Can The Tuckman Model Help Us Understand What is Happening?

Tuckman: there's something so perfectly simple about this model that means it's sometimes overlooked in favour of more complex stuff.....

....and I think that's a mistake!

First introduced in the mid 1960's, the Tuckman Model has been around a while and there's a good reason for that: it works! Developed to help us understand Team Development and Dynamics, this model and conversations it primes has been my "Go to" place in conversations with Teams, their Leaders and Managers in a number of contexts. Why? Well, it helps us to talk about what might be going on and to anticipate what might be on its way: there are 4 stages that help us form up and discuss our ideas, they are:

• Forming
• Norming
• Storming 
• Performing

More recently a 5th Stage "Adjourning" has been added-for the purposes of this piece I'm staying with the original 4.

One of the challenges presented by using a model is that we need to remind ourselves that our sometimes complex and rapidly shifting work patterns don't often if ever, follow neat diagrams. So I won't include one-you can find plenty of them on Google Images (other sites are available!)
Some years ago I came across a piece of work that had shown how the model can be applied to individual and team behaviour across a range of team processes and activities. I've adapted it and made 13 YouTube Videos that discuss how each of process can be seen within the context of the Tuckman Model and what this might mean for developing a better understanding of our behaviour(s) and expectations.

The table sets out "What's going on" in the right column, the links in the left column will take you to a commentary/overview of the context. They're brief no longer than 10 minutes and most are well below.

 

 

Context	Narrative
“Focus”	What do people focus on as change takes place? How do we behave when we focus on what needs to be done? Whether thinking about the "big stuff" or agreeing on roles and operational area, our behaviours might define our contribution to the process. These are likely to be influenced by our individual and collective journeys within the Tuckman model. Here's an overview of what might be going on.
“Trust”	What is the “state of trust” at each stage? We're going nowhere without it but how often do we consider how trust is affected by where we are at any particular point in our team journey? This clip gives some insights into how the concept of trust is subject to our relationship with change and our own securities/insecurities
“Team Relationships”	How might we expect relationships to change/grow/develop? Divided, embittered and quarrelsome teams do not perform well. Ones with a sense of unity and purpose do. This clip builds on previous ideas of how we need to allow space to allow people to grow and develop through the relevant stages, establishing our values, ethics and behaviours as we so do. It's about trust & clarity, two essential "we're going nowhere fast without them," components of great teams.
“Criticism”	What takes place and where, overt, covert or productive? An ever present in our lives, Criticism has the power to be both destructive and creative. It can drive people apart or become part of the social adhesion that binds group members together. This clip talks about how Criticism might present within the four stages and its potential to contribute to positive group and individual journeys
“Decision Making”	How do we go about taking and making decisions? We all know what this means, that doesn’t however mean that the process is easy to describe. What is our role in setting and maintaining the ethical climate in which decisions are made? Where does confidentiality rest and is it okay to “backtrack” when we need to?

 

“Sharing of Knowledge”	Who benefits? How and when is knowledge shared and why?  Not hearsay or gossip but knowledge. What are the disadvantages to holding on to information that under any reasonable examination would be seen as critical to enabling progress? How does our behaviour here reflect organisational culture and can we articulate the benefits of “synergous sharing”?
“Performance”	What efforts and collaborations are involved in “Performance”? There are important conversations to be had here and they’re not about “target setting.” They are concerned with how we describe our role purpose and outputs in the context of achieving flow and excellence.
“Predictability”	How can we benefit from and go beyond predictability? Arguably, we like a balance where life (work), is predictable enough. Too predictable and boredom takes over, ever changing relentless shifts in predictability? Expect burnout. Reaching a place where we anticipate and adjust quite naturally is a challenge for leaders and their teams.
“Understanding”	How well do we understand purpose and direction? The greater clarity we can achieve here, the more likely it is that we will achieve some great outcomes! Ambiguity is welcome, it helps us decide the degrees of certainty under which we operate and that enables us to be more confident in developing and projecting a confident, flexible approach to how our role is both developed by ourselves and perceived by others.
“Products”	When we consider our outputs, what is going on at each stage? Our outputs aren't limited to "work done", there are outputs related to our behaviours, our connectivity and commitment. Here, we open some discussion with the watch-phrase "keep your eyes on the outputs!"

 

“Interventions” (Overview)	When do interventions occur and how are they delivered?  Interventions: Hands on/Hands off-they’re by no means mutually exclusive and there are times in the development cycle when we shift from one to the other. When we think about our actions in the context of the Tuckman Model, things may become clearer.
“Interventions” (Support)	As confidence and competence grows, support changes A linear process? Not really and we might need to consider the information as part of our responses to change and a blend of leadership skills and approaches.
“Interventions” (Leader Focus”	At what point and for what purpose should leaders intervene? At what point and for what purpose should leaders intervene? Here we take a look at the importance of the leader maintaining focus and awareness of the dynamics that might be at work within teams. We refer again to the importance of clarity and conversations that create clarity.

