Managing Sticky Situations at Work

100 Managing Sticky Situations at Work• Storming. The second stage of team development is often identifiedas the most uncomfortable for any team. Although members nowrecognize the value of the team itself, they also want others to noticeand respect their own individual value. Imagine everyone on the teamvying for attention. Members unseat each other for power and control.Instead of listening to other members, people talk about their ownexperiences and knowledge. The initial fear of being overlooked thatsurfaced in the Forming Stage becomes the guiding motive for theStorming Stage. The only task teams can adequately perform at thisstage is Organization of the conflicting struggles around the teamgoals. For example imagine a team that wants to create a group slogan.That team might organize around each individual’s strengths. Who hasdeveloped slogans in the past? Who is good at limericks? Whoconsiders themselves creative? What other skills are needed to help usdevelop the slogan? Rather than look at what the slogan needs to say,the team organizes itself around individual strengths. Suchorganization enables team members to share information aboutthemselves. As they share and as they listen, members learn who isbest suited to do what.• Norming. The third stage of team development feels very comfortableto team members, but it can also be one of the most dangerous stagesin the process. In the Norming Stage team members no longerdisagree. They support each other in everything. Membersacknowledge one another with statements like, ‘‘That’s a great idea,’’or, ‘‘I really like what you are saying.’’ Maintaining group intimacybecomes the motivation of the team. The biggest danger this teamfaces is a phenomenon called groupthink. The term groupthink cameout of sociological research before and during the Bay of Pigs incidentin 1961. 2Shortly after John F. Kennedy became president, he faced thedecision of whether or not to invade Cuba. The previous administrationhad been about to launch a preemptive strike on the island.Kennedy wondered if such action was in the best interest of the UnitedStates. He called together key national advisors and asked each onewhat he thought. All the advisors wanted to do what everyone elsewanted to do. They did not wish to ‘‘rock the boat.’’ Instead ofsharing their concerns about the outcome of such an invasion, theyagreed to the operation known as the Bay of Pigs. Today, in hindsight,we know that operation failed. Simply defined, groupthink is wheneveryone decides to do something stupid together. In the NormingStage groups are not yet ready to make decisions. Instead they arequite adept at Data Flow, or open sharing without evaluation. In thisstage groups generate creative ideas.