Team Development
BY: TYLER HOWLETT
twh875@mun.ca
Overview
 What is a Team?
 What is Team Development?
 Benefits of Team Development
 Key Steps and Traits Required for Success:
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Team Building
Favorable Traits
 Four Stages of Team Development
 Three Possible Strategies for Development
 Challenges:
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How to know when it’s over
 Sources
What is a Team?
What is a Team?
All Pictures From: Google.ca
What is a Team?
 Many Definitions:
 A group of players coming together on one side in a game or
sport.
 Group of Firefighters battling a burning fire.
 Two or more people coming together to complete a goal or task.
 "A team is a small number of people with complementary skills
who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals,
and approach for which they are mutually accountable."
(Katzenbach and Smith, 1993)
Table from: Team Building- A Complete Guide
What is Team Development?
 “Team Development’s purpose is to help a team in
the process of self-examination to gain awareness of
those conditions which are the source of it’s strength
and those conditions that keep it from functioning
effectively.”
 “Through the team development process, the group
learns how to make decisions and take those actions
that will lead to better efficiency, productivity,
product quality, and quality of work life.”
Source: Neddermeyer, n.d
Benefits of Team Development
 Allows for different perspectives in reaching a goal.
 Increased potential for information gathering.
 Learning from other team members.
 Improves the chances of problem solving.
 When a team works on achieving a goal, there is
more discussion and increased chance for success.
 Team bonding can lead to friendship.
Team Building
 Team building is a very important part of successful
team development.
 It can make or break a team.
 Can be achieved in many different ways:
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Meetings
Activities
Team Motivation
Bonding trips
Benefits of Team Building
 Improves morale and

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leadership skill
Finds barriers that conflicts
creativity
Allows for a more clear
definition of objectives and
goals
Improves organization,
productivity and process
Identifies strengths and
weaknesses
Improves problem solving
ability
Source: The Team Building Directory
Picture from: Google.ca
Traits for Success
 In order for a team to be successful it must possess
certain qualities:
 Capable Leadership

Team leader must be active within the team:
 Motivate team members
 Ensure a positive team attitude
 Help with solving problems
 Must be dedicated to both team and project goals
 Must monitor teams progress
 High amounts of motivation and team dedication
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Teams must always stay focused on the goal of the project
Teams must always work together
Four Stages of Team Development
 There are four main stages of team development,
known as Tuckman’s Four Stages of Development.
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Forming
Storming
Norming
Preforming
Stage 1: Forming
 Involves the team members getting to know one
another.
 Members learn exactly what it is they are doing and
how the team leader plans to run things.
 Team building is very important in this stage.
 Stage ends when members begin to see themselves as
part of the group.
Source: Salas, 2007
Stage 2: Storming
 Is a sorting out period where members begin to find
their place in the group.
 This stage is the start of intragroup conflict.
 All about exchanging ideas, good or bad on how to
reach the goal.
Source: Salas, 2007
Stage 3: Norming
 Team members use past experiences to solve their
problems and pull together as a cohesive group.
 Results in team handling procedures in solving
conflicts, decisions, and methods to reach the goal.
Source: Salas, 2007
Stage 4: Preforming
 Team has achieved harmony, defined its tasks,
worked out its relationships, and started producing
results.
 Members have learned to work together and
contribute their resources to achieve the goal.
Source: Salas, 2007
Strategies for Team Development
 GRPI Model
 Group Dynamics
 Open-ended Meetings
Picture from: Google.ca
GRPI Model
 Goals, Roles and
Responsibilities, Processes
and Procedures, and
Interpersonal
Relationships
 Shortens the amount of
time teams spend in their
storming and forming
phases, thus improving
team effectiveness,
ensuring productivity,
efficiency, and quality
and at the same time
enhancing the way
members work together
(Tang & Wenzlik, 2008).
Source: Tang & Wenzlik, 2008 Picture from: Google.ca
Group Dynamics
 Social process that
involves the interaction
and working together of
people in a group
environment.
 Influences personality,
power and behaviour.
 Helps with the team
building process and
forming stage.
Source: Karki, 2009
Picture from: Google.ca
Open-Ended Meetings
 Holding open-ended
meetings allows for
complete interaction and
participation from any
member of the team.
 It can develop problem
solving strategies,
establish objectives,
focus on team
contributions, promote
team ideas and team
motivation.
Picture from: Google.ca
Challenges
 Major challenges related to Team Development
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occur as a result of the dependence on a team.
Trust is a major issue
Choosing the right team
Keeping the team on track
Space challenges
Knowing when it is over
Internal Barriers to Teamwork
 Occur when team members
do not set appropriate goals
for the team and do not
implement a plan for
reaching them.
 Results in the team falling
apart from the inside because
their goals are not clear,
therefore they do not know
what to do.
 Can be overcome by setting
achievable goals and
implementing a solid plan for
succeeding. Team leader
must also motivate the team
members so they don’t lose
track of the goal.
Source: Salas, 2007 Picture from: Google.ca
Trust
 Trust is an extremely important aspect of any team
or group.
 To overcome the challenge associated with gaining
trust one could:
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Implement team building activities
Allow involvement of all parties on the team
Provide help to those who need it
External Barriers to Teamwork
 Occur when team members are required to work on
the team project, but also have to work on outside
projects such as school work or family issues.
 Results in team members being unable to dedicate
their time to the project.
 Can be overcome by only choosing team members
that can be 100% dedicated to the project.
Source: Salas, 2007
Choosing the Right Team
 Choosing the right team is also important. The
choices you make have the ability to make or break
your project.
 To overcome this challenge you can:
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Choose members that are diverse, dedicated, and have
knowledge of the project.
Members should not be selected based on their position within
the system because, while they may be knowledgeable, they
may not be dedicated to researching information and
collecting raw data.
Source: Salas, 2007
Keeping the Team on Track
 If a team loses track of their projected goal, problems
will begin to occur. To prevent this:
The leader must maintain the groups concentration as
workload increases.
 Motivation can be used to boost the teams morale.
 Clear stated goals and objectives also keep the team on
track.