 

I'm happy to have a conversation with you about the model and how it might be used in your place of work. It's my belief that it has strong messages outside of the workplace too.

You can reach me on 07984409937 or mail me:

jpd@dy3solutions.mygbiz.com 

I'm sometimes asked why I use the Butterfly image-the link takes you to a brief explanation!


John.

John Dooner. DY 3Solutions.

Building Trust Piece By Piece!

How much complexity is the result of a collapse of trust and how confused and over wrought do things get because people don't trust each other?

We deliver facilitated approaches to sometimes complex situations and amongst the familiar themes the Collapse of Trust holds a significant position. 

There's a continuum of emergent dysfunction shown below and I wouldn't want to comment about its relevance to our personal lives!

It does however occupy a significant and interesting space in the working environment.

We know and understand from our practice that work and productivity become blocked and stymied by the absence of trust, beginning at the lower left side of the continuum, with multiple stop-off points that are context specific. They are the often "invisible predictors" of failure through absence of harmony that end with a collapse of workable emotional capital at the upper-right end of the continuum.

We achieve very little on our own and reliable, performing teams are ones that help each other. Lego is a successful company and its CEO has communicated a simple message along the lines of

"You won't be blamed for failure, you will be blamed for failing to ask for help or to give help when it was needed"

Now, I don't know about you but it's unlikely that I'll ask people who I don't trust to help me-I wouldn't want to be vulnerable to their next actions. But, if I feel that way I have to accept that people who don't trust me are unlikely to ask me for help. This situation is lose/lose and stuck.When we are either helped or helpers we give an opportunity to re-frame trust and in so doing open a very different relationship with our colleagues.

We are introducing the concept of trust building in a transparent and open manner into much of our mediation and facilitation work. We are pragmatic and understand that sometimes 

"Fixed enough has to be enough"

We remain clear in our belief that it remains difficult to reach and maintain the above point where there is no trust. So, wherever the end point, trust is an essential component of the energy and motivation that takes us there.

Here's a self check list-change it around a little and you can come up with an idea about how much/little you trust a colleague

1. How much/often do my actions align with my words?
2.  Do I do what I say I will do? Am I reliable?
3. Am I up to the task/job/role? Do my competences and interactions support my intentions and the expectations of others?
4. Do I care? Do I have the interests of others in mind as well as my own and how do they know?

Feel free to get in get in touch to explore how we might help you develop higher levels of trust in your workplace and free-up some powerful co-operation!

You can contact us on jpd@dy3solutions.mygbiz.com. 

https://www.facebook.com/Dy3SolutionsLtd?ref=hl

https://twitter.com/DY3Solutions

http://www.dy-3solutions.co.uk 

Do You Communicate "Trust" Because You Merit Trustworthiness?

Trust

 "A firm belief in the reliability of truth, or ability of someone to do something"

Trust: maybe it's one of those concepts that is easier to feel and experience than to describe. An elusive commodity that's hard to gain and easy to lose, its absence is easily recognisable and keenly felt. So, how much time do we devote to considering how we present ourselves in a manner that communicates trustworthiness?

We need to be clear about our motives for wanting trust. Isn't the strength of every huckster and con-artist the ability to build acceptance and belief? At a much more sinister and serious level, targets of abuse are "groomed in order to trust" thus building an increase in compliance and a decrease in resistance.

We have available to us a number of devices and props that enable us to project an image of potential trustworthiness. The right smart-phone, appearance and mannerisms that reinforce our sometimes dangerous preconceived images of the pieces of the puzzle that says "trust me" all contribute to the seemingly capricious nature of trust.

"False must hide what false heart doth know" 

Macbeth.. Act 1: . Macbeth has finally been convinced that he should kill the King-the King (who trusts him..)

Maybe we are right to hold back on trust and to be suspicious of those who seem to over-work a "You can trust me" message. our evolutionary success is after all partly attributable to a default position that is watchful and wary.

So how as we connect with others:

• Do we build trust and in so doing become the stewards of our own trustworthiness?
• Maintain stewardship of our organisational values at in a variety of groups, sub groups and informal exchanges?
• Should our commitment to trust building might be based on a sense of personal authenticity that is enacted in our dealings with others?

We are going to follow up this article with some ideas around how we can encourage communication that supports trust building and the stewardship of values: it would be great to hear your comments and observations.

We are happy to talk to you about how our work might help you and your colleagues identify how you develop trust as individuals, groups and teams. Contact us jpd@dy3solutions.mygbiz.com or by calling us on 07984409937

So, What Is It Exactly You Do ?

