UX work is rarely done alone.
In fact, team dynamics play a big role
in the maturity of a UX team.
In the 60s, the psychologist Bruce Tuckman
described the development of small groups in five stages,
forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
Being aware of what stage of your team is in
can help you build trust and navigate conflict.
The forming phase describes what happens
when a group first comes together,
whether officially or unofficially,
initially people tentatively test the limits of the group.
They might see how much others will let them participate
or try taking on a more authoritative role
and see how others react.
But generally people stay pleasant and surface level at this point.
Next is storming.
This phase is arguably the most important one.
Storming refers to the moments when different views
start to get shared.
And it becomes obvious that not everybody agrees
on everything.
This can be especially true
on diverse, cross-functional teams.
The key to moving from a loose and uncommitted group
to an enjoyable high-performance team
is learning to storm well, not avoiding the storm.
Don't stick to small talk
in order to avoid ruffling feathers,
but be cautious of storming badly where there's no respect
and things get toxic.
The goal is to provide a respectful platform
where different opinions can be shared and discussed.
This can happen in a workshop or a dedicated meeting.
Those who storm well are able to critique each other's ideas
without criticizing each other as people.
Storming takes time, but is essential to begin norming.
The third stage is norming.
This is when the strengths and weaknesses
of each group member are starting to become clearer.
You become more efficient as a team
because you establish norms.
You assign tasks and responsibilities to different people
based on their strengths.
Norming is a great feeling.
You will still have moments of storming though,
as you continue working together
because this is not a completely linear process.
Groups who spend enough time together in the norming phase
slowly start transitioning into the fourth phase,
performing.
Performing is the peak capacity of a group.
It's when a team is putting out the best possible ideas,
products or services.
Performing is not just about efficiency though,
it's also about fun.
Groups in the performing phase
find it easy to feel comfortable with their team
and enjoy working together.
Psychologist Keith Sawyer,
a student of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,
the famous author of flow theory
described what he called group flow.
Group flow is experienced by teams that have a shared vision
and shared priorities.
The final phase of this model is simply adjourning.
All teams eventually disband for one reason or another.
Your goal ought to be that the adjourning phase is sad
because it likely means that you've had fantastic norming
and performing experiences together.
If the adjoining phase is a relief,
it's likely because the group
either never moved out of the forming phase,
or because they had a lot of difficulties storming together.
Take a closer look at the teams you're currently on.
Ask yourself which phase of this model you're in
and what needs to happen next
for you to move to the next phase.