CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

SURNAME: MUTEMA

FORENAMES: ANGELINE N

REG. NUMBER: SC201466B

PROGRAMME: PROJECT MANAGEMENT MONITORING & EVALUATION

COURSE: PROJECT MANAGEMENT

LECTURER: MR MOYO

DUE DATE: 07 MARCH 2020

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: STATE AND EXPLAIN TEAM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS BY

BRUCE TUCKMAN (1965) AND SHOW HOW THE PROJECT
MANAGER CAN HELP PROJECT MEMBERS IN EACH
STAGE

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In their existence, human beings are faced with plethora of social, political, economic, cultural
and technological challenges which interventions to solve them. In this context, projects are
implemented, at least, to deal with human life challenges. The ultimate goal of project planning
and management set by various project leaders and managers is to see that project succeeding
with tangible and measurable results. Be that as it may, the attainment of project goals is not a
phenomenon that should be analyzed and understood in a vacuum as there exist factors that
shape that particularly project. Among other factors, the scope, resources (financial, human and
capital), time, economic environment and most importantly leadership are key fundamentals in
success of any project. Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide (PMBOK) (2008), states
that the success and failure of any project lies with the project team and its leadership. Implicit to
the argument, is that projects are implemented teams with unique characteristics, objectives and
expectations, which in turn, can have a bearing on success or failure of any project. Kolzow
(2015), defined leadership as a process of directing people for the achievement of a certain goal.
Against this backdrop, this essay deliberates how team development stages have influence on
implementability of any project

It is imperative to firstly understand what a project, project management and team development
is before one discuss how a project manager can help project members in each team development
process. A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or
result (PMBOK 2008:5). The same author defines project management as the application of
knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements
(PMBOK 2008:6). In other conceptualization, Zastrow (2007) describes team development as a
process whereby a team or group move along the group stages from forming through performing
right up to termination. It is, therefore, the mandate and responsibility of a project manager to
help the project team in all development stages up until the end of that particular project. Garvin
et al (2004) named the stages as forming, storming, norming and performing. It is in these stages
that a project manager should possesses the needed skills and knowledge to ensure the team
performs in line with project goals, objectives and plans.

Garvin et al (2004) identified ‘forming’ as the first stage of team development. In Garvin’
description forming stage is the initial stage that the project team goes through. Zastrow (2007)
opines that, individuals (project members) are not clear on what they are supposed to do in the

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project, although some would only be aware of their posts. So often, at this stage, members will
not be committed to the team members and the project itself as there will be no any sense of
belonging and cohesion. At this stage the project manager’s roles and responsibilities are critical
and should be delicately assumed and performed. As the only individual aware of the project’s
details such as the objectives, scope, time needed, mission and resources among other factors, his
or her responsibility is to ensure that all team members are oriented towards that. PMBOK
(2008) provided a critical stage in project planning which involves stakeholders’ identification,
engagement and orientation. This resonates with the dictates of this forming stage where the
leader should orient the members to the objectives and scope of the project. Kolzow (2015)
argues that, at this stage the project leader should apply his or her strategic planning knowledge
and help to set and clearly introduce the mission, goals, objectives and the scope of the project to
the project members. The leader in addition should bring the group together periodically to work
on the project goals. At this stage, because many members would be disoriented and
disconnected to the project, chances are high that many will drop out if they lack proper
orientation. It is the responsibility of the leader figure out ways to build trust among members
and ensure that there a cohesion among group members. Garvin et al (2004) mentioned that, of
critical importance is the skill of the project leader to recognize the need to move out of the
forming stage into the next stage.

Tuckman’s model provide another stage within the team development process which is storming
(Tuckman 1965). This is the stage at which the leader need to establish and communicate roles
and responsibilities to the project members. Members are told what they should and should not
be doing as the project progress. This include how the information and resources are
communicated and distributed respectively. The stage is characterized by various features and
the project leader should be aware of those issues to ensure group cohesion and establish a sense
of direction. Kolzow (2015) opines that, the stage is characterized by splinter group formation,
lots of personality attacks and little team spirit. The team leader actively support and reinforce
team behavior, facilitate the group for wins and create a positive environment. Project manager
can assess how the member expectations are line or in conflict with project goals. It is also
imperative for project manager to assess member skills, task and roles, focusing on how each
member is satisfied or dissatisfied. Additionally, the leader should build trust by honoring
commitments, recognizing and publicize team wins. The team leader need to create an open

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environment where information with regards to the project move freely, request feedback and
accept feedback.