I noticed a couple of "Congratulations" posts making their way through from LinkedIn today-a "Work Anniversary!" It's been 3 years since I changed "Coady Consultants" (Established 2003) to DY 3Solutions. The change of name didn't mean change of purpose. It did however add a new energy to my work-a fresh focus!

Painful and Frightening!

I delivered our first piece of work under the new company name from a wheelchair. Rheumatoid Arthritis had taken me completely off of my feet on the evening of July the 27th 2012. A couple of weeks later my eldest son Matt drove me to and wheeled me into a piece of Team Development Work. It was the beginning of a long road back and here's me now:

I'm not the runner I was but I'm doing it, some cycling too and I'm now setting myself some increasingly ambitious goals.....

"l already knew this thing!"

It took me some weeks to recover during which I learned again what I always knew; namely that:

"we daily skate on the thinnest of ice often without knowing how thin the ice is or what it is we're skating towards and in some cases away from! Life is capricious and struggle as we might we have little control over the events that affect us."

A Sustaining Image!

I'm pretty certain that there's not a coach/trainer/facilitator who hasn't during team-development sessions, had a Sailing Ship chosen as an illustrative metaphor for team work. My guess is that its frequent selection is something to do with the fact that it's an accessible piece of imagery that works! really, it does, giving us access to leadership, setting course, handling changes, critical incidents, teamwork, communication, handling disagreement, developing common purpose.........you get the picture.

It was used during the above session in 2012 and guess what? It appeared again this week during the afternoon of Tuesday 14th of August! I'd like to stress that this was with a different team! I like long term projects but we could have circumnavigated the globe in said galeon in three years.

"Lightbulb Moment? About Time!"

hubris

ˈhjuːbrɪs/

noun

1. excessive pride or self-confidence.

   "the self-assured hubris among economists was shaken in the late 1980s"

   synonyms:

   arrogance, conceit, conceitedness, haughtiness, pride, vanity, self-importance, self-conceit, pomposity, superciliousness, feeling of superiority; More

   • (in Greek tragedy) excessive pride towards or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis.

   
   

Poor old Wylie Coyote's lightbulb moments don't really work out that well do they? Largely because of the above phenomena "Hubris.  His latest, best idea is simply the precursor of another major fail and so I tread carefully, on thin ice as I both mix and extend the metaphors!

My lightbulb moment was the realisation that I am for most of the time and with the exception of valued partnership work, the crew of my own ship. Now, I've contracted out some of the functions: book-keeping, accountancy, marketing and so on; largely because there are well qualified people out there who can do it better than me: specialised crew members if you will.

On Crewing My Own Ship....

Here's what I have done and can offer you.

Business:    
Communication, building influence, understanding teams, powerful stakeholder events, leadership, managing people, mediation, conflict resolution, the leader/manager/coach. Skilling, developing and transforming people. Recovery programmes for stuck” colleagues. A Values Led Approach to developing Your Business. Speaker at development days, moving towards career/life changes. Values led business development, Customer care, Dealing with Aggression and Difficult Situations

Education:
Leadership, classroom management, developing confidence and re-energising colleagues in difficult places, coaching and mentoring skills, direct intervention with learners/students groups and individuals. Speaker at Development Days, Safeguarding Trainer, Mentoring and Conflict Resolution Skills, Talking and Listening to Students, Learners, Parents and Careers.

Professional Development

Bespoke programmes for professionals

Personal Development

Bespoke programmes for individuals, designed in collaboration to meet the individual’s circumstances and desired outcomes.

Now, I'm not going to extend the metaphor any further, we're not going to "sail off into the sunset together" but  If you'd like to find out more about any of the above, give me a call on 

(+44) 07984409937 or email me at jpd@dy3solutions.mygbiz.com 

Here Are 4 Ideas About A Coaching Relationship that Empowers Teams:

Idea 1

It’s okay for teams to struggle. From struggle comes learning. And teams that have gone through difficult moments build resilience and a deep sense of community. The coach’s role therefore is not to prevent foreseeable problems, but to support teams in solving them (and later help them reflect on how they've grown in the process). 

Idea 2

  The coach’s role is to let teams make their own choices, even if (s)he believes (s)he knows a better solution. 

Idea 3

     The coach supports the team mostly by asking insightful questions and mirroring what is seen. (S)He helps teams frame issues and solutions in light of the Team’s purpose.

Idea 4

The starting point is always to look for enthusiasm, strengths, and existing capabilities within the team. The coach projects trust that the team has all it takes to solve the problems it faces.

  If you'd like to find out more about our approaches to developing teams and how we might be able to help you, contact us on 07984409937 or by email jpd@dy3solutions.mygbiz.com