- Goals
- Roles
- Rules
In storming, people start to test the above and put there own biases and past practices into play even though you may feel you were very explicit in the forming stage. At this stage, individual team members often interpret roles somewhat different in reality then in discussion. Examples include:
- These goals are not realistic; or these goals are too narrow in scope. I provide a big picture perspective and use it in my role
- My role is much larger than discussed but I thought you recognized that and were OK with it since it was not addressed
- I tried these new rules/ processes but they don't work for me. I've been doing this for over 10 years and you have been here for ten minutes. Trust me to do what's best.
Role "interpretation" results in confusion when different behaviours are evident and conflicts can arise with the potential for factions being created within the team. It is during this stage that your coaching skills should be well demonstrated.
Coaching: Both individuals and the team as a whole should be coached to enable and support them to ensure agreement as regards what specifically the goals, roles and rules are with respect to the team and what that means to each and every individual.
Don't get frustrated a this stage because you believe that you have already done the work outlined the goals, roles and rules at the early stage of the team's formation. I've seen leaders go from a state of immense pride about the way they have guided their team through the forming stage to a state of anger where they look to blame the team and its individual member. Instead, smile and know that you are on the path to success. This is a necessary phase of the team's development and once you get over it, you can move forward.
So at this time, go over the agreement made during the forming stage and ensure that the understanding is uniform across the team. There may be small adjustments and that's not a bad thing. You want to demonstrate that you are listening, flexible and responsive while maintaining your leadership. We will talk about coaching individual behaviours at another post.
Not a one-time phase: remember, every time there is a change to the team - a new strategic plan, a new team member, environmental impacts, you have to build your team again. Why? When there is a new team member the team dynamics change. You need to get the new team member up to speed. This should be a time to do both one-on-one discussions and confirming the goals, roles and rules of the team in a group session. And it may be messy, but it could easily become chaos if you don't fulfil your leadership role and build your team.
In summary
Once the disagreements and blame start, you need to
- Get the team together quickly to thrash out what the concert and disagreements are
Remember
At this stage, you must be strong, directive and also fair. The team needs direction at this stage and perhaps people need to hear things that perhaps they don’t want to hear. Get things out in the open. Let the team bleed a little and then begin the healing process by facilitating their coming together. And remain positive. This is a necessary phase to get to norming.
Documentation
And I cannot stress enough the importance of documentation. Update shared documents and track the changes. Reiterate conversations you have had with individuals by email to ensure clarity and understanding. And be kind - generally, people struggle with change. Review my earlier post on push pull conversations and set yourself up for success.
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