The norming stage was identified as the third in the team development process of the Tuckman
model. At this stage of team development, members start to reinforce team norms, confidence
become high, appreciation and trust build among members (Garvin, Gutierrez and Galinsky
2004). Members will start to reinforce team norms and define their purpose in line with the
project objectives. It is the stage where project members starts to identify themselves with the
project and individual motivation become to manifest. The project manager need also to be
creative and assertive. The laissez faire and democratic leadership styles become relevant at this
stage on the backdrop that members are now well acquainted with the project they are working
on. The team leader should again actively support and reinforce team positive behavior and
creating positive environment. According to the Enactus project handbook of 2019 at this stage
creativity and innovation manifest. The project manager should create a positive environment
which will be conducive for innovation but within the parameters and boundaries of the project.
Additionally, the project manager should give autonomy to the project members to modify and
solidify the project’s vision and objectives. Conflict resolution among members should be
allowed with the minimum interference of the project manager. It is at this stage that the manger
need to treat his or project members with dignity and recognize their worthy as mature and
responsible individuals except in other exceptional situations recognized by the discretion of the
manager.

The critical stage by Tuckman is performing. Some scholars identify performing as the last stage
of team development and some includes the termination stage. However, performing scholars
agreed and viewed it as a pick stage in the project planning and implementation. Kolzow (2015)
argues that, at the performing stage, project member praise and flatter each other as they face and
deal with various challenges. Team members develop an objective outlook and sometime defer
to tea needs by sacrificing their personal needs and wants. At this stage the project member’s
work synchronize their personalities with the project goals and aims. Garvin et al (2004) argues
that, energy is devoted to developing cohesive group functioning and comfortable norms and
productive roles as members would have developed a sense of belonging and ownership to the
project. Zastrow (2007) highlighted that, words like intimacy, performance and problem solving

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become frequently used in the project. For the project leader, tradition maintenance and sharing
responsibilities should be the pillars to support the project members. In addition; and critically
although need to be done skillfully is keeping raising the project bars, new and higher goals. The
leaders should also adopt the laissez faire and democratic leadership style in communication.
Delegation and decentralization of decisions and tasks should be excised skillfully by the project
manager and also ensuring transparency and accountability.

However, this team development process by Tuckman should not be understood in a vacuum as
mentioned prior in the introductory part of this essay. There are group dynamics that each project
manager should know and master when forming and leading project teams. These dynamics
shape and have an influence towards the achievement of the project’s goals. In addition there are
skills and a certain level of knowledge that should be possesses by project managers for them to
effectively help team members through the stages. PMBOK (2008) mentions that, a project
manager should be skillful and know that the project management is an art and science as it
involve the management of capital and human resources. The manager should possess the
knowledge of power and control among member, culture differences, personality differences,
communication, social integration and influence. If these dynamics are understood the project
manager will successfully achieve project goals and successfully help his or project members
along the team development stages.

In conclusion, it can be seen that success of any project is hinged upon various factors such as
understanding of group development stages. Using Tuckman’s conceptual group development,
this essay illustrated how team development have bearing on project planning, designing,
implementation and evaluation. In essence, project managers should possess various skills such
as conflict resolutions, communication, trust and rapport building, appraisals, among others.

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Angeline Mutema N (SC201466B)
REFERENCES

Garvin, C.D., Gutierrez, L.M., and Galinsky, M. J (2004) Handbook of Social Work with
Groups. New York. The Guilford.

Kolzow, K (2015) Leadership in Project Planning and Management. Boston. SAGE

Project Management Institute, (2008) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK), 4th Edition. Project Management Institute

United Nations Development Program (2009) Handbook on Planning, Monitoring and

Evaluation for Development Results. New York, UNDP.

Zastrow (2007), Social Work with Groups: A Comprehensive Workbook, 7th Edition. Belmont.
Brooks/Cole.

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