Appropriate Leadership Styles for Each Stage of Team Building
Effective team leadership involves the leader's ability to adopt different leadership styles according to the team's stage of development. In 1965, American psychologist Bruce Tuckman identified four stages of team building: the forming stage, the storming stage, the norming stage, and the performing stage. Meanwhile, Paul Hersey, the author of "Situational Leader," and Ken Blanchard, author of "The One Minute Manager," proposed the Situational Leadership Theory. The theory shows how a team in its initial stages of development requires more direction and guidance, whereas a team that has attained cohesion requires less supervision.
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Forming
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Team members in the first forming stage are in a state of adjustment. Roles and responsibilities are still undefined, and the level of trust among team members is unknown. During the forming stage there is a high dependence on the team leader to instruct and direct the team. The leader adopts the "telling" situational leadership style to motivate the team to accomplish the set tasks.
Storming
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The storming stage is marked by more defined roles and responsibilities among team members; however, a lack of trust among team members vying to oust each other hinders effective teamwork. The role of the leader during the storming stage is to coach team members and guide them toward team cohesion and a shared vision. This style of leadership coincides with Hersey and Blanchard's "selling" style.
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Norming
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Team collaboration is attained in Tuckman's norming stage. Team members are willing to share information and collaborate. At this stage the leader assumes a participative leadership approach. Decisions are made by consulting team members, and responsibilities are delegated to individuals. This stage reflects the "participating" situational leadership style.
Performing
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The performing stage marks the peak of effective teamwork. Team members work in synergy achieving effective and creative results as a group. The relationship among team members is one of genuine support. The team has one shared vision to achieve a common objective. The leader of such high performance teams assumes the "delegating" mode of situational leadership where responsibilities are delegated to team members.
Adjourning
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Tuckman, later refined his theory and added a fifth stage of team development, the adjourning stage. This latter stage marks the time when team members have completed their task and separate to move on to other responsibilities. The stage is one where the leader or manager measures and evaluates the outcomes of the project and deals with the prospective change.
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References
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