Beyond High-Performance: Tuckman’s Measures of Team Maturity

In our last blog post, we talked about going beyond high-performance and introduced the 3 Levels of Insight that Team Journeys can provide. After taking the assessment, your team can get an automatic response on the Level 1 Insight. This identifies your team’s stage of maturity (see blog post on this topic). Going further, based on analysis from the assessment data (N = 169 respondents), we were able to deepen our understanding of this framework to provide you with more actionable insights.

When we talk about Bruce Tuckman’s work, it’s usually the Developmental Sequence in Small Groups (also know as Stages of Team Maturity) that comes to mind. Ever since the model came out in 1965, most HRD practitioners used Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing as their labels to describe team development. The simplicity of these 4 labels and their matching descriptions was perfect for anyone trying to diagnose and create interventions in the field. However, not a lot is said about the two dimensions that influence a team’s development: Task Functions and Interpersonal Relationships.

In this post, we talk about the Level 2 Insight that Team Journeys can provide based on Tuckman’s Measures of Team Maturity.

What is the “Task Functions” dimension?

Task Functions refer to the actual work that the team needs to get done. This typically includes the quantitative aspects of a team’s life cycle, such as profits, targets reached, quotas reached, etc.

What is the “Interpersonal Relationships” dimension?

Interpersonal Relationships refer to the social aspect of team development. This includes how the individual members work together and is typically described through qualitative aspects, such as satisfaction, team morale, strength of relationships, etc.

So, which one is more important?

Both are equally important. A team whose members value and respect each other can lead to having great relationships – but with no results, they are just a social club that enjoys each other’s company. On the other hand, a team that achieves results but doesn’t create an environment where members treat each other properly will not garner long-term commitment and success.

A high-performing team has the results to show and works equally hard to ensure that members are able to build nurturing and supportive relationships in the workplace.

A mapping of the Stages of Team Maturity influenced by the Measures. We can see here that a Performing team is one that is high on both Task Functions and Interpersonal Relationships.

Start your team’s journey to high-performance! Take our Team Maturity Test at

https://www.teamjourneys.com/discover

 Sources:

Bonebright, D. A. (2010). 40 years of storming: a historical review of Tuckman's model of small group development. Human Resource Development International, 13(1), 111-120.

Carlock, R. S. (2012). Assessment tools for developing and leading effective teams. Working paper no. 49811, INSEAD, Singapore.

Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological bulletin, 63(6), 384.