What stage is your group at? Part 2 of 2

Last month I wrapped up the month with a blog post sharing with you the forming, and storming

stages of any group process. Throughout hundreds of different group and team experiences I have been part of and led over the last 3 decades I have seen elements of Tuckman's model play out time, and time again - virtually, in person, in groups and in teams. I've seen it play out in the jungles of South America, and the Canadian north. Where is the group or team at that you are working with right now?

Once teams and groups move through the storming stage, and they start to get their sense of where they are at, the team or group moves into the norming stage, then progressing into the performing stage, where really they can thrive and get things done. It is very common in today's world that teams will disband - projects will close off, locations may change, people may move. Tuckman's final stage of group and team development points us to the adjourning stage of any team process, where it's important to close off on the experience. This is a stage that is often overlooked - whether because we are rushing to move to the next experience, or there is simply too much to do to wrap things up.

Here's what I shared in my newest book, Effective Virtual Conversations, about the remaining stages of Tuckman's model - norming, performing and adjourning. Think about what you can do to support movement through these stages.

Stage: Norming - In this stage we are exploring What? What’s acceptable? Who we are?

What’s Important

·         Planning, roles

·         Figuring out how you really want to work

Virtual Nuances

·         Individual norms and collective norms

·         Making explicit different roles, ways of working, norms

·         Is there an evolution of new shared group/team culture?

Considerations

·         How do we want to operate together?

Things to Make Sure You are Doing

·         Building trust

·         Getting people into deeper dialogue with each other

·         Using breakouts regularly

·         Clarifying roles and responsibilities

·         Deepening identity of the group

Activities You May Want to Use

·         Values and behaviors

Stage: Performing - In this stage we are exploring acceleration. What’s working? What will keep momentum going?

What’s Important

·         Getting the results in place

Virtual Nuances

·         Participants will be performing in isolation from others and could benefit from pause to look at what support they need

Considerations

·         Resourcing, roadblocks, enablers

·         Systems and structures that will sustain the work

Things to Make Sure You are Doing

·         Creating opportunities for reflective pause

·         Creating opportunity for people to share their commitments and update each other in a way that does not just have to be a 30 second soundbyte

Activities You May Want to Use

·         Keeping energy moving

·         Troubleshooting

·         Planning for celebration

·         Use the work (and structures) they are undertaking

Stage: Adjourning - In this stage we are helping the group articulate

What’s Important

·         Wrap up

·         Sustainability

·         Evaluation

Virtual Nuances

·         Last time together

·         Application to local context

Considerations

·         Closure

·         Feedback

·         Evaluation

·         Lessons learned.

Things to Make Sure You are Doing

·         How do you want to stay connected?

·         Where can you access the materials?

·         For how long can materials be accessed?

Activities You May Want to Use

·         Spiders Web

·         Acknowledgement

·         Action Planning: One Page Plan and Commitments

·         Evaluation

·         Learning takeaways

(Excerpt: Pages 35-38, Effective Virtual Conversations, Jennifer Britton, 2017. All Rights Reserved)

If you haven't had a look at the first part of this two series blog post, check out part 1 here where I explore the Forming and Storming Stages and what they look like in the virtual space.

Best wishes,

Jennifer 

Jennifer Britton
Author of Effective Group Coaching (2009), and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013) and Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Phone : 416-996-TEAM (8326)

Upcoming March and April 2018 programs include the 3 month Mentor Coaching Group (for ACC/PCC) starting Thursday March 8th at 12:15 pm Eastern, the Group Coaching Essentials program (8.75 CCEs) starting Friday March 2nd. Virtual Facilitation Essentials will start again on Friday April 6th (now approved for 8.5 CCEs) Grab your spot today. Our focus in March at the Learning Lab and Design Studio (Fridays 845 - 9:30 am ET) is on Building Your Toolkit, and will also include a half-day Virtual Retreat (Thurs March 8th)

 

What stage is your group (or team) at? Part 1 of 2

In all three of my books (Effective Group Coaching, From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Effective Virtual Conversations), I write about the importance of meeting groups (and teams) where they are at. The work, and research, of Bruce Tuckman continues to influence us today. Tuckman's Model posits that groups (and teams) move through different stages as they work together - from Forming, to Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning. Groupings can move back and forth, up and down the staircase, when leadership or membership changes, or resourcing becomes scaled back. As a coach, or facilitator, it's important to know where groups and teams are at, and be able to adjust our support, tools and questioning to meet them where they are at.

