Joining a New Team and The Tuckman Model 5 Stages

Your vision is that you join a new team and everything just works itself out. Your team will ideally follow the Tuckman Model and 5 stages of teams.

The dilemma is you are on a new team, it may be global, remote, at a new job, or all of the above. A team in the article is defined as a group of people who have a shared purpose, meet and communicate over a period of time with skills that complement each other, and have accountability for their actions. The primary issue is you are unfamiliar with how each member works, their background, how they handle conflict, and what their expectations are. So what should you be thinking about to make this go smoothly? The Bruce Tuckman Model will help.

Defining a case for using the Tuckman Model in team development

The case I am reflecting on is the final 12-week capstone graduation project for my MBA.

The team consisted of four team members, from varying time zones and locations across the world. We were all in the same program, however, had not worked together. The end result was a presentation of marketing campaign recommendations for a company in the hearing industry, in which none of us had experience. We were on a level playing field, all had the common goal of graduation, but each approached the project a little differently. Some liked to get a jump start on the milestones while others held back to gather information first. All of the details on how we would work together could've been better understood prior to beginning.

Looking back, the solution is awareness and application of the 5 stages of team formation.

Our experience can best be summarized by looking at the 5 stages of the Bruce Tuckman Model. These stages must happen for a team to be able to grow, handle the difficulties, address problems and find solutions and actually provide a final result.

The Bruce Tuckman 5 Stages

Tuckman Stage 1: Forming

This is the first stage and at this point, the team was nervous, unsure of how each member would fit in. This is often where people may be most polite and in a mode to feel things out.

During the forming stage, a team charter is useful (if it’s used properly). We were advised to assemble one of these, which includes establishing your objectives as a team, your goals, milestones, who is involved both on the team and off. Additionally, determine who is expected to do what parts and state expectations like rules about how you will work together, how you will contact each other, how often, how meetings will work, and how decisions will be made. Talking about expectations of results is beneficial as well as some may have intentions right away to put more into a project than others depending on the level of importance. For some, it may mean a promotion while others take a supporting role. Taking note of family commitments, home life, other commitments isn’t a bad idea so it’s understood upfront availability. To do it over again, I highly recommend completing this task immediately.

Tuckman Stage 2: Storming

At this stage, the way people prefer to work begins to come out, which can sometimes cause conflict within the team. Hopefully, by this time the team has determined basic roles but if not that can also cause trouble.

If you disclose work styles before or in the team charter, it gives each member an idea of where you and they fit in. In our case, we had very different styles which led to upfront conflict. We weren’t the best at establishing and communicating comfort levels with items like how soon before due dates would review happen and how each milestone would be approached with research, assembling, etc. It’s also a good idea to be open to the role you typically play on a team. You may find someone is a natural leader, someone may be best at organizing, or best at being the central communication point with the stakeholders and you can benefit greatly by establishing and using those strengths upfront.

I also recommend by now to set aside time to be social with the team as this builds trust in the relationship. Our team was so limited by time zones, work, and family commitments, we lacked in the basic getting to know one another. Had we done more to learn about each other, some of the initial conflict could have been eliminated.

Tuckman Stage 3: Norming

By this time, the members are better able to resolve issues and understand the strength each member brings to the table.

After the major challenges get worked out, you should move to this phase where each member is contributing in a way that highlights their strong points. If you have discrepancies, you likely know by now how to address them and the best way to approach to get it worked out.

Tuckman Stage 4: Performing

This is when is delivering well and the goals are most likely to be achieved.

We ended up realizing that some of us were best in the research and data collection, one was best at assembling the graphical representation, and one was great at reviewing to ensure the project flow. At this point, moving from milestone to milestone became easier.

Tuckman Stage 5: Adjourning

This is the point where the project or team has ended.

The top things to consider when joining a new, global, or remote team include:

1. Start with brainstorming a team charter.

2. Set goals, milestones with hard dates and times, and expectations from the way to communicate with one another to the expected result.

3. Understand your team in a social way, get to know them to build trust.

4. Communicate how you often work, the role you tend to take on a team, and your strengths. Don’t be shy, this could make all the difference.

5. Discuss how you will approach conflict, how it will be handled and what happens when you can’t agree.

6. Determine upfront the outside stakeholders you will need to include to maximize the benefit you could gain while allowing for plan b if needed.

7. Don’t spend too much time in the beginning stages being polite, it’s best for the project to have clear and open communication.

Give this concept a try the next time you are working in a new team. Try developing a team charter to set the stage and comment as to how it went!

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Written by Nicole Hullihen on June 12th, 2021