Tanner Guile: Hi, I’m Tanner Guile.
Andrew Rewi: And I’m Andrew Rewi.
Tanner: And today we’re at Humber’s Sport Management Program to talk to you about The
Four Stages of Group Development.
Andrew: That’s right Tanner.
Tanner: Well you know Andrew, as a leader, I’m always wondering to myself, how am I
going to get my team to work most efficiently and use the most time as possible?
Andrew: That’s where the Four Stages of Group Development come into play. Now what
these stages are, are these are the four essential stages that every group experiences when coming
together to work towards a common goal and task at hand. The first stage, is the Forming
Stage.
Tanner: What do you do here, Andrew?
Andrew: Well Tanner, this is the stage when you are formally introduced to one another
for the first time, and the group comes together to meet one another.
Tanner: How’s it going? Not too bad.
Andrew: In this stage, work is not the main focus here, you just want to become more familiarized
with one another, get a better understanding of where each of you are coming from, and
you don’t really focus on the work aspect as much as the leisure, and the relaxation
process. You want to become friendly with one another, and you just want to build that
basic relationship.
Tanner: It’s like an icebreaker.
Andrew: Exactly. So just some typical outcomes that you just want to take away from this
stage is that you just want to determine roles within your group. You want to know who’s
in charge of what, who excels at one thing, better than the other person. You just want
to know where you all stand.
Tanner: Okay.
Andrew: Next you want to determine a schedule. And what this will help you do, is, it will
help members be more prepared for the task at hand for that certain day, but also know
what they should bring, things that they’re going to be working on, and it just makes
each meeting happen in a more timely fashion, and you know you got more work productivity done.
Tanner: It keeps everyone organized, on the same page kind of thing.
Andrew: And, lastly, you just want to determine your final outcome together. So you really
want to know what you’re all working towards. You want to know, how you’re going to get
there, the challenges that you’re going to face, and the hardship that you might have
to overcome. But you just want everybody to be on the same page.
Andrew: The next stage that you group is going to face, is called the Storming stage.
Tanner: And what happens here Andrew?
Andrew: Well Tanner, in the Storming stage, this is where conflict and issue is at an
all time high, and levels of negative group cohesion may start to rise. So, members might
start to bash heads with one another, one input may be more superior to another person’s
input, and that will cause issue, that will cause conflict, cause people feel like their
opinion is not being heard, it’s not being voiced, and, it just leads to negative outcomes.
So, in this stage, you’re going to see someone, or multiple people start to emerge as leaders.
They’ll be the head person, they’ll be the one who will kind of run the show from
there.
Tanner: That’s kind of how I feel in Lisa’s class.
Andrew: Sometimes, sometimes. Lisa, you’re the leader.
So yeah, usually in this stage, you’ll start to get to know each other on a better, more
personal level, so you won’t be afraid to speak your mind, just because you’re more
comfortable with one another now, so I mean, that’s where your conflict might start to
arise. So, it’s essential for a groups to develop a couple things in here, one being
conflict resolution. So, if this group isn’t able to overcome the conflicts that they’re
facing, sadly, not every group will make it through the storming stage. This is actually
the stage where, if your group doesn’t overcome all the obstacles and hardships they face,
well, this will be the stage that they fail at.
Tanner: It’s where they make or break it kind of thing.
Andrew: It’s exactly where you’re going to make or break your group development.
Andrew: Now Tanner, why don’t you tell me about the third group stage of development.
Tanner: Well Andrew, at the third stage, that’s my favourite stage. And that stage, is called,
Norming. Now, in this stage, after everyone has come out of Storming stage, you’re going
to see who’s made it, who is still part of the team, and where we’re going to go
from there.
So, I’m going to identify some key points for you, here, under the Norming stage.
Andrew: So this is kind of gel together, you get a better understanding for one another.
Tanner: Exactly. So, in Norming stage, this is where you are going to resolve differences
with one another. So, All your problems are going to be solved, your decisions are going
to be made, your leaders are already identified, and now you guys are going to start to come
together and work towards your main goal.
Andrew: It’s like you can almost see the end.
Tanner: Exactly. Now, also, in this Norming stage, you’re going to start to appreciate
your other colleagues’ strengths. So, I know you got a good penmanship, so, I’m
going to come to you later once in a while when I need help editing my portfolios or
any kind of tasks that need to be edited by, I’m going to come to you, cause I know that’s
a strength you have.
Andrew: That’s right, and it is improving, I can see that.
Tanner: Yeah. Exactly. So, as well, in this stage, this is where your team is going to
start to socialize. This is where we’re going to create relationships with one another.
Andrew: Oh, so, are you going to invite me to that party this weekend?
Tanner: Yeah, exactly, you’re coming. Alright, bud. So, under the Norming stage, this is
where you’re going to want to create a team-bonding event or outing. So, something you’re going
to want to take a team out to an overnight trip, maybe to Blue Mountain. You guys are
going to go skiing, for a weekend, you know, create some memories. You know, just create
that team-bonding atmosphere and just create everyone on the same page. The team morale
is supposed to be high at this stage, and everyone is supposed to be focused and happy.
Andrew: That’s what we want.
Tanner: Alright Andrew, the fourth and final stage is called Performing.
Andrew: This is my personal favourite. It’s cause you’re done all the work here, and
you just got to have fun and bring it together.
Tanner: Yeah so, Performing, that is the finish line of the stages. Under Performing, this
is when, you know, you’re already come to your goal, the objectives are done, and everything’s
complete. Now, as a leader, you can start to focus individually on objectives, and,
new tasks, and areas of improvement for individuals within your organization or team.
Andrew: So, the next step kind of thing.
Tanner: Yeah, exactly. So, in Performing, as a leader, you can start to, you know, separate
roles, maybe create different groups within this team or individual. So again, under the
Performing stage, you know, the team morale is usually pretty high already, and everything
is completed. This is where you’re going to realize that, when people leave or join
your organization, there’s not going to be any disruption within the performance.
Everything’s already steady, there’s not going to be any problems here.
Andrew: It’s time to shine right here.
Tanner: Exactly, and, you know, now that all of your missions are complete and you’ve
come to a conclusion, that is the Four Stages of Group Development there Andrew.
Andrew: Follow these four steps, and you’ll be successful within your group as a leader.
Thank you.