Theory at Work

One theory of group interaction and development to consider is Tuckmans' model.

For example, Bruce Tuckman has provided the staple of group dynamics - his Five Stages of Group Development and Interaction. This research led him to determine five phases of group development, these are forming, storming, norming, and performing and adjourning Theory of Group Interaction and Development

As mentioned above, it is common to view the development of a group as having four stages a posited by Tuckman:

· Forming

· Storming

· Norming

· Performing

· Adjourning (later added by Tuckman)

According to Blair (n.d.), the group is self-maintaining and roles and responsibilities automatically emerge as part of the group process, such as:

Forming is the stage when the group first comes together. Interaction between work group members is somewhat stifled. Everybody remains polite, and conflict is rarely voiced directly, mainly personal and definitely destructive. With new groups, people tend to keep their opinions to themselves. This is particularly so in terms of the more nervous and/or subordinate members who may never recover. The group tends to defer to a large extent to those who emerge as leaders.

Storming is the next stage. This is an automatic process that occurs in groups - the leaders emerge. This is generally where personalities clash. Most importantly, very little communication occurs since no one is listening and some are still unwilling to talk openly.

Next is Norming. At this stage the sub-groups begin to recognize the merits of working together and the conflicts are reduced. Members begin to feel more secure in expressing their own opinions and discuss openly with the whole group. The most significant improvement is that people start to listen to each other.

And lastly; Performing. This is when the group has settled on a system, which allows free exchange of views and an increase of support by the group for each other and its own decisions. In terms of...