Building a Better Team

During my Project Management Institute Prep class, there was a discussion around the importance of developing the project team. In order to have a high-performing team, it is important to develop the project team. Per PMI, tools and techniques for project managers to utilize are interpersonal skills, training, team-building activities, and recognition and rewards.

What caught my attention during the class were the five stages of development of a team, which are referred to as Tuckman’s Stages:

• Form: The team meets and learns about the project and the objectives.
• Storm: The work of the project begins to get started.
• Norm: The team works together and adjusts their work habits.
• Perform: The team functions as a team – unit.
• Adjourn: The team completes the work and moves on.

For the programs that have one more year left, are we still going back to the norm stage? How do we get past from norm to the perform stage – a stage that we are working together as a team and as an organized unit? There are several roles our team members can play, that can be constructive or destructive. Constructive roles can range from initiators – whose attitude is “let’s do this” – to gate keeper, who helps others participate. Destructive roles can hurt a team as you can have aggressors, who criticize and deflates status of others, blockers, who reject others view, or dominators, who tries to take over the discussion. Are we effectively utilizing the tools, such as interpersonal skills, which include communication, influence, leadership, motivation, and problem solving methods effectively to build the team?

~ Bobbie Shrivastav