Group Coaching, and

One of the more popular calls coaches listen to for the Group Coaching Essentials program is a call I did quite a few years ago on Group Development. You can find it over at the From One to Many Resource page. In it I review some of the key things you will want to consider/explore with groups at  different stages.

Here's a very high level (and I mean high-level - i.e. just enough to get you going) overview of the FIRST TWO OF THE FIVE different stages, anexcerpt from Effective Virtual Conversations. As you read through, think about where your group is at and what may be needed as support:

Stage: Forming - In this stage, we are helping the group explore the What?

What’s Important

·         Safety, expectations, clarity around what the program is about

·         Getting people to connect and/or share their WIIFM

Virtual Nuances

·         Group/team members can’t see each other

·         Geographically dispersed

·         Different realities and priorities

·         Notice how people are engaged in the virtual realm—video versus text only interaction

·         Creating of a shared group portal or “go-to place” for resources can be important

Considerations

·         WOW – Ways of Working

·         Focusing on connecting the group

·         Choosing platforms and considering synchronous and asynchronous** connections

·         How do people want to connect?

·         How do you ensure privacy?

·         Confidentiality agreements

** Synchronous conversations happen real-time. For example, I can be conversing real-time with someone in London right now through text, chat or voice from my desk in Toronto. In Asynchronous Learning there is a lag—so, for example, I might post a comment on a shared thread tonight which can be read tomorrow by someone else, somewhere else.

Things to Make Sure You are Doing

·         Clarifying what is expected

·         Group norms

·         Connections amongst groups

·         Reviewing

·         Checking how to share personal information with each other

·         Discussing confidentiality or how information is shared

Activities You May Want to Use

·         Activities to create trust and connection such as:

▪          Personal Logos

▪          Coins

▪          Vision/Values

▪          Assessments

▪          Goal Setting

Stage: Storming - In this stage, we are helping the group explore the What? So, who are we? What’s this all about?

What’s Important

·         Figuring out roles

·         How we want to operate

·         How this connects with me

Virtual Nuances

·         Greater likelihood of disconnection

·         Greater opportunity for the anonymous factor, or, They can’t see me to kick in or people to disengage

Considerations

·         There may be a lot of variances regarding culture and language

·         Notice differences in how people approach, and are comfortable with, conflict

Things to Make Sure You are Doing

·         Normalizing conflict

·         Reinforcing the Ways of Working

Activities You May Want to Use

·         Normalize functions, tasks, decisions

·         Appreciation

·         Best team

·         What’s holding the team back?

·         How to have difficult conversations or working across differences

·         Prioritization

·         Style Assessments – MBTI and DiSC"

(Excerpt: Effective Virtual Conversations, Copyright Britton, 2017. All Rights Reserved)

This is often the second or third call of any group or team coaching process.

Next week I'll cover the last two or three stages - Norming, Performing and Adjourning. Where are your groups right now?

If you have any of my books, refer to these pages for more information:

Effective Virtual Conversations: pages 33 - 38
From One to Many: pages 195-197
Effective Group Coaching: pages 59 - 62

Enjoy your week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Author of Effective Group Coaching (2009), and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013) and Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Phone : 416-996-TEAM (8326)

Other Winter programs include the 3 month Mentor Coaching Group (for ACC/PCC), the Group Coaching Essentials program (8.75 CCEs). The Coaching Biz Growth Lab(TM) a 3 month business development group coaching program for coaches starts Thursday February 1st. Grab your spot today.