M2.04 Developing the Work Team

Understanding the nature of teams and the features of the team roles and responsibilities including advantages and disadvantages.

Would you describe the brewers at Springfield as a group of a team? Explain your answer.

The brewers at Springfield international are a team although this is specifically the original members. The two new members Peter and John are at the forming stage of a team and could be considered to be part of a group due to the fact they are working with different methods but towards the same goals. Dr R. M Belbin Defined a team as:

“A team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but a congregation of individuals, each of whom has a role which is understood by other members. …show more content…

Forming is when a group of people come together they are not yet a team. Forming the team, getting the right people in the team and making sure they have the right roles is really crucial if the group is to become a team that achieves its goal.

This is not the only time a team forms. Established teams often go through this stage again when recruiting new staff to already existing staff while working as a team to integrate and explain the team procedures. At this stage people tend to be courteous and polite, avoiding disagreements in the hope of being accepted into the team.

A team would then move onto the Storming stage where they may test the boundaries and ground rules of the team. So you might experience competitiveness among team members and sometimes out and out conflict. Jockeying for position can also accompany this stage in the team development along with game playing and ‘showing off’. At this stage leadership may often be challenged.

The third stage of the model is known as Norming. They’ve worked out how to get along and all know what their role is within the team and know what tasks they’ve got to achieve. Decision making through agreement and discussion is improved but there is a danger that if a team stays too long at the ‘norming’ stage there is a danger that complacency will creep in and motivation will wane.

The fourth stage is known as Performing. This is the stage when they have become a real team and relationships are strong.