Four Stages of Organization Transition through a Maturation Process

Organizational Behavior
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Groups and teams in an organization transition through a maturation process with four stages. Forming constitutes the first stage and it is where teammates seek to familiarize with the task and their leader. Teammates expect the team leader to assert her authority and chart the direction. The leader must communicate the need to obtain closure and being open to new working processes (Tuckman & Jensen, 1997). Dr. Shaheen allowed staff to air their grievances through one-on-one interviews with each of the employees and later a joint meeting. The joint meeting was imperative in helping employees clarify their role descriptions and understand their performance expectations.
Storming is the second stage where teammates test each other as they find their position in the project. Formation of subgroups due to power politics and conflict among teammates occur (Tuckman & Jensen, 1997). Teammates require exercising their conflict resolution skills because their behavior may be construed as impolite. The director explained this stage by citing how imperative it was for staff to trust each other, cooperate and avoid conflict. She stated that cooperation and consultation was imperative in avoiding disintegration and conflict.
Norming is the third level characterized by group cohesiveness and commitment to their specific tasks. Leaders ensure employees are creative in problem solving and that they clearly understand and accept performance goals and standards. Dr. Shaheen explained that she was open to suggestions and solutions from all staff through weekly meetings and her open door policy. She also ensured that employees clearly understood the ground rules. Performing is the fourth level where members are focused on solving problems and accomplish their tasks without hampering others and are open to communication in resolving their conflicts. They display commitment, strong cooperation to help the group achieve its goals. Dr. Shaheen explained that the team had the capacity to success by maintaining commitment to cooperation she also increased the department’s staffing level.
Team spirit and teamwork are imperative for teams to succeed. Teamwork entails people in a group collaboratively utilizing their skills and capabilities in problem solving and action oriented decision-making to meet objectives. Teams have different people that bring diverse attributes to the project and it is necessary to allow people with different skills set to cooperate in finding the best solutions (Sohmen, 2013). Team spirit is very vital for teammates to collaborate in their project. It involves teammates being trustworthy, respectable, helpful and friendly with each other. Team spirit also increases when teammates successfully identify their roles. Po...