BUS272 TB

Chapter 6 Groups and Teamwork 213
S t a g e s o f G r o u p a n d Te a m D e v e l o p m e n t
As Cirque du Soleil’s creative team and cast prepared for the spring 2014 opening of Kurios:
Cabinet of Curiosities, they faced a number of questions. 40 What was the show’s new director,
Michel Laprise, going to be like? Would the show capture the same feeling of wonder Laprise
says he experienced when he saw Cirque du Soleil as a little boy? How would the 107 people
on tour and 150 local hires in every new city learn to work together? What would it be like to
produce a show unlike any other that Cirque had done in the past? To build a successful team
that produces a high-quality, creative performance, Cirque’s cast members had to go through
several stages. So what stages do teams go through as they develop?
When people get together for the first time with the purpose of achieving some objective,
they discover that acting as a team is not something simple, easy, or genetically
programmed. Working in a group or team is often difficult, particularly in the initial
stages, when people don’t necessarily know one another. As time passes, groups and
teams go through various stages of development, although the stages are not necessarily
exactly the same for each group or team. In this section, we discuss two models
of group development. The five-stage model describes the standardized sequence of
stages groups pass through. The punctuated-equilibrium model describes the pattern of
development specific to temporary groups with deadlines. These models can be applied
equally to groups and teams.
6 Identify the five stages
of group development.
Watch on MyManagementLab
Witness.org —Managing Groups and
Teams
The Five-Stage Model
As shown in Exhibit 6-2 , the five-stage group-development model characterizes groups
as proceeding through the distinct stages of forming , storming , norming , performing , and
adjourning . 41 Although we now know that not all groups pass through these stages in a
linear fashion, the five-stage model of group development can still help in addressing
Teams
Simulate on MyManagementLab
EXHIBIT 6-2 Stages of Group Development and Accompanying Issues
Adjourning
Performing
Storming
Norming
Return to
independence
Forming
Dependence/
interdependence
Pre-group
Independence
Individual issues
“How do I
fit in?”
“What’s my
role here?”
“What do the
others expect
of me?”
“How do I
best perform?”
“What’s next?”
Group issues
“Why are
we here?”
“Who is in
charge and who
does what?”
“Can we agree
on roles and
work as a team?”
“Can we do
the job
properly?”
“How do we
disband?”