s way while everyone sorts this team thing out
– Storming : The team members are getting comfortable and are more assertive of their views and interests; conflicts emerge
– Norming : Getting tired of the conflicts, the team starts to talk to each other about how they are going to get along with each other
– Performing : Having figured out how to work with each other, the team really starts to get some shit done.
I know someone who dug into this model in team behavior for his doctoral research, and the data seems to indicate that this pattern is more or less true.
Another model, one I like a little better, is called the “Team Performance Model” (Drexler-Sibbet) which more or less starts with
– Why am I here? What is my purpose in all of this?
– Who am I here with, and what unites to this purpose?
– What are we going to do about it?
– How are we going to do it?
– Then we get to “the planning” where we keep figuring out the “who, what, when, & where” of getting shit done.
– Performing, where we’re really getting some shit done now
– Why should we continue do this?
The first four are “foundational.” The next three can’t happen unless the first four happen. And, it has to start with “why am I here, and why are we here together.”
I’m going suggest that before the Anti-Saturday Squad does anything else, find an answer for those first two questions: Why am I here? and What unites us to a common, shared purpose.
After that, and only after that, dig into the question “Okay, what are we going to do about it.”