Space Challenges
 A challenge of team development that is not directly
related to team performance is the matter of space;
where the team will meet.
 This can be overcome by a team member providing a
meeting area or room for the team.
 If a team member does not have access to a sufficient
meeting area, the team can look to outside sources
for help; donation of room by outside businesses or
organizations.
 Electronic sources are also available.
Electronic Resources
 Technologies are also available to assist with team
work, including webinars or computer programs like
Skype.
This can solve the problem of where a team meets by
providing options that you can choose from the comfort
of your own home.
 Team members who cannot attend a meeting due to
transportation issues, inclement weather, or any other
reason can stay home and by using one of these
techniques, can still be in contact with other members.
 This is a great way for teams to combat the challenge of
where and how meet.
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Groupthink
 When team members attempt to
conform their ideas to what they
believe to be the consensus of the
group.
 Emerges when the view of a few
members dominates the discussion.
 Can be overcome by the team
leader. The leader can spot this and
make changes that will discourage
the domination of discussion.
 Best ways to avoid is to have small
group sizes, give everyone
opportunity to speak, and
encourage the challenging of other
ideas.
Source: Salas, 2007
Picture from: Google.ca
Knowing When It’s Over
 Knowing when a team is over or failing is extremely
important in Team Development.
 If a leader or team does not recognize that the team
is no longer working towards the desired goal, team
morale is low, or things are just not working out, it
will result in a waste of time, effort, and money.
How to Know When It’s Over?
 There are three ways that can lead to the demise of a
team:
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External Barriers to Teamwork
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Internal Barriers to Teamwork
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Groupthink
Sources
 Suk-Han Tang & Claas Wenzlik. (2008). The GRPI
Model: An Approach for Team Development. Systemic
Excellence Group. Pp. 1-14
 Ines Salas. (2007). Team Building Tool. World Health
Organization. Pp 1-19
 Dorothy M. Neddermeyer (n.d). Definition: Team
Development.
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/definition_team_d
evelopment.html
 Kedar Karki. (2009). Group Dynamics. PowerPoint
Presentation
 Images from www.google.ca
Thank You!
Questions?