Stages of Team Development

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Stages of team or group development In this paper, the stages of team development model discussed by Blanchard (2010) are applied to a team that I worked with. Blanchard (2010) says “all teams are unique and complex living systems” (p.174). Further he says that regardless of their purpose, teams like individuals go through a series of developmental stages as they grow. The five stages of team development model are Orientation, Dissatisfaction, Integration, Production, Termination. Our management formed a team to set up a new branch office of our firm primarily to deal with the appeal cases in the higher courts. When I got involved in that team, it was in transition from the second to the third stage of team development i.e., the “Integration” stage. As stated by Blanchard (2010) our team members started to learn to appreciate the differences among themselves and began to think in the terms of “We” instead of “I”. The problems which I felt have hindered the team productivity were, More fun and less work: As per Robbins, DeCenzo and Coulter (2011) the norming (integration) stage of group development is characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness. Our team members who were always in conflict in the dissatisfaction stage started to feel good about being a part of the team and focused more in the enjoyment of cohesion rather than effectively infusing their unity and energy into the task at hand. Though the desertion of the task was for a brief period, it costed hugely on the firm. Conflict avoidance: In this stage, Bonebright (2010) observes that “Task conflicts are avoided in an effort to insure harmony” (p. 114). In order to have a common agreement and avoid conflict, our team members started to develop a tendency to agree and not forthcoming with sharing new ideas. “The reluctance to deal with conflict can slow progress and lead to less effective

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