Category: Leadership

The Need for Simplicity

Most afternoons, I scroll through LinkedIn reading various posts and articles under the #teams hashtag. Some days, I’ll find a real gem in there but some days I want to throw my iPad across the room.

Some of the advice is just so complex and highbrow that I struggle to digest it. And this is my specialist subject. I ask myself why it has to be so complicated? Business leaders are busy enough without having to worry about the intricacies of the latest leadership or organisational change model.

Vast tables of data and endless examples of what you should do or say in a particular situation are forgettable. Jargon is unnecessary. Pages and pages about your childhood experiences and how they prepared you for life are boring. Nobody cares.

Keep It Relevant

I strongly believe that we need to get back to basics when it comes to leadership and team management. Sure, much of the leadership theory out there is highly relevant and I’ll be discussing many of the best bits here in my blog. But if a model or theory cannot be easily understood and recalled, it becomes superfluous.

I don’t know about you but I’m becoming a little bored of tedious stories of underdog basketball teams finally making it good and humble CEOs learning valuable lessons from the office’s maintenance guy. Let’s have more examples from real life please. We’re not all founders of Fortune 500 companies or MVP baseball pitchers. Especially if we’re not from the US. Myself, I prefer snooker.

It Really Can Be This Simple

What makes a good leader doesn’t even need a model or theory to describe it. Much of it is simply about how we treat others. It’s quite shocking how badly some managers treat their staff and colleagues. Frankly, it’s unacceptable. So, before we wax lyrical about some new management fad, let’s get the basics done right first.

A simple piece of leadership advice that is so often forgotten comes from the master of 90s daytime television, Jerry Springer.

“Till next time, take care of yourselves and each other.”

Bruce Tuckman Explains How Groups Mature into Self-Managing Teams

It was in 1965 that Bruce Tuckman first published his model of team development. Now, in 2022, it remains one of the most popular ways to model the formation and gradual development of teams.

1965 was a long time ago though and many people are asking the question ‘is it still relevant today?’

A lot has changed since 1965. The Internet. Remote working. Social Media. Gen Z. Multicultural and diverse workplaces. Do we still interact in the same ways and proceed through the five stages of development in a linear fashion? Let’s consider that.

Firstly, let’s have a quick reminder of the model.

Stage 1: Forming

This is the messy first stage when teams first come together. Objectives often lack clarity and group members are learning what makes their colleagues tick. It’s a period of orientation. Team members are highly dependent on the leader and seek instruction.

The leader directs.

Stage 2: Storming

Still things remain a little unclear but cliques and factions start to form which, in turn, start to forge paths forward. There is often disagreement though about how best to do things and this leads to difficulty in making decisions. Certain team members may try to exert their influence and jockey for position and this can lead to conflict.

The leader coaches.

Stage 3: Norming

Finally we start to notice agreement and consensus. The group has formed clear norms and values and has figured out their regular systems and processes. ‘This is how we do it’ becomes the dominant way of thinking. Team members have developed a sense of unity and respect for one another and there is a clear working style and team culture.

The leader facilitates.

Stage 4: Performing

There is now a strategic awareness within the team and they are fully aligned. The team has a shared vision with each team member having greater autonomy to make decisions on behalf of the team. Conflict and disagreements remain, as they always will, but each individual is now armed with effective conflict resolution skills. As a result, the team is now self-managing.

The leader oversees and delegates.

Stage 5: Adjourning

This final stage was added in 1975 to describe the point at which the team disbands. This might be at the completion of a long term project or when the team leader moves on. In fact, when any team member in a self-managing team leaves, the whole five-stage process begins again as the norms that had developed are suddenly changed.

How Can It Help?

Essentially, the model helps explain how teams develop maturity and become self-managing. A self-managing team is surely the goal of any leader who understands that leadership is more about coaching and mentoring than micromanagement. David Brent from the British sitcom ‘The Office’ probably doesn’t subscribe to this model.

As a leader, we can use the model to help us understand the current position of our team and adjust our behavior to encourage growth. It makes sense to a lot of people and it’s not a surprise that this is the first model that any management coach will teach their students.

Is It Still Valid?

Most people, when they are introduced to Tuckman’s model, seem to grasp its concepts very quickly. We’ve all been a part of a new team and have likely been through these very same stages ourselves. It’s not complex and it’s not jargon-heavy. It’s approachable. Any manager, regardless of age or experience, can appreciate it. This makes it an excellent tool.

We now have four generations (sometimes five if there are a few people not looking forward to retirement) working side by side in the workplace. This creates challenges as each generation has its own values and preferences. Ultimately though, while our culture and lives in general may have changed dramatically since 1965, the evolution of the human mind has not. Behaviours can still be predicted. Groups continue to form and storm before begining to norm and perform.

So, the answer to the original question of ‘is it still relevant?’ is most certainly yes. Tuckman’s Team Development model remains as valid now as it ever was.

Image:

DovileMi, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A Great Read for Any Aspiring Team Leader

Patrick Lencioni is the American founder of The Table Group, a well-respected management consultancy based in San Francisco. He is a well-known author of management, leadership, teamwork, and organisational health books. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is his most famous.

Like all his books, this one begins with a fable in which Kathryn, the new CEO of a tech company, is presented with a highly dysfunctional team. Her challenge is to get them aligned and working better as a team.

Kathryn initially holds a team off-site in which she presents her model for the five dysfunctions of a team. After plenty of initial scepticism, some team members decide to leave, some stay, but ultimately the team becomes aligned, trusts in the model and becomes a more efficient team.

That’s a very brief overview of the fable part of the book. The second part of the book goes into more detail around the model itself.

I really like Patrick’s writing style and the way he always begins with a fable. It makes his books more approachable. So many management books are ‘dry’ and lack any sort of personal connection. Reading them can be a chore. Not so with Patrick’s books. They are short, concise and engaging and I recommend every leader and team member reads them. If you’re only going to read one though, this book should be it.

His model is a simple but accurate model for understanding teamwork and can be applied to all industries. Briefly, the five dysfunctions are:

• Absence of trust
• Fear of conflict
• Lack of commitment
• Avoidance of accountability
• Inattention to results

I won’t go into the detail of the model here. You should read the book because Patrick can explain it better than me of course. It’s his model.

Perhaps the biggest point for me though is ‘fear of conflict’. This is such a common issue in companies and I understand why. Nobody likes conflict and nobody wants to become enemies. But conflict is essential if a team is going to perform at its best. Conflict does not have to be a bad thing though. Dealt with properly, it can lead to better decision making and innovation. The trick is to approach it in the right way. Indeed, conflict resolution forms a large part of my team building workshops.

This book is a wonderful read for both new and experienced managers. Everyone can learn from its teachings. Yes, some people might say that these concepts are obvious. True. But so many leaders still struggle with them on a daily basis. So, although they are somewhat obvious, having them presented in this way makes them more approachable and memorable. The result is greater acceptance.