Teamwork Theories and Models: An Individual Report

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CO4830
Individual Report

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Theories/models of team work........................................................................................................4
Problems faced during the team work.............................................................................................6
Techniques to solve the problem.....................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
The following report aims at evaluating and reflecting the individual experience of teamwork.
The report is divided into three main sections. Firstly it describes the theories and models of
teamwork which are described in the workplace or in an organization. In the next section, it
identifies the problems which are faced during this project and implementing teamwork. And in
the last section, the report helps to describe different techniques and approaches which can be
applied to solve the problems faced. The main aim of the report is to critically evaluate the
approaches of teamwork which includes stakeholders too.

Theories/models of teamwork
Teamwork is a great collaboration any organization can do to achieve the goal and objective of
the project. Theories of teamwork are defined as (Körner, et al, 2016) the approaches which are
present in an organized format to organize the work and carry out the procedures. There are vast
numbers of teamwork theory given which are Bruce Tuckman’s Model, Belbin’s Theory,
Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs, Isabel Briggs – Myers Type Indicator, Strength theory,
Team Analysis theory; STAR team model, Ground Theory. Out of these models, Bruce
Tuckman’s Model and STAR team model will be discussed in details.
Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development
It is considered as the widely famous approach used in the workplace, developed in 1965. The
significance of this model is that the team develops when there is clarity in the stages from
forming individual to forming a cohesive (Salmon, et.al, 2017) group. It understands the fact that
initially no group is potentially functioned or task-focused, it develops gradually. The theory
studied the behaviour of a small group and drawn the conclusion that there are two factors which
are activity and the structure. Tuckman categorized the development into four stages which are
described below:
Forming – It is the very first stage in the building of team which involves making of individual
position in the team and trying to find their objective in the team.
Storming – In this stage of the team, people see them as a member of the team. One of the
problems faced in this stage is that members (Jarzabkowski, et.al, 2015) still challenges and team
leader ensures that working of the team by frequently asking questions and taking feedback.
Norming - This stage involves the building of a team where a member starts to combine together
and start discussing and forming the rules.
Performing - It is the last stages which include the complete togetherness of the whole team
where the focus is kept on both task and relationship. This stage leads to efficiency as well as the
effectiveness of work.

Figure 1: Tuckman model
(Source: The Happy manager, 2019)
These stages are interrelated and can be coined in the form of a graph which shows the
relationship between the task and stages. Hence from the graph, it can be seen that the optimal
stage is acquired when the members develop the relationship and association with each other.
STAR Team Model

Figure 2: STAR model
(Source: The Happy manager, 2019)
This model focuses on finding what are the necessary goals and object of the team. It helps
leaders and members to find their main focus in the project. Star team model is based on the
finding, identifying and nourishing the responsible team leader. It focuses on the strength of
individual members and tries to assign a task according to the capability of the member. This
model is believed to develop a team which is happier (Hu and Liden, 2015) as well as the
strongest. The characteristics of an effective team in Star model include the following: Every
member helps each other to flourish their skills; People start working with each other and create
a sense of togetherness. Hence the STAR stands for Strength, Teamwork, Alignment and Result.

Problems faced during the teamwork
Before a team achieve a performing stage and build a real team it faces many challenges and
problems which are given below:
 Poor communication between the team leaders and (Brock, et.al, 2017) interpreting each
other will lead to the failure of team objective.
 Due to different members present in the team, thoughts and opinion will vary person to
person which sometimes does not align with a common single objective.
 Due to consistent tension in the team and personal glitches between the members will not
help to solve the conflicts.
 Absence of trust between the members will lead (Salas, et.al, 2015) to misunderstanding and
confusion in the team meeting.
 Low participation and involvement due to unidentified strength and skills will lead to a delay
in the project.
 When the goal of the project is not clear and the project is not lead by good and managerial
team leader it will never help in accomplishing the goal.

Techniques to solve the problem
It should be kept in mind that problems arrive so that the best solution can be found out and more
opportunities should be opened. Hence there are various (Jarzabkowski, et.al, 2015) strategies
which can be worked on to solve the problem faced during the teamwork. Some of the
techniques and tools are described below.
 Critically evaluate the situation and analysis the sector from where the problem is arising and
clearly identify the goal and problems arising.
 It is very important to understand that each and every individual possess a different set of
skills and capability and hence divide the work and responsibility (Fidalgo-Blanco, et.al,
2015) according to the strength.
 It is very necessary to build trust between the members and have a sense of respect for each
other in a team.
 Conflicts will arise due to the difference in thinking but to mitigate that conflict quickly is the
characteristics of efficient teamwork.
 To solve the problems it is very necessary to actively take part in the discussion and involves
in making an important decision for the improvement.

Conclusion
Hence from the above-mentioned report, it can be interpreted that for the successful completion
of any project in the workplace it is very important for the members to exhibit the characteristics
of teamwork as it helps to collectively solve the problem and achieve the result with high
accuracy and quickly. The report gives the appropriate knowledge of the theories of teamwork
and based on the theory helps to solve the challenges and problems of teamwork. The various
theories which are described in-depth details are. Hence the report critically evaluates the
individual performance and experience of teamwork.

References
Körner, M., Bütof, S., Müller, C., Zimmermann, L., Becker, S. and Bengel, J., 2016.
Interprofessional teamwork and team interventions in chronic care: A systematic review. Journal
of Interprofessional Care, 30(1), pp.15-28.
Salmon, P.M., Stanton, N.A. and Jenkins, D.P., 2017. Distributed situation awareness: Theory,
measurement and application to teamwork. CRC Press.
Jarzabkowski, P., Bednarek, R. and Cabantous, L., 2015. Conducting global team-based
ethnography: Methodological challenges and practical methods. Human Relations, 68(1), pp.3-
33.
Fidalgo-Blanco, Á., Sein-Echaluce, M.L., García-Peñalvo, F.J. and Conde, M.Á., 2015. Using
Learning Analytics to improve teamwork assessment. Computers in Human Behavior, 47,
pp.149-156.
Salas, E., Shuffler, M.L., Thayer, A.L., Bedwell, W.L. and Lazzara, E.H., 2015. Understanding
and improving teamwork in organizations: A scientifically based practical guide. Human
Resource Management, 54(4), pp.599-622.
Brock, S.E., McAliney, P.J., Ma, C.H. and Sen, A., 2017. Toward more practical measurement
of teamwork skills. Journal of workplace learning, 29(2), pp.124-133.
Hu, J. and Liden, R.C., 2015. Making a difference in the teamwork: Linking team prosocial
motivation to team processes and effectiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 58(4),
pp.1102-1127.
The Happy Manager. (2019). Teamwork Theory | Tuckman's Stages of Group Development.
[online] Available at: https://the-happy-manager.com/articles/teamwork-theory/ [Accessed 5
Aug. 2019].