Storming is where we begin this month.
When we left our newly “formed” team they were all standing there smiling and ready to do good deeds in the name of the organization right? No, sorry, I can’t back that up. They were likely stuck with a person they didn’t really want to work with, confused as to why they were even in the team as management clearly must have lost their mind, or wondered who was in charge of this circus.
So all of the aggression and misplaced tension creates conflict which leads to the storms. She said this, we don’t understand that, or he isn’t doing anything and I am sick of it… Sound familiar? These were just a few comments but they are relevant and make one wonder why as managers we just don’t do the darn thing ourselves and forget engaging our staff.
Problem is we are managing work, and leading (you guessed it) people. If we want to help them grow and create a succession plan for ourselves we need to tap into the storm and harness the wind power, or at the very least get all the clouds facing the same way. Re-identifying the goals, the mission, the workloads, and clearly communicating the needs of the organization so the team can adjust will help them pass through the storming and into the norming stage.
Also not allowing them to wallow in the storm for too long can help them get the norming phase off and running as well. Norming is when the “she doesn’t work as hard as me” comments turn into “we got our part done where’s your portion Bob?” Then the pressure starts and the team has begun to self-regulate the work. They know what they are doing and why it is important, they see the goal line and know what needs to be done to move the ball. Now they are pushing each other to get their best work done.
What can you as their manager do to help? Get the heck out of their way. When they need you they will come and see you, call you, or send you the “help me” email. If you did the job right and developed a method for them to deliver on the goods then they will likely not need you but to approve the product they have successfully produced as a team. The next two phases are where you see the highest level of work product, they can also be tricky.
We now have a team who had normalized the work and was now performing. They are humming along and getting the project close to the end of the line. The inevitable is going to happen and the project needs to end. How do you take a well-oiled machine and tear it down? This is the trickier part of the government organizations. In our world once it’s working we walk away and deal with something else. We shouldn’t, but we do. We get people delivering on the promise we make to our customers and constituents of service over self. When the compliments come in (or in our case less complaints) we are hesitant to throw a handful of ball bearings into the running machine.
Sometimes a group which has reached the end of the project can be phased out and moved to new teams to start the forming process all over again; in other cases the team is just dissolved. A real key to added success on the next project is formally recognizing the team, and specifically individuals, for making contributions which led to the success of the organization. Taking the time to notice them will empower the members to be proud of their work, more importantly they will feel vindicated when it comes time to participate in another project. They know firsthand what it feels like to succeed. Team development from the forming through the storming, norming, performing, and into the adjourning isn’t easy but worth the work when a better process or product is the end result. As civil servants we have obligations to provide the best services we can to our customers. These tools can help and will make you a better leader.
