An alternative team development model 6/52
Bruce Tuckman’s model for group development is by-far the most popular team development model I’ve seen out there.
It’s the familiar forming-storming-norming-performing-adjourning model that I see in most leadership and team development courses and literature.
I’d like to propose an alternative model, one that I call Tze’s Unscientific Group-Development Model (TUG-D).
TUG-D is based largely on my own experiences working in teams of all sorts, from software development teams, executive teams and sports teams.
This model covers the lifecycle of members of a team in the pursuit of a common objective.
The TUG-D model has four stages:
Orienting: There is the inherent feeling of being lost or awkward when a person joins a group, or when a team is convened. Does each member of a team understand why they are there? Does each member of a team know why the other members are there? Orienting is the process of reducing and eliminating feelings of awkwardness and questioning why am I here, who are these other people and what are we supposed to be doing?
Aligning: Does each team member share the same goal and aspiration as every other member? True team alignment means that every member of the team is strong agreement and commitment to the end outcome. All it takes is one member of a team to not be aligned or committed to sow dysfunction. Team members that aren’t align, don’t work well as a team.
Journeying: How well does the team journey together? Do they do the day-to-day well? Part of journeying are individual and team habits and practices to allow for effective and efficient on-going alignment, collaboration and task execution. A bit part of journeying entails whether, as a team, do they learn and sharpen their craft and hone their skills as a team.
Delivering: The purpose of the team is to deliver an outcome, be it a product, business outcome or winning a tournament. Validation on whether a team delivers is always dependent on external validation, be it customers, market response or beating the competition. Team members could collaborate effectively and still fail here. Part of a high-performing team is one that senses the external environment and adapts quickly to what they learn.
I’ve been using this model of thinking in my recent work in coaching teams.
I invite you to look at your teams through this model and let me know if the TUG-D model resonates